Air Date 4/18/2025 Before the election, I heard interviews and statistics about Trump supporters responding to his stated desire to weaponize the government against his political enemies. Their response was that 1) they didn't want him to do that and 2) didn't think he would. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community ! KEY POIN...
Apr 18, 2025•4 hr 57 min•Ep. 1704
Air Date 4/14/2025 Everything, it turns out, is a double-edged sword. Democracy and freedom are great but it also contains the keys to its own destruction. Love is pretty good but it turns out that only love can break your heart. And technology, which has freed people from countless hours of menial labor also has the power to subsume our economy, our politics, and much of our everyday lives. It may even be said to have supplanted capitalism itself. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text...
Apr 14, 2025•3 hr 54 min•Ep. 1703
Original Air Date: 3/5/2019 From 2019: Today we take a look at how the illiberalism of the Israeli government has alienated the vast majority of democratic nations and individuals who support human rights, leaving the country with some of the most far-right, fascist, white-supremacist, anti-Semitic people in the world as their only remaining allies . Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members G...
Apr 08, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 1254
Air Date 4/5/2025 Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past. And with Trump in place, the Christian Nationalists are looking to rewrite history to their liking in order to create the dystopian future they desire. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non...
Apr 05, 2025•3 hr 6 min•Ep. 1702
Air Date 4/2/2025 Love them or loathe them, the Democratic Party is the political institution available to the left to structurally take on Trumpism but we need a whole lot of new energy and new commitments to the fight to turn them into an opposition worthy of the moment we face. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript New Format Notes Code BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our li...
Apr 02, 2025•3 hr 14 min•Ep. 1701
Air Date 3/28/2025 You might not be trans yourself but that's just like how coal miners aren't canaries because when they saw that the canaries were under threat, they knew the danger was all around them. Fascists always start with those who are the easiest to dehumanize but they never stop there. ANNOUNCEMENT: Watch, like, subscribe & comment on our newly-launched YouTube show, SOLVED! Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes...
Mar 29, 2025•4 hr 10 min•Ep. 1700
Original Air Date: 3/29/2022 Today we take a look at the current iteration of the cynical culture wars being waged by conservative Republicans against LGBTQ kids for political gain. The current wave of anti-trans and anti-gay legislation sprouting across the country is not about protecting kids and is absolutely nothing new. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Show...
Mar 26, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 1479
Air Date: 3–24-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - Our new game Satire Showdown - The authoritarian takeover of the term common sense - How Americans actually feel about DEI initiatives - The right’s turn on Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett - A deep dive on the theory of a multiracial Right and how Democrats should respond FOLLOW US ON: Bluesky Mastadon Instagram Facebook YouTube Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e REFERENCES: How...
Mar 25, 2025•22 min•Ep. 3
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. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Join our ...
Mar 21, 2025•3 hr 5 min•Ep. 1699
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 FOLLOW US ON: Bluesky Mastadon Instagram Facebook YouTube Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e REFERENCES: “Like a Fla...
Mar 19, 2025•26 min•Ep. 341
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 y...
Mar 18, 2025•3 hr 5 min•Ep. 1698
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. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members G...
Mar 15, 2025•4 hr 33 min•Ep. 1697
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. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcr...
Mar 12, 2025•3 hr 28 min•Ep. 1696
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 BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Hear the Full Show, Members Get Bonus Shows +...
Mar 09, 2025•33 min•Ep. 340
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. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm ...
Mar 07, 2025•3 hr 26 min•Ep. 1695
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. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org ...
Mar 04, 2025•2 hr 24 min•Ep. 1694
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 FOLLOW US ON: Bluesky Mastadon Instagram Facebook YouTube Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39q...
Mar 02, 2025•19 min•Ep. 339
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. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro...
Feb 28, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 1496
Air Date 2/25/2025 Racism is at the core of most of what Trump believes so it should be no surprise when he aligns himself and the country with explicitly supremacist projects like the perceived Jewish superiority over Palestinians and the assumed "reverse racism" against White South Africans Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to sho...
