Latinos have long influenced everything from electoral politics to popular culture, yet many people instinctively regard them as recent immigrants rather than a longstanding racial group. In Inventing Latinos: A New Story of American Racism (The New Press, 2020), Laura Gómez, a leading expert on race, law, and society, illuminates the fascinating race-making ... Show More
Today
Barbie Zelizer, "How the Cold War Broke the News: The Surprising Roots of Journalism's Decline" (Polity, 2025)
Most of us would agree that American journalism has problems. Rushed reporting and thin coverage. Timidity in the face of adversity. Polarized perspectives and euphemistic language. Groupthink about complicated events.While much blame has been levelled at big tech, in How the Col ... Show More
40m 29s
Feb 21
Josh Milburn, "Food, Justice, and Animals: Feeding the World Respectfully" (Oxford UP, 2023)
How would we eat if animals had rights? A standard assumption is that our food systems would be plant-based. But maybe we should reject this assumption. Indeed, this book argues that a future non-vegan food system would be permissible on an animal rights view. It might even be de ... Show More
1h 16m
Feb 19
Thomas Zeitzoff, "No Option But Sabotage: The Radical Environmental Movement and the Climate Crisis" (Oxford UP, 2026)
An authoritative history of the radical environmental movement in the United States, No Option But Sabotage explores how far activists are willing to go to defend the planet in the face of repression and the escalating climate crisis. After 9/11, the radical environmental movemen ... Show More
58m 22s
Jul 2021
George J. Sánchez, "Boyle Heights: How a Los Angeles Neighborhood Became the Future of American Democracy" (U California Press, 2021)
The vision for America’s cross-cultural future lies beyond the multicultural myth of the "great melting pot." That idea of diversity often imagined ethnically distinct urban districts—the Little Italys, Koreatowns, and Jewish quarters of American cities—built up over generations ... Show More
1h 6m
Sep 2024
Estados Unidos: Could Latinos sway the US election?
November’s presidential election could highlight the political power of the largest minority group in the United States. Roughly one in five people in the US identifies as Latino, and in a close race, which way they vote could prove crucial, particularly in several swing states b ... Show More
26m 36s
Jul 2018
Flexin' Our Grit Muscles
Maria and Julio talk about the news with two all-stars: Callie Crossley, host of Under the Radar on WGBH Radio, and Gabby Rivera, writer, artist, activist and our resident nerdberger. They discuss midterm elections, the latest on immigration policy and the spike of racist hate cr ... Show More
44m 10s