Stay ConnectedExpertly-curated progressive politics, news, and culture produced by leftist humans, not algorithms or AI. This is an award-winning podcast that dives deeply into a wide range of national and international issues facing society and governments. We draw from hundreds of sources of progressive news and commentary. Est. 2006.
Save time by listening to a range of perspectives on a focused topic in each episode and be introduced to new sources you will not have come across on your own!
Re-Air Date: 11–18-25
Unless you were a member in December of 2024, this episode of SOLVED! will be brand new to you! If you were a member back then, THANK YOU and this one is worth a re-listen. We're slowing down production for a little bit to reorganize our production processes, so enjoy this episode from our archives (and B.Y: before YouTube) where Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:
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REFERENCES:
SimCity Isn't a Model of Reality. It's a Libertarian Toy Land - Wired
Build-a-Brrr - The Baffler
Naomi Klein on her doppelganger (and yours) - Vox
Be Like Claud Cockburn: Tell Truths to the Masses - Counter Punch
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Produced by:
Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 11/21/2025
In an ethical political system, being willing to break the law in order to starve people amid a political dispute wouldn't be a source of greater leverage and power but it is in ours and the shutdown put the wildly different senses of ethics between the parties on full display.
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KEY POINTS
KP 2: What Its Like Suing Trump in Court Over SNAP Funding - Boom! Lawyered - Air Date 11-13-25
KP 3: The History of SNAP How Food Stamps Feed America - The Politics of New America - Air Date 11-4-25
KP 5: Addressing Food Insecurity With Dignity - The Giving Garden - Air Date 9-3-25
KP 6: Senator Sanders Slams The Surrender Dems - What A Day - Air Date 11-11-25
(00:55:53) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On how to preserve democracy
DEEPER DIVES
(01:10:38) SECTION A: SHUTDOWN
02:01:39) SECTION B: FOOD INSECURITY
(03:19:42) SECTION C: GOP AWFULNESS
SHOW IMAGE CREDITS
Description: Composite image of the SNAP program logo (food stamps) and a symbol of a stethoscope (healthcare) in a closed cage with a GOP elephant symbol standing on top against a faded American flag background.
Credit: Internal composite design. Elements from Pixabay | Pixabay license | and UDSA
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date: 11-10-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:
Ch. 1 - "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps"
Ch. 2 - "Politically correct"
Ch. 3 - "Ethnic cleansing"
Ch. 4 - "Meritocracy"
Ch. 5 - Our current "wealth pump" crisis and how it has been solved throughout history
BACKSTAGE! Beyond the Algorithm (Members Only!): The best words to articulate the current moment
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REFERENCES
Why The Phrase 'Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps' Is Nonsense - Huffington Post
How Cancel Culture Became Politicized — Just Like Political Correctness - NPR
Manifest Destiny and Zionism, a legacy of ethnic cleansing - Mondo Weiss
What Happens to Language When Authoritarianism Takes Hold - Lucid (Substack)
RSA Minimate: The Tyranny of Merit - Michael Sandel
The Satirical Origins of the Meritocracy - Kottke
Hundreds of societies have been in crises like ours. An expert explains how they got out. - Vox
TAKE ACTION:
Free DC Project: FOR ALLIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY
In a blue state? Help stop ICE overreach
Find your Indivisible group - or start one
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Produced by:
Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 11/7/2025
The most dangerous part of nuclear weapons has always been the people in charge of them. As we potentially enter a new arms race, some of the worst people in the world are in charge of the vast majority of nuclear weapons.
