Writer, historian and activist Mike Davis has died at the age of 76. He authored a number of books, including “Planet of Slums,” “Ecology of Fear” and “City of Quartz,” a searing look at his hometown of Los Angeles. In 2020, Democracy Now! spoke to Mike Davis during the height of the pandemic.

Mike Davis: “It’s one thing that I’ve really had my eyes opened up by my two younger children, who are still in high school, and by the students I’ve been teaching this year. They will not vote unless there’s absolutely radical, serious structural change in the Democratic platform and that they can believe in. And this is something that, as I say, I mean, we need to fight like hell for that.”

In August of this year, with just months to live, Mike Davis told The Guardian, “What keeps us going, ultimately, is our love for each other, and our refusal to bow our heads, to accept the verdict, however all-powerful it seems. It’s what ordinary people have to do. You have to love each other. You have to defend each other. You have to fight.” Mike Davis died on Tuesday at his home in San Diego from complications related to esophageal cancer.