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.
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Air Date 3/21/2025
If you've been paying attention, the weaponization of the government against Trump's political and ideological enemies is exactly what you would have seen coming and now it's here.
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: Special - The Arrest of Mahmoud Khalil w/ Spencer Ackerman - American Prestige - Air Date 3-12-25
KP 3: Are Non-Violent Protestors Now Labeled "Terrorists?" - Thom Hartmann - Air Date 6-20-13
KP 5: Trump Hates Science - Factually! with Adam Conover - Air Date 3-14-25
KP 6: Fascism is Officially Here | Hasanabi reacts - Hasanabi Productions - Air Date 3-17-25
(48:46) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the need for us to protect each other
DEEPER DIVES
(53:17) SECTION A: FREE SPEECH CAN BE TERRORISM
(1:25:56) SECTION B: OPPOSING TRUMP CAN BE TERRORISM
(1:43:42) SECTION C: DOJ, FBI, & THE JUDICIARY
(2:20:30) SECTION D: GOVERNMENT FUNCTION
SHOW IMAGE
Description: Protestors in New York City hold signs that say "Release Mahmoud Khalil - Hands off our students" and "Release Mahmoud Khalil" with the activist's photo.
Credit: "Mahmoud Khalil NYC detention protest 013" by SWinxy, Wikimedia | License: CC BY 4.0
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date: 3–19-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- A special little ditty Jay put together
- The legitimate problems that helped birth the damaging MAHA movement
- Sherrod Brown's OpEd on how the Democrats lost their way
- What Jay learned from India's railway engineers
- An interview with Ro Khanna that sparked some hope
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REFERENCES:
"Like a Flame in the Night" - Based on SOLVED! Ep. #340: Prophetic Voices from the Past and Hope for the Future (March 9th)
Health Paranoia and the Politics of MAHA
Democrats Must Become the Workers' Party Again
Ro Khanna Is Doing More Than Voting 'No'
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Leave a message at 202-999-3991
Produced by:
Jay! Tomlinson
Thanks for listening!
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
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Air Date 3/18/2025
In this special Podcasthon episode, we're joining thousands of podcasts around the world in taking the opportunity this week to support a cause or organization that we believe in. In this time of fighting fascism, Best of the Left has chosen to support Indivisible, the grassroots organizing team that's working to resist Trumpism and pressure Democrats to do the same. Follow the link in the description of this episode to make a donation but also take a moment to find and join your local Indivisible chapter to stay engaged.
SUPPORT INDIVISIBLE WITH A DONATION AND SIGN UP WITH YOUR LOCAL CHAPTER!
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KEY POINTS
KP 2: How to Rebuild the Left as the Far Right Floods the Zone - UNFTR Media - Air Date 2-5-25
KP 3: How to Really Resist - The Intercept Briefing - Air Date 2-28-25
KP 4: Republicans finally go NUCLEAR over town hall disasters - Brian Tyler Cohen - Air Date 3-5-25
KP 5: How Leftists Can Win in 2025 - Harper O'Conner - Air Date 1-3-25
(50:04) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
Giving the call to join the fight at Indivisible.org
DEEPER DIVES
(52:46) SECTION A: STRATEGY & GOALS
(1:16:30) SECTION B: HUMOR AS A TACTIC
(1:35:34) SECTION C: PROTEST
(1:54:57) SECTION D: BOYCOTT
(2:13:48) SECTION E: RESOURCES
(2:37:09) SECTION F: POWER STRUCTURES
SHOW IMAGE
Description: A protestor holds a Trans Pride flag with the word RESIST (with an equals sign in the E) in front of a state capitol building.
Credit: Private permission photo
Air Date 3/15/2025
It always bears repeating that the progressive perspective on the state of the world is not that everything was going just fine before Trump showed up but there's a world of difference between the leftist desire to improve things and Trump's bull-in-a-china-shop foreign and economic policies. Allow us to list the ways.
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KEY POINTS
1: Project 2025 Foreign Policy America Last - The Tristan Snell Show - Air Date 8-15-25
2: March 6, 2025 Full Show - Democracy Now! - Air Date 3-6-25
3: Trump's Foreign Policy - It Could Happen Here - 11-14-24
4: Ukraine's Fight for Self-Determination w/ Howie Hawkins - Jacobin Radio - Air Date 3-3-25
5: Russia, Ukraine, US The Global Chessboard - WhoWhatWhy's Podcasts - Air Date 3-4-25
7: Trump's tariff tumult - The NPR Politics Podcast - Air Date 3-6-25
(59:04) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On Monthly-ish Recaps and the week of activism
DEEPER DIVES
(1:02:33) SECTION A: RUSSIA AND UKRAINE
(1:44:50) SECTION B: TRADE WARS AND TARIFFS
(2:27:43) SECTION C: USAID
(3:03:26) SECTION D: US REALIGNMENT & NATO
SHOW IMAGE
Description: Rendering of Donald Trump handing Vladimir Putin the world while they stand at podiums with the American and Russian flags behind them.
Credit: "trump-putin-russia-usa-politics" by Lola4556677, Pixabay | License: Pixabay
Air Date 3/12/2025
The (Approximately) Monthly Mix is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month we look at the future for Gaza, Trump's plans for mass deportations, the decline of the US on the international stage, the wrecking crew dismantling the federal government, RFK Jr. and the threat to public health, and Trump's endemic corruption.