Feb 25, 2025•3 hr 1 min•Ep. 1693
Air Date: 2-23-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - The heavy influence of a Nazi political theorist (propagandist) on the MAGA movement - How our disagreements on baseline reality lead us to devastatingly different conclusions - What many Trump supporters hoped for vs. what they got - How so-called Timeline apps may help us extricate ourselves from social media FOLLOW US ON: Bluesky Mastadon Instagram Facebook YouTube Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r...
Feb 23, 2025•21 min•Ep. 338
Air Date 2/21/2025 There is nothing other than racism at the heart of Trump's immigration policy. He wants to deport as many brown people as possible, stop as many immigrants and refugees as possible unless they're White people from South Africa or the nearly 40 million Canadians he's inviting to enjoy immediate US citizenship. This is not complicated. Trump is a disgusting, blatant racist (and always has been) who's trying to turn the US into a White ethnostate. Be part of the show! Leave us a ...
Feb 21, 2025•3 hr 11 min•Ep. 1692
Air Date 2/18/2025 Democracies slide into dictatorship in two ways, first slowly and then all of a sudden. We have been sliding in this direction for at least as long as I have been paying attention to politics and we're finally at the moment where that slow slide shifts into full speed. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Membership 20% off for the Holiday! Get Bonus Shows + No Ads...
Feb 18, 2025•3 hr 46 min•Ep. 1691
Air Date: 2-16-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - Why we may be forced to bring back bullying - The impact of algorithms and what we can do about it - Democrats and the meaning of 'the medium is the message' - The unbelievable stupidity of techbro dweebs and their followers - The sociopathic reasons why Musk is doing this Not a member? BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Hear the Full Show, Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) FOLLOW US ON: Bluesky Mastadon Instagram Facebook YouTube Nostr pu...
Feb 16, 2025•21 min•Ep. 337
Original Air Date: 8/4/2015 The dysfunctional state of the US immigration system and the political fight brewing over what to do about it Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Show Notes Act 1: Coming Out As An Undocumented Immigrant - Latino Voices - AJ+ (@aj...
Feb 15, 2025•48 min•Ep. 943
Air Date 2/11/2025 The very rich, as has been noted before, are not on the side of regular people. And even if you think that the federal government needs a major reboot, no one but the ultra-wealthy are going to be happy with what they build in the aftermath of the administrative coup currently underway. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our...
Feb 11, 2025•3 hr 1 min•Ep. 1690
Air Date: 2-10-25 Today, Jay! and Amanda (Deon and Erin were sick) discuss: - Why you should be using an RSS reader - The danger of Mystification as humans try to cope - Musk and Trump's flagrant law breaking - What Dems and you can do, with some tips from our own experience FOLLOW US ON: Bluesky Mastadon Instagram Facebook YouTube Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e REFERENCES: You should be using an RSS reader Doppelgänger by Naomi Klein Q & A: Jar...
Feb 10, 2025•14 min•Ep. 336
Air Date 2/7/2025 Trump came in with a plan to subdue the media and large swaths of the media came in with a plan to acquiesce. But it's important to understand why because it's not a conspiracy or people wanting to do harm, it's structural to the system. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-...
Feb 07, 2025•2 hr 8 min•Ep. 1689
Air Date 2/4/2025 The era of unquestioned US hegemony is undoubtedly on the decline but the future is much more complicated and uncertain than the straightforward idea of China rising to take our place that we've been told. Though Trump is not the cause of US decline, he may send us out in a tragic blaze of glory. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!...
Feb 04, 2025•4 hr 32 min•Ep. 1688
Air Date: 2-2-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: - How the resistance is transforming, not over - What actually worked when resisting Trump's first term - A curation of good advice on being effective and staying sane this time around FOLLOW US ON: Bluesky Mastadon Instagram Facebook YouTube Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e REFERENCES: Goodbye, ‘Resistance.’ The Era of Hyperpolitics Is Over. How to Take Heart From What Really Worked in...
Feb 03, 2025•27 min•Ep. 335
Air Date 1/31/2025 The genocide and subsequent ceasefire in Gaza is only the latest horrifying consequence of botched military misadventures in the Middle East and if the history of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay prisons can teach us anything it's that atrocities have long shadows. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!...
Jan 31, 2025•3 hr 52 min•Ep. 1687
