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!
Air Date: 3-21-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - how AI became a tool in the gender culture war - the real reasons "soft girls" and "tradwives" are a thing
REFERENCES: You Will Not Believe the Dumb Reason My Son Gave Me for Refusing to Wipe His Butt
AI has come to the gender culture war, yielding some truly dumb content
The False Escapism of Soft Girls and Tradwives
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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 3/19/2024
We break down some of the pseudoscience the trans panic is built on, look at the political drive to erase trans people, understand how language of panic shifts over time, and present and alternate view of societal healing for a healthier humanity.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: The Anatomy of a Moral Panic Ft. Dr. Julia Serano - It Could Happen Here - Air Date 2-21-24
Mia and Gare are once again joined by Dr, Julia Serano to discuss how the concept of contagious stigma drives moral panics against cis and trans people alike
Ch. 2: Are Red States 100 Committed to Erasing Trans People - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 1-8-24
Just a week into 2024 and Red State Republicans have already introduced over 150 bills targeting the transgender community. Journalist Erin Reed, host of 'Erin in the Morning,' updates us on the sorry parade.
ALOK sits down with Jamie Lee Curtis to explore themes of gender, race, trauma, belonging and the human condition.
Ch. 4: How the Media Gets Trans Coverage Wrong - Medium - Air Date 8-19-23
A panel discussion centered on the representation of trans issues in the media. Moderated by Katherine Cross.
Ch. 5: The Anatomy of a Moral Panic Ft. Dr. Julia Serano Part 2 - It Could Happen Here - Air Date 2-21-24
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 9: How the Media Gets Trans Coverage Wrong Part 2 - Medium - Air Date 8-19-23
Ch. 10: The Anatomy of a Moral Panic Ft. Dr. Julia Serano Part 3 - It Could Happen Here - Air Date 2-21-24
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 12: Final comments on a new reframing of the right to the freedom of sex
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: A colorful, hand-drawn protest sign says "Protect Trans Youth" with the trans pride flag.
Credit: "Protect Trans Youth" by Taymaz Valley, Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Cropped
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 3/15/2024
Republicans have been trending toward Putin fandom for more than a decade but with each passing year the stakes get higher, the propaganda gets more brazen, and what they're willing to support gets more grotesque.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Chris Wallace DESTROYS former colleague Tucker Carlson - Bryan Tyler Cohen - Air Date 2-10-24
Ch. 2: Trump voters tell NBC Reporter that 'Russia is not our enemy' - MSNBC - Air Date 2-27-24
Vaughn Hillard discusses meeting with Trump voters who have started to echo the rhetoric from Putin and Russia when it comes to that country's war on Ukraine and how the base of the MAGA movement has leaned into authoritarian rhetoric.
Ch. 3: American Patriots Support... Vladimir Putin - On the Media - Air Date 3-4-22
Casey Michel joins to discuss why white nationalists like David Duke, Richard Spencer, and Matthew Heimbach have long since looked to Putin's Russia as inspiration for their far-right movements in this country
Ch. 4: The Dark and Destructive Vision of Putin's GOP - The Hartmann Report - Air Date 2-27-24
Author and reporter Heidi Siegmund Cuda has the dirt that ties Mike Johnson to President Putin. Does Mr Johnson want to follow Russia's example and become an authoritarian pseudo-theocracy?
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 8: Trump Backers Kill Navalny - Gaslit Nation - Air Date 2-20-24
Andrea and Terrell Starr of the Black Diplomats Podcast and Substack discuss the assassination of Navalny and the work ahead to build a meaningful opposition.
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 9: Final comments on the global view of autocratic propaganda
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: Protestors in a major city at night hold up cutouts of Putin's head and Trump's head. Large cutouts of open hands are on either side of Trump.
Credit: "2I4A7393" by rob walsh, Flickr | License: Public Domain | Changes: Cropped
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date: 3-11-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - mascuzynity and the conservative male ethos - talking to young men to prevent their slide to the right - and that brutal man camps that are more a symptom and cry for help than a solution
REFERENCES: Mascuzynity: How a nicotine pouch explains the new ethos of young conservative men
Can Parents PreventTheir Sons From Sliding to the Right?
Men are going to brutal boot camps to reclaim their masculinity. How did we get here?
Do You Need a Visit to the Confident Man Ranch?
