KPFA - Behind the News
Host Doug Henwood covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global.
Episodes
Designing the socialist future, taking the measure of muscular Christianity
Aaron Benanav, author of this pamphlet, on what a future socialist society might look like • Amy Laura Hall, author of Erecting the Pulpit, on muscular Christianity
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What’s going on with the Iran negotiations?
Two views from BtN regulars on the US–Iran negotiations: Anatol Lieven and Mouin Rabbani
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Cop power, sex and the social
Stuart Schrader, author of Blue Power, on how the political heft of cops allows them to get away with murder • Angela Jones, author of Sex in Public, on how the social and political shape our sexual lives (and vice versa)
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Against money, hating theory
J.W. Mason and Arjun Jayadev, authors of Against Money, explain that curious stuff and enumerate its problems • Moira Weigel explains why the right hates Theory (October article here)
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Two views of the right: the sordid side of “respectable,” and Trump’s court intellectuals
David Austin Walsh, author of Taking America Back, on the relationship between the kooks and respectables on the right • Laura Field, author of Furious Minds, on the intellectual wing of Trumpism [rebroadcast of a January 29, 2026, show]
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Latin America’s influence on Pope Leo • the Cultural Marxist conspiracy
Greg Grandin, author of this article, on how his time in Peru shaped Pope Leo • AJA Woods, author of The Cultural Marxism Conspiracy, on how the right sees the Frankfurt School as the root of modern decay
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fundraising special: the Xi–Trump summit, the dark doings of Opus Dei
Jake Werner analyzes the Trump–Xi summit and US–China relations generally • Gareth Gore, author of Opus, talks about Opus Dei, a secretive, cult-like Catholic organization involved in right-wing politics around the world (and very much in the US)
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Fundraising special: two views on the Iran war
Two views of the US–Israeli war on Iran: Laleh Khalili and Mouin Rabbani
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fundraising special: imperialism and the homeland
Excerpts from an event sponsored by the NYC DSA’s Academy for Socialist Education on the domestic and foreign aspects of Trumpism, featuring historians Nikhil Pal Singh and Greg Grandin, moderated by the Academy’s Gaya Sriskanthan
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A look back at yuppies • Iran: politics and war
Dylan Gottlieb, author of Yuppies, on that often risible but pioneering social formation • Ervand Abrahamian looks at the politics of Iran, a country under siege
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Muskism: the world of Elon
Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff, authors of Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed, on Elon’s world and what he wants to do to ours
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Two views of Hungary’s election, a global blow to the authoritarian right
Hungary’s long-serving authoritarian prime minister Viktor Orban was defeated in an April 12 election. Two views of what that means: historian Kyle Shybunko and independent scholar Anita Zsurzsán.
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Corruption in the capital, crypto in the age of Trump
Andrew Cockburn, author of Washington Is Burning, on “the spectacular greed at the heart of the nation’s political system” • Hadas Thier, author of this article, on crypto in the age of Trump
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Venezuela after Maduro • the forgotten radical history of Texas
Gabriel Hetland on what’s been happening in Venezuela since the kidnapping of Maduro (Intercept article here) • David Griscom, author of The Myth of Red Texas, on that state’s forgotten radical history
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Iran crisis, Cuba crisis
Mouin Rabbani talks about the Iran war and its many complications • Helen Yaffe talks about Trump’s oil embargo on Cuba—its effects and how Cubans are reacting
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beyond the class/identity dead end • effect of federal layoffs on black women
Nancy Fraser goes beyond the class/identity disputes • Natalie Y. Moore on the effects of federal layoffs on black women (article here)
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Trump’s unified domain of impunity
Historian Nikhil Pal Singh, author of this article, talks about how the Trump regime weaves foreign and domestic policy into a single domain of impunity, Homeland Empire
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Fundraising special: two views of Iran
Behrooz Ghamari, author of The Long War on Iran, on the politics and culture of the country • Anatol Lieven on the effects of the war on Iran on the region and world
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Fundraising special: David Harvey on capital
David Harvey, author of The Story of Capital, looks at the political economy of the present through a Marxist lens
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Fundraising special: politics in Bangladesh, local cops and the Trump crackdowns
Naomi Hossain on politics in Bangladesh generally and the recent election specifically • Stuart Schrader on “authoritarianism from below”—the role of local cops in the Trump crackdowns (article here)
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Wrecking East New York, financing schools
Stacy Horn, author of The Killing Fields of East New York, on the damage mortgage fraud did to that neighborhood • David Backer, author of As Public as Possible, on how we finance schools and how we could do better
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Behind the News – February 5, 2026
David Harvey on his new book, The Story of Capital • excerpt from Mark Carney’s Davos speech • Adam Federman on Trump’s Greenland obsession
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Two views of the right: the sordid side of “respectable,” and Trump’s court intellectuals
David Austin Walsh, author of Taking America Back, on the relationship between the kooks and respectables on the right • Laura Field, author of Furious Minds, on the intellectual wing of Trumpism
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Trump’s war on immigrants, Israel’s war on Lebanon
David Bier of the Cato Institute on what’s behind Trump’s war on immigrants • Aurélie Daher on the state of Hezbollah and why Israel is bombing Lebanon
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Venezuela, again
Forrest Hylton on Venezuela, past, present, and future
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