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: Will Trump Spark a New Nuclear Arms Race - TLDR News Global - Air Date 11-9-25
KP 2: A History of the Doomsday Clock in 4 Minutes - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - Air Date 1-30-24
KP 4: Voices of Hiroshima - Scene On Radio - Air Date 8-6-25
KP 5: Marshall Islands: Paradise Interrupted Part 1 - At the Brink - Air Date 12-5-23
(00:44:32) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the morality of facts we don't question
DEEPER DIVES
(00:56:09) SECTION A: CONSTANT PERIL
(01:22:44) SECTION B: THE NEW ARMS RACE, WORSE THAN THE FIRST
(02:05:41) SECTION C: THE DETERRENCE MYTH
(02:44:12) SECTION D: THE AFTERMATH 80 YEARS LATER
SHOW IMAGE CREDITS
Description: Image of a president's hand reaching out to press a big red button.
Credit: "war-nuclear-war" by geralt, Pixabay | Pixabay license
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date: 11/11/25
The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month we examine how power is being quietly consolidated across institutions, how propaganda and AI are reshaping our sense of reality, and how division and fear are fueling both domestic repression and global aggression. From the Supreme Court to state media manipulation, from dismantled voting rights to foreign influence campaigns, we trace the machinery of authoritarian control—and spotlight the journalists, educators, and activists still pushing back to keep truth and democracy alive.
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PART 1: INSTITUTIONAL CAPTURE & CONSOLIDATION (00:01:44) 1742 Captured Court, Captured Nation: SCOTUS Serves Trump's Authoritarianism (00:16:53) 1743 Trump and Project 2025: Blitzkrieg Against America (00:43:56) 1749 Democracy: In Theory, In Practice, and Under Threat PART 2 INFORMATION WARFARE & REALITY CONTROL (01:08:35) 1746 What an actual attack on free speech looks like (01:40:37) 1745 Fake New World: The Age of AI Slop, AI Education, and AI Fascism (01:54:27) 1744 Sell Outs, Shills, and Scandals: Saudi Arabia and Israel are buying the credibility they can't earn honestly PART 3 OTHERING & EXPANSION (02:13:08) 1747 Racism in the United States, it turns out, is a problem (02:31:27) 1741 Global Uprisings: Dissatisfaction Roiling France, the UK, and Nepal (02:56:07) 1750 "American's Backyard" - The War on Terror Meets the War on Drugs (03:20:01) 1748 Patriotism in Peril: Democracy, the Military, and the Fight Over What America MeansProduced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 11/7/2025
The United States claiming a divine (and imperialist) right to tamper in the politics of South American countries is nothing new. As is so often the case with Trump, the biggest difference is that he's doing proudly and in the open what used to be done only shamefully and in secret.
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KEY POINTS
KP 4: Bailing on Farmers to Bail Out Argentina: Two to Tango Part 1 - UNFTR - Air Date 10-6-25
(00:53:59) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the long history of messing with Latin America
DEEPER DIVES
(00:59:42) SECTION A: HISTORY AND NARRATIVE
(01:20:49) SECTION B: MILITARY PRETEXT
(01:58:37) SECTION C: US AGGRESSION
(02:28:44) SECTION D: REGIONAL ECHOES
SHOW IMAGE CREDITS
Description: Image of a topographical globe of the Earth, only showing North America and South America.
Credit: "Globe-world-earth-planet" by quimono, Pixabay | Pixabay license
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Re-Air Date: 11–6-25
Unless you were a member in January of 2025, this episode of SOLVED! will be brand new to you! We're slowing down production for a little bit to reorganize our production processes, so enjoy this episode from our archives (and B.Y: before YouTube) where Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:
FOLLOW US ON:
YouTube (This full episode premieres on YouTube on Friday - please share!)
Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e
REFERENCES
The Year Villainy Won - Wired
https://www.wired.com/story/the-year-villainy-won/
Plutocracy Kills - The American Prospect
https://prospect.org/2024/12/26/2024-12-26-tkacik-best-of-2024/
Democracy Is Not a Customer Loyalty Program - Jacobin
https://jacobin.com/2024/11/political-parties-schumpeter-democracy-liberalism
Air Date 11/4/2025
Elections are always coming up, some sooner than others, so we thought we would take a look at the state of our democracy and what we must do to maintain it in the face of the greatest direct assault on our institutions we've seen in our 250 year history.