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PART 1: ETHNIC CLEANSING AT HOME AND ABROAD
#1687 Respite: Ceasefire in Gaza and the Legacy of Imperial Folly in the Middle East
1: Gaza Ceasefire Explained Reading Between The Lines Part 2 - The Socialist Program - Air Date 1-16-25
(25:13) #1693 Empowering Ethnostates: Ethnically cleansing Gaza and Trump's South Africa fixation
4: Trump's Insane Plan To Own Gaza - Pod Save the World - Air Date 2-12-25
5: West Bank Annexation Inevitable - The Majority Report - Air Date 2-6-25
6: Trump's South Africa Fixation - What Next - Air Date 2-12-25
(49:33) #1692 Ethnically Cleansing America
(1:16:02) #1688 International Decline: The Old Is Dying and the New Cannot Be Born
PART 2: TRUMP AND THE WRECKING CREW
(1:41:55) #1689 The Media and the Moguls
(2:02:34) #1691 Breaking the Government
(2:25:26) #1690 Oligarchy Unmasked- Why Billionaires Hate Democracy and How They're Dismantling It
(2:45:15) #1694 Unhealthy Discourse - RFK Jr. and the Anti-Science Movement Endangering Global Health
Air Date: 3–9-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- The Founding Fathers' prophetic concerns that we don't ever talk about
- FDR VP Harry Wallace's op-ed on American fascism from 1944
- Philosopher Richard Rorty's chilling predictions from 1998
- A few reasons - with caveats - why U.S. Democracy might make it through Trump 2.0
- Some hope and advice from a country that recently defeated their authoritarian regime
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REFERENCES:
Benjamin Franklin to the Federal Convention
The Other Fear of the Founders - The Atlantic
Vice President Henry A. Wallace on 'The Danger of American Fascism' in 1944 - Brewminate
An eerie prophecy of Trump's second term - Vox
Three reasons why American democracy will likely withstand Trump - Vox
Poland just showed the world how democracy wins
Find your Indivisible group - or start one
Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
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Reach us via Signal:
Leave a message at 202-999-3991
Produced by:
Jay! Tomlinson
Thanks for listening!
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
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Air Date 3/7/2025
Corruption, for those who indulge, isn't just a perk of power, it can also be a method of maintaining it. Trump is not bothering to hide the corruption he's working to facilitate or how it's geared toward supporting his desire for unchecked power.
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: President Trump's Second Administration and Project 2025 - Trump's Terms - Air Date 2-11-25
KP 3: The Gangster Presidency - Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick - Air Date 2-15-25
KP 4: Trump's Theory of Power - Brennan Center for Justice - Air Date 2-5-25
KP 7: D.C. Gutted. Grassroots Galvanized. - Ralph Nader Radio Hour - Air Date 2-22-25
(56:17) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the impact of corruption
DEEPER DIVES
(1:05:38) SECTION A: THE CABINET OF GREED
(1:48:28) SECTION B: QUID-PRO-QUO
(2:10:58) SECTION C: CORPORATE INTERESTS
(2:48:08) SECTION D: KING TRUMP
SHOW IMAGE
Description: A protestor holds up a sign that says "Stop The Billionaire Grift!"
Credit: "HANDS OFF THE CFPB RALLY at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau" by Elvert Barnes, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 3/4/2025
An old proverb says that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and we're all about to see how dangerous as know-nothings and science skeptics take over the government agencies staffed by doctors and scientists with the goal of keeping the population healthy.
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KEY POINTS
KP 3: Psychiatric Struggle w/ Danielle Carr - The Dig - Air Date 2-17-25
KP 4: MAHA Forever - The Dream - Air Date 2-16-25
(48:15) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the tragedy of the mirror world
DEEPER DIVES
(57:25) SECTION A: HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS
(1:15:51) SECTION B: RFK JR.
(1:30:48) SECTION C: ANTI-SCIENCE DANGERS
(1:55:19) SECTION D: PREDATORS AND PREY
SHOW IMAGE
Description: RFK Jr. speaks at the podium at a Trump-Vance rally while an out-of-focus Donald Trump watches him in the background.
Credit: "Donald Trump & Robert F. Kennedy, Jr." by Gage Skidmore, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped
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Air Date: 3-2-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- How "entrepreneurialism" has gained unearned adoration and disempowered labor organizing
- The 100-year-old "New Thought" era and how it shaped our current culture of work
- The social critic Theodore Roszak's accurate predictions about the dark turn of tech and work
- What Democrats should learn from Steve Bannon's approach to Musk
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REFERENCES:
The Cult of the Entrepreneur - The New Republic
The Social Critic Who Predicted Big Tech's Dark Turn - The Nation
What Anti-Musk Democrats Can Learn From Steven Bannon - NY Magazine
Find your Indivisible group - or start one
Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
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Leave a message at 202-999-3991
Produced by:
Jay! Tomlinson
Thanks for listening!
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Review the show on Apple Podcasts!
Original Air Date: 615/2022
The many reasons why we are experiencing a housing crisis in the US and beyond but it mostly comes down to treating housing as a commodity to be profited from rather than a basic human need or, if you're feeling radical, a basic human right.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: The Housing Market - If You Don't Know, Now You Know - The Daily Show - Air Date 12-8-21
Ch. 2: How Foreign Companies Are Raising Housing Prices - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 12-27-21
Ch. 3: John and Ana React to Bonkers Housing Story - The Damage Report - Air Date 3-12-22
Ch. 4: How Socialists Solved The Housing Crisis - The Gravel Institute - Air Date 1-29-21
Ch. 6: Eviction Rates Are Rising - The Takeaway - Air Date 5-13-22
Ch. 7: Why Dems Have Abandoned Public Housing - The Majority Report - Air Date 4-9-22
Ch. 9: Short-term rental housing is hurting Ouray residents - Rocky Mountain PBS - Air Date 7-19-21
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: An illustration of a simple green house with a "$" symbol incorporated into it. The vertical line of the symbol is also the shape of the chimney and the front door. Small dollar signs flow out of the chimney, getting smaller as they go up.
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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