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Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Best of the Left: Perspectives on Politics, Culture, and Economics

Expertly-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!

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All Episodes

17:57

Bonus Sample #317 Don't Forget the Philosophers (AI...

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/08/19

Air Date: 8-19-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - How we likely all have COVID and can't believe we did a Bonus Show - The bizarre ways AI is already part of our political systems - Strong feelings on AI-generated art in a hyper-capitalist world - The ups, downs and side effects of so-called AI friends - AI in our love lives (P.S. Audiophiles Beware: We had some technical difficulties, so this show may sound a little strange in spots.) REFERENCES: RFK Jr. Doubles Down on Dead Bear Cub

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02:23:26

#1649 Race in America and the Moral Clarity of James...

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/08/17

Air Date 8/17/2024 James Baldwin's 100th birthday passed by recently and we're using the occasion to draw on his moral clarity and eloquence while we assess the state of race in America 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 POINTS KP 1: Celebrating James Baldwin's 100th Birthday - 1A - Air Date 7-30-24 KP 2: James

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03:05:39

#1648 Power Grabs, Elections Optional: The threat of...

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/08/13

Air Date 8/13/2024 Spirits among Kamala Harris supporters, Democrats, and anyone opposing Trumpism are at an all-time high right now. That's both fortuitous and crucial to the upcoming election. By the very nature of Trumpism, this election will be the most flagrantly contested in history with far more Trump loyalists in place ready to throw wrenches in the works wherever they can. Nothing short of overwhelming victory for the Harris/Waltz ticket is necessary to stave off constitutional crisis. Be

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18:43

Bonus Sample #316 How are you gonna fix that garden?!

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/08/11

BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Hear the Full Show, Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Air Date: 8-11-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: - Understanding the New Right - JD Vance's mangled metaphor - The best headline about RFK Jr. - Where the anti-trans movement has taken us - What Star War controversies through the years can teach us REFERENCES: Watch: J.D. Vance Makes an Unfortunate Couch Joke at Nevada Rally This Is Why J.D. Vance Hates “Childless Cat Ladies” How JD Vance Thinks About

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01:03:25

#1248 There you go again. Venezuela and America's...

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/08/09

Original Air Date: 2/8/2019 Amid the ongoing fallout of a contested presidential election, we take a look back, briefly, at the last 100 years of Venezuelan history to understand how they went from oil riches and inequality to revolution and social progress only to run afoul of American imperialism Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! SHOW NOTES Ch. 1:

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01:49:04

#1647 How to Eliminate Homelessness While Maintaining...

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/08/06

Air Date 8/6/2024 After the recent Supreme Court ruling that allowed governments to constitutionally purge unhoused people from public spaces, we are getting an immediate lesson in the difference between addressing systemic problems with solutions and using the police to clean up after governments that failed to act. 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!)

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16:03

Bonus Sample #315 You Do You, You Weirdos

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/08/04

BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Hear the Full Show, Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Air Date: 8-4-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - The use of strategic ambiguity as a way to ensure everyone hears what they want to hear - How weird Republicans are now - How the joke about JD Vance having sex with a couch is viewed as plausible because his inability to deal with generational trauma has made him a bizarre person - How the right's bigotry runs so deep, they can't escape it even when they

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02:07:47

#1646 The Kamalanomenon and the Inevitable Misogynoir...

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/08/02

Air Date 8/2/2024 The Kamala Harris presidential campaign has been on a wild ride since it unexpectedly began less than two weeks ago. Record fund raising, organic enthusiasm not seen since Obama, and the ugly pushback to match. 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 POINTS KP 1: This Is What DEI Means (And Why

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01:44:41

#1645 J.D. Vance, Faux Republican Economic Populism...

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/07/30

Air Date 7/30/2024 The Republican Party is making it sound like they're trying to transform themselves into the party of working people. There's a mountain of evidence suggesting that you shouldn't believe them but there's also plenty of reason to sit up and take notice of the situation. 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!