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: Trump 2028? - Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie - Air Date 10-29-25
KP 2: Why Im Voting YES On Prop 50 - Robert Reich - Air Date 10-28-25
KP 4: Exposing Trumps 2026 Election Mastermind Part 1 - Democracy Docket - Air Date 10-22-25
KP 7: What If Zohran Loses? Part 1 - Zaid Tabani - Air Date 10-29-25
(00:49:12) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the willingness to sound the alarm
DEEPER DIVES
(00:58:05) SECTION A: MAGA POLITICS
(01:25:25) SECTION B: GENERAL POLITICS
(02:01:21) SECTION C: PROGRESSIVE POLITICIANS
(02:25:17) SECTION D: ZOHRAN MAMDANI
SHOW IMAGE CREDITS
Description: Close up photo of a "I voted early!" sicker from the City of New York Board of Elections
Credit: "I voted early!" by Eden, Janine and Jim | CC BY 4.0 | Changes: Heavily cropped, slight increased saturation and decreased contrast
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 11/02/2025
A lot of people on the left aren't feeling the love for their country right now and that's understandable but we have some thoughts on more productive ways to channel those conflicting feelings toward a country that is currently falling far short of living up to its founding ideals.
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KEY POINTS
KP 2: How Trump Changed the World with Anne Applebaum Part 1 - PoliticsJOE Podcast - Air Date 6-14-25
KP 3: Giving Up Is Unforgivable with Joyce Vance Part 1 - Stay Tuned with Preet - Air Date 10-23-25
KP 5: Unitary Executive Meets Textualism Part 1 - #SistersInLaw - Air Date 10-11-23
KP 6: How Underdogs Build Power Stephanie Luce Part 1 - Future Hindsight - Air Date 10-23-25
(00:59:59) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On how the Left embraces the contradictions of the US
DEEPER DIVES
(01:10:45) SECTION A: SOCIETAL DRIVERS
(01:47:04) SECTION B: INSTITUTIONAL EROSION
(02:18:26) SECTION C: MILITARIZED LAWFARE
(02:41:12) SECTION D: PATRIOTISM AND NARRATIVE
SHOW IMAGE CREDITS
Description: Composite image of the Declaration of Independence with three question marks on top filled with the image of the American flag.
Credit: Internal composite design. Images via Pixabay. | Pixabay License
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 10/28/2025
As we were looking for episode topics, I came across an article making the case that racism is a real problem in the country and that there were lots of recent examples that proved the point. And I was like, "Racism? In the US?! In Trump's Republican Party?? That doesn't sound like the country I've heard of." (sarcasm) But then we looked into it and it turns out racism is everywhere and also quite bad. (true)
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KEY POINTS
KP 4: Racism Is the Policy: Here's 10 Months of Receipts - The Keith Boykin Channel - Air Date 10-15-25
KP 5: TheGrio Daily, Michael Harriot - Systemic Racism Explained - Air Date 4-22-24
KP 6: The Racist Origins of US Law - PBS Origins - Air Date 8-6-20
KP 7: 'A Very Dangerous Theory:' MAGA's Mask-off Racist Vision of America - Velshi - Air Date 9-7-25
(00:50:25) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On how you CANNOT purchase your happiness with the misery of others
DEEPER DIVES
(00:56:12) SECTION A: HISTORICAL CONTEXT
(01:36:52) SECTION B: WHITE LASH
(02:04:02) SECTION C: SYSTEMIC RACISM
(02:50:39) SECTION D: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
SHOW IMAGE CREDITS
Description: 1970s poster that says "Racism Chains Both" with an image of a black person's hand and a white person's hand both in connected shackles.
Credit: "Racism chains both Hugo Gellert artist" via Library of Congress Public Domain Archive
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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