Against Despair

We’re with the cultural historian Robin D.G. Kelly at UCLA, who has the nerve to ask: where have our thinkers gone in Trump time? Not the experts or the influencers, but the grander minds who ... The post Where Are the Intellectuals? appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

We’re in the fourth summer of hot warfare between Russia and Ukraine. It’s a cruel and deadly war that doesn’t know how to stop. Anatol Lieven. Our guest to offer a helping hand is the ... The post Russia and Ukraine in 2025 appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

We’re grappling with the prize historian Greg Grandin’s take on the making of the modern world. There’s a 600-page version in hard covers, but also a two-word version in his title, America, América, code for ... The post America, América appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

We’re retracing our steps out of the last bad-dream era in American life. Michael Ansara was in the thick of that struggle too, around war and justice. The Hard Work of Hope is his memoir ... The post The Hard Work of Organizing appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

We’re in Saratoga, New York, with the soulful American believer Marilynne Robinson, prize novelist and teacher of novelists. She’s known over the decades as the storyteller we trust to observe the troubled heart of our ... The post Occupied America appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

We’re in the Orwellian aftermath of what President Trump has called his 12-day war in the Middle East. It’s over, he proclaimed on Monday. “Congratulations world,” he said on his Truth Social site, “it’s time ... The post Trump at War appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

This week, it’s a conversation on the democracy question and the embattled fate of our own, beset as it is from within. Philosopher-historian Danielle Allen is our guest examiner of the cranky American condition. It ... The post Divided, Defensive Democracy appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

We’re with the writer Paul Elie, recalling the moment when popular culture came to sound like public prayer. There was Madonna in 1989, singing her number one hit “Like a Prayer.” The song is a ... The post The Last Supper appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

We’re staring down the several crises in our economy—and recalling the grand old joke that it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. John Cassidy. John Cassidy of The ... The post Capitalism and Its Critics appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.

We’re staring down the global trade war with Mark Blyth at Brown University. He is the People’s Economist from Scotland, who takes us home to his village pub in Dundee every once in a while ... The post Trade, Trumped appeared first on Open Source with Christopher Lydon.