Jan 17
A. Mechele Dickerson, "The Middle-Class New Deal: Restoring Upward Mobility and the American Dream" (U California Press, 2026)
An expansive policy blueprint for meaningfully expanding the middle class for the first time in a century The US middle class was a product of state and federal policies enacted in the wake of the Great Depression. But since the 1980s, lawmakers have undermined what they once bui ... Show More
55m 54s
Jan 16
Zeke Hernandez, "The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers" (St. Martin's Press, 2024)
Immigration is one of the most controversial topics in the United States―and everywhere else. Pundits, politicians, and the public usually depict immigrants either as villains who pose a threat to our economy, culture, and safety, or as victims―needy outsiders whom we must help, ... Show More
1 h
Dec 2024
Helena Hansen et al., "Whiteout: How Racial Capitalism Changed the Color of Opioids in America" (U California Press, 2023)
The phrase "racial capitalism" was used by Cedric Robinson to describe an economy of wealth accumulation extracted from cheap labor, organized by racial hierarchy, and justified through white supremacist logics. Now, in the twenty-first century, the biotech industry is the new ca ... Show More
1h 15m
Nov 2024
Sanaullah Khan, "Carceral Recovery: Prisons, Drug Markets, and the New Pharmaceutical Self" (Lexington Books, 2023)
Carceral Recovery: Prisons, Drug Markets, and the New Pharmaceutical Self (Lexington Books, 2023) explores the interrelation between carceral conditions and substance use by considering the intersections between drug markets, sidewalks, households, and prisons in Baltimore. Sanau ... Show More
52m 26s
Nov 2024
Sanaullah Khan, "Carceral Recovery: Prisons, Drug Markets, and the New Pharmaceutical Self" (Lexington Books, 2023)
Carceral Recovery: Prisons, Drug Markets, and the New Pharmaceutical Self (Lexington Books, 2023) explores the interrelation between carceral conditions and substance use by considering the intersections between drug markets, sidewalks, households, and prisons in Baltimore. Sanau ... Show More
52m 26s
Apr 2017
TAP 204 - Robert Whitaker on The Facts And Myths About Antidepressants
<p><strong>Summary:</strong></p> <p id="yui_3_17_2_1_1492473141798_19394">This week we chat with Robert Whitaker about the myths and science behind psychiatric drugs. Robert is the author of five books. In 2010, his <em>Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, an ... Show More
1h 10m
Sep 2025
#481 – Norman Ohler: Hitler, Nazis, Drugs, WW2, Blitzkrieg, LSD, MKUltra & CIA
Norman Ohler is a historian and author of “Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich,” a book that investigates the role of psychoactive drugs, particularly stimulants such as methamphetamine, in the military history of World War II. It is a book that two legendary historians Ian Kershaw ... Show More
4h 31m
Jan 2024
Chris S. Duvall, "The African Roots of Marijuana" (Duke UP, 2019)
There's so much discussion in the contemporary United States about marijuana. Debates focus on legalization and medicalization. Usually, Reefer Madness, Harry Anslinger, and race are brought into the conversation. But a big part of the larger marijuana story is missing. In Chris ... Show More
51m 14s
Sep 2025
The Crisis of Despair w/ P.E. Moskowitz
Julia is joined by genius mind P.E. Moskowitz for a conversation about their new memoir Breaking Awake, which chronicles the mental breakdown that drove them to experiment with drugs, reckon with trauma, and draw meaning from suffering. From Klonopin and SSRIs to ketamine and LSD ... Show More
55m 51s
Benjamin Y. Fong is author of the new book Quick Fixes: Drugs in America from Prohibition to the 21st Century Binge, which was just released in July, 2023 by Verso Books. Ben is an honors faculty fellow and associate director of the Center for Work & Democracy at Arizona State University, and his work has appeared in Jacobin, Catalyst, and the New York Times ... Show More