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 9/27/2024
Let's just say that it's not a coincidence that right-wing authoritarians are on the rise at the same time as people around the world are having a harder time than ever figuring out what's true. That said, society is beginning to fight back.
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-project-2025-will-lay-groundwork-for-second-term
KP 3: Streaming is Changing Politics...Is That A Good Thing? - Wisecrack - Air Date 9-20-24
KP 4: YouTube and the Death of Media Literacy - Zoe Bee - Air Date 9-2-24
KP 5: A Citizen's Guide to Disinformation - TechTank - Air Date 9-3-24
KP 6: Enshittification Part 3: Saving The Internet - On the Media - Air Date 5-19-23
(45:53) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On bad media diets and brain worms
Article: Welcome to the Era of 'Deep Doubt'
DEEPER DIVES
(54:23) SECTION A: SOCIAL MISINFORMATION
(1:23:18) SECTION B: LIVE BY THE ALGORITHM
(1:55:54) SECTION C: SOLUTIONS
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE CREDITS
Description: Graphic of two profiles back to back, one red, one blue. A white question mark is in the middle.
Credit: "face-question mark-disoriented" by geralt| License: Pixabay
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 9/24/2024
The positive dad vibes of Tim Walz came onto the national scene in the middle of an ongoing crisis of masculinity that stretches from the youngest generations to the oldest. Both positive and negative aspects of masculinity tie in with the general election, basically divided right down the partisan line, and the next generation of voters (not to mention humans) are often feeling stuck between the two with insufficient guidance from the men in their lives.
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KEY POINTS
KP 2: Are Men Okay – SOME MORE NEWS - Air Date 5-22-24
KP 3: Dating Amid Gender Differences in Politics - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 7-30-24
KP 5: We Love Some BDE Part 2 - Big Dad Energy - Dear Old Dads - Air Date 8-23-24
KP 7: That's My Gus Walz - Dear Old Dads - Air Date 8-30-24
(54:39) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the 3 top takeaways on and for boys and men
Article: CONSIDER THE BOOR
DEEPER DIVES
(1:00:56) SECTION A: TIM WALZ
(1:17:49) SECTION B: JD VANCE BRANDED MASCULINITY
(1:41:18) SECTION C: THE FALL OUT OF STOICISM
(1:46:43) SECTION D: DATING LIFE
(2:07:48) SECTION E: SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
SHOW IMAGE CREDIT
Description: Image of a man in a flannel shirt in free fall against a gray cloud background.
Credit: "man-fall" by Pexels | License: Pixabay
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date: 9-23-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - Musk's latest - J.D. Vance's war on truth and brown people - The super villains who spread lies - Sane Washing Trump - Correcting the Left - Right-wing lies as a matter of course
REFERENCES: Musk Claims 'Joke' About Assassinating Harris Was Funnier in Person
J.D. Vance's War on American Life Starts in Springfield
JD Vance Thinks He Can Sell His Nationalism With Cat Memes
J.D. Vance's Admission Shouldn't Shock You—They've Done This for Years
How the Media Sanitizes Trump's Insanity
Trump Has Not Been 'Sane-Washed'
The Sound of One MAGA Attacking (Retracted)
"He's one of us": Trump defends political violence against the press, while the press remains silent
Man arrested at Trump rally in Pa. wanted to hang a protest banner, police say
How Right-Wingers Manufacture Scandal
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Produced by: Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts!
Original Air Date: 3/21/2023
Today, we take a look at how GOP-controlled states are subverting democracy with a form of "competitive autocracy" and some of the horrifying legislation these states then pass after they are no longer subject to the opinions of the general public.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 2: Republicans Are Staging A Legislative Coup - More Perfect Union - Air Date 1-5-22
Ch. 4: The Fight for Fair Maps - The Takeaway - Air Date 7-18-22
Ch. 5: Failing (Red)States - Ralph Nader Radio Hour - Air Date 3-4-23
Ch. 10: How Moore v. Harper Could Reshape Democracy - The Takeaway - Air Date 12-8-22
Ch. 13: Tennessee legislator shocks with lynching suggestion - Alex Wagner Tonight - Air Date 3-3-23
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 15: Final comments on how to fix the states
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
Air Date: 9-19-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - the fallout from the debate, Trump's lies, and how his incoherence is being sanitized - The inadequacy of workplace protections, even in unionized shops - how worker stress and consumer misery are actually features, not bugs - the hope of Philosopher Obama and Trump's Power of Positivity® - people's need to feel like they're getting their money's worth at the expense of all else
REFERENCES: UPS Drivers Won "Historic Heat Protections." They Say the Company Hasn't Lived Up to That Promise
In Fast Food, Worker Stress Is the Business Model
Why Airlines Want to Make You Suffer
Barack Obama Is the Last American Transcendentalist
The True Source of Trump's Delusions: The Gospel of Positive Thinking
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Produced by: Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts!
Air Date 9/17/2024
It's not just the threat of the electoral college handing the presidency to the loser of the popular vote, nor the specter of a repeat of a January 6th-like event hanging over the election - there's also copious lies and disinformation including a new and improved nazi-to-Republican-talking-point-pipeline, and fresh new intimidation and voter suppression tactic experiments underway in the laboratories of democracy.