Outro song courtesy of Supergoldfl
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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 2-17-2018
We hear from activists and advocates to get a sense of the life, land, and walls that divide occupied Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza
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Show NotesCh. 1: Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Original Air Date 2/7/2018
Looking at Israel from a variety of angles including what they do to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and why White supremacists, of all people, support them
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Show NotesCh. 1: Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
Ch. 2: Breaking down Trump's moves on Israel - Intercepted (@theintercept) - Air Date 1-31-18
Ch. 5: What Israel has to do with local policing in the US - Intercepted (@theintercept) - Air Date 9-20-17
Ch. 7: Ilan Pappé: The Myths of Israel - @TheRealNews - Air Date 3-30-17
Ch. 8: Final comments addressing some of the concerns about the #MeToo movement
(Music from Blue Dot Sessions, Free Music Archive)
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date: 3-3-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - why men struggle with friendship - why men and boys are lonelier than ever - the impact of different masculine identities on relationships - something The Beatles apparently did that no one seems to talk about
REFERENCES: Why Men Struggle With Friendship
Boys and men are lonelier than ever. What can we do about it?
3 'Masculine Identities' Men Take On In Relationships
Release the Beatles Jerk-off Cut
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Air Date 3/1/2024
We don't have to think too hard to understand the fears of a world in which work, and the ability of millions to support themselves, are lost to automation and artificial intelligence. But that is only a capitalist future in which the benefits of technological advancement are hoarded by the already-wealthy. Today we imagine a different path.
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SHOW NOTES
Introduction to Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work by Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams
Since the demise of the USSR, the mantle of the largest planned economies in the world has been taken up by the likes of Walmart, Amazon and other multinational corporations.
Ch. 3: The Two Futures Of Automation Capitalism VS Socialism - Second Thought - Air Date 12-15-21
With jobs being automated and handed off to machines at an ever-increasing pace, it's only natural to consider what our future will look like.
Ch. 4: Planet of the Robots: Four Futures of AI (Documentary) - 1Dime - Air Date 10-15-21
In this video we will be discussing automation, which is often confused with being the 'technological revolution' in it of itself as it is what the mainstream focuses on, and for good reason, as how we handle automation will determine the trajectory or co
Ch. 5: Universal Basic Income Explained (An Automation Solution) - Futurology - Air Date 5-28-24
With jobs being automated and handed off to machines at an ever-increasing pace, it's only natural to consider what our future will look like.
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 10: Final comments on living our values and stepping away from work
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: Photo of a patch on a backpack that says "What would you do if your income were taken care of?"
Credit: "Berlin UBI March" by Patrick Maynard, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 2/28/2024
AI-generated deepfakes, entirely fabricated audio and video of recognizable people, are here. They have been on the horizon for years but they have finally arrived during the biggest global election year in history which may prove to be a make of break year for democracy itself as we struggle to separate fact from fiction and autocracy is on the rise around the world.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Deepfaking Democracy: Why AI Threatens News And Global Elections In 2024 - Forbes - Air Date 2-6-24
Deepfaked news segments that appear to be delivered by well-known journalists and TV networks are going viral on social media. Oftentimes, the view counts of deepfaked segments largely outnumber those of real news stories.
Ch. 2: AI Deepfakes Are Everywhere and Congress is Completely Out of Their Depth - CYBER - Air Date 2-9-24
An AI-generated Biden called voters in New Hampshire ahead of the primary and told them to stay home. X locked down the search term "Taylor Swift" after AI-generated nudes of the pop giant flooded the platform.
Tech giants including Microsoft, Meta, Google, Amazon, X, OpenAI and TikTok unveiled an agreement on Friday aimed at mitigating the risk that artificial intelligence will disrupt elections in 2024.
Ch. 4: Deepfake Adult Content Is a Serious and Terrifying Issue - Aperture - Air Date 5-1-23
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 12: Final comments on even more dangers from news sites populated with AI-generated content
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: Computer-generated image of a silhouetted man standing in front of a large wall-sized image of the profile of a middle-aged man with digitized lines and cracks running through it.
Credit: "ai-generated-man-computer-science" by NickyPe, Pixabay | License
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date: 2-25-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, and Deon discuss: - authoritarian Technocracy - and why interoperability may be one of the best weapons against it
REFERENCES: THE RISE OF TECHNO-AUTHORITARIANISM
Big Tech Won't Let You Leave. Here's a Way Out
The Great Interoperability Convergence: 2023 Year in Review
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