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KEY POINTS
KP 2: Trump Admits He Lost 2020 Election?!? - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 9-5-24
KP 4: What Does "Election Interference" Even Mean Anymore? - The Political Scene Podcast - Air Date 9-4-24
KP 7: Republicans caught in BOMBSHELL lie - Brian Tyler Cohen - Air Date 9-9-24
(49:26) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On what puts democracies at risk
DEEPER DIVES
(1:01:09) SECTION A: INTIMIDATION
(1:15:27) SECTION B: INTERFERENCE
(1:54:14) SECTION C: LIES
(2:08:49) SECTION D: ELECTION INTEGRITY
SHOW IMAGE
Description: Photo of a woman holding a sign above her head that says "Voting Rights are Human Rights". She is wearing a bucket hat that says "Good Trouble."
Credit: "210828 - voting rights-6" by Johnny Silvercloud | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Cropped
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 9/13/2024
We've been living through the modern equivalent of the oil boom, back when poking a hole in the ground would make one of the world's most valuable substances, upon which entire economies would be built. But in our case, it's not oil, it's data. Now we are at a pivotal moment as the old unchallenged master of data, Google, has been found guilty of illegal anti-competitive behavior at the same time as generative AI companies are in a new desperate rush to stake claims on every last piece of data they can find.
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: The New Colonialism of Big Tech - Andrewism - Air Date 9-3-24
KP 4: This Moment in AI How We Got Here and Where Were Going - Your Undivided Attention - Air Date 8-12-24
KP 5: Newsoms AI dilemma To sign or not to sign - POLITICO Tech - Air Date 9-6-24
KP 6: At Last Big Tech's Free Ride May Be Over - The Hartmann Report - Air Date 9-4-24
(1:00:18) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On a possible future for humanity
DEEPER DIVES
(1:07:35) SECTION A: THE THREAT
(1:20:31) SECTION B: BIG TECH LOBBYING
(1:39:26) SECTION C: REGULATION
(1:56:17) SECTION D: THINKING THROUGH SOLUTIONS
SHOW IMAGE
Description: Photo of a giant wall-sized screen displaying data numbers and a hand touching a finger to it.
Credit: "ai analyzing data" via mimpori01, Pixabay | Pixabay License
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 9/10/2024
It's said that we live in a melting pot here in the United States. Perhaps it's more of a salad bar, who knows? In any case, there are a lot of people coming from a lot of different backgrounds, cultures, histories, and geographies all about to vote in a few weeks. Today, we try to understand, at least roughly, how people's backgrounds influence their vote.
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KEY POINTS
KP 2: The Gender Gap Is Widening In The 2024 Election - What A Day - Air Date 9-4-24
KP 4: What Will Black Male Voters Do In 2024? - AJ+ - Air Date 7-7-24
KP 6: How Michigan explains American politics - Vox - Air Date 1-11-24
(50:47) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the nature of demographic cohorts and the movement of the Democratic Party
DEEPER DIVES
(57:01) SECTION A: THE MIXED BAG
(1:28:15) SECTION B: LATINO AND BLACK VOTERS
(2:03:35) SECTION C: WHITE AND RURAL VOTERS
SHOW IMAGE
Description: A composite image showing red and blue silhouettes of men and women yelling at each other, two with megaphones. A faded diptych of V.P. Harris and D. Trump are in the background.
Credit: Composite Design: A. Hoffman.
Photo 1: "Kamala Harris" by Gage Skidmore, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped, faded
Photo 2: "Donald Trump" by Gage Skidmore, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped, faded
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date: 9-8-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - labor unions fighting for time off when it's too hot - cooling tech - electric trains - and the corporations running our national parks into the ground
REFERENCES: Greek Unions Want Paid Time Off When It's Too Hot to Work
To keep workers going in the heat, companies try fledgling cooling tech
Please Do Not Make Fun of My Neck Fan
Is the US finally getting all-aboard with electric trains?
Yosemite National Park Is a Mess
Aramark Stock Hits All-Time High Amid Triple-Digit Profit Growth
OpenAI won't watermark ChatGPT text because its users could get caught
The Case for Public Rail Ownership
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Air Date 9/6/2024
We're living in the world that dark money in politics and Citizen's United built. But since that Supreme Court ruling in 2010, we've invented cryptocurrency that promises to be a brand new source of opacity and financial power built on smoke and mirrors.
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: Steve Macek on Dark Money - CounterSpin - Air Date 8-23-24
KP 2: Why Big Money Supports Trump - Robert Reich - Air Date 8-27-24
KP 4: Silicon Valley's Impact on the 2024 Elections - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 7-31-24
KP 5: Dem Donors Want Harris To Bail On Biden's Best Decision - The Majority Report - Air Date 7-29-24
KP 8: We need to move to the public funding of elections - Bernie Sanders - Air Date 8-29-24
(49:16) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the changing sense of urgency to address money in politics
DEEPER DIVES
(52:47) SECTION A: THE SYSTEM
A1: Trump and the Billionaires Part 2 - The Socialist Program with Brian Becker - Air Date 7-16-24
A2: Steve Macek on Dark Money Part 2 - CounterSpin - Air Date 8-23-24
(1:10:02) SECTION B: FUNDING REPUBLICANS
(1:26:54) SECTION C: FUNDING DEMOCRATS
(1:34:05) SECTION D: SOLUTIONS
SHOW IMAGE CREDITS
Description: A composite image showing a Bitcoin in front of a pile of US cash, and a dark American flag in the background.
Credit: Composite Design: A. Hoffman. Photo 1: "Cash on table" via Pexels | License | Photo 2: American flag via Pixabay | License
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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