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18:29

Bonus Sample #314 The Lesson of The Grinch

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/07/29

BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Hear the Full Show, Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Air Date: 7-29-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - All of our hope-y, fearful feelings about this political moment - The sexist, racist insults already being hurled at Harris - The perceived threat of a woman's laugh - Men's deep-seeded struggle with masculinity REFERENCES: Trump campaign finally reveals why ex president continues to profess love for Hannibal Lecter in speeches What people mean when

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02:28:44

#1644 State of Play: The RNC Cultish Clown Show,...

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/07/26

Air Date 7/26/2024 It's clear where the vast majority of violent rhetoric is coming from in the country and it's clear which party is a cult of personality and which puts country before personal power. This is the state of play in our politics. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Transcript | Full Show Notes BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS KP 1: Jeff Sharlet on Trump

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01:13:06

#1526 A History of Political Violence in the US...

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/07/23

Original Air Date: 11/15/2022 Today, we take a look at our extremely steady history of political violence from the Revolution, through the Civil War, Reconstruction and Jim Crow, into the Civil Rights era, the Militia Movement and domestic terrorism, and now to our current once-again-radicalized, right-wing movement willing to use and tacitly condone violence as a political tactic. Transcript Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

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16:36

Bonus Sample #313 Consistency When it Matters

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/07/21

Air Date: 7-21-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, and Deon (Erin couldn't join us) discuss: - Deon's hatred of old people - How the media industry's failing state led to ineffective coverage of the Biden age story - Amanda's excellent sports analogy - The factors that have lead to America's worsening gerontocracy REFERENCES: Did the media botch the Biden age story? Jon Stewart Examines Biden’s Future Amidst Calls For Him to Drop Out | The Daily Show Inside the Complicated Reality of Being America’s Oldest

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02:30:54

#1643 Extremism Comes in Many Forms: SCOTUS goes...

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/07/20

Air Date 7/20/2024 Extremism comes in many forms and we live in an era in which way too many of them are on display simultaneously, but it's not coincidence. The far right has been working toward an extremist Supreme Court for decades. Christian Nationalists have similarly been trying to impose their rigid view of far-right Christianity on the rest of us for a very long time. The far-right Heritage Foundation now deems this to be the time to attempt to radicalize the federal bureaucracy, and

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02:09:10

#1642 Tumultuous Year of Democracy: Left-Wing...

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/07/17

Air Date 7/17/2024 Recent elections in the UK, France and Mexico spanned the spectrum from confirming inevitabilities to completely upending expectations but they each have lessons for politics in the US Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (20% off in July! Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS KP 1: The UK Election Results Explained - TLDR News - Air Date 7-5-24 KP

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21:55

Bonus Sample #312 In a Dinghy of Hope

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/07/14

BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Hear the Full Show, Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Air Date: 7-14-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, and Deon (Erin couldn't join us) discuss: - How we're feeling - The philosophy of liberal patriotism - The positive policies Democrats should be running on to inspire voters - The reckoning the current Democratic Party desperately needs REFERENCES: Liberal Patriotism Is About More Than Flag-Waving How to Beat Trump in a World of Unreason Democrats don’t just need a new

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01:52:13

#1641 Green Energy and Public Transport: Feeling blue...

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/07/12

Air Date 7/12/2024 From solar scams to controversial congestion pricing and the smart grid that's needed to connect it all, we look at the messy and difficult path to a low-carbon future. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS KP 1: When solar power leaves you feeling burned - Today, Explained - Air Date 1-2-24 KP 2: How can we

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01:01:04

#1247 The Fight for the Four Freedoms (FDR vs....

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/07/09

Original Air Date: 2/5/2019 Today we take a look at the history of FDR's "Four Freedoms" and "Economic Bill of Rights" that laid the groundwork for the fight for economic freedom for all that continues to this day. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Get AD FREE Shows and Bonus Content) Join our Discord community! SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Harvey Kaye, "The Fight for the Four Freedoms" - Book TV - Air Date 5-11-14 Harvey

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18:09

Bonus Sample #311 Primal Scream of Catharsis

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/07/07

Air Date: 7-7-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - Some stuff that we planned and A LOT more that we did not. REFERENCES: The Cause That Turned Idealists Into Authoritarian Zealots 'Extreme wealth as power must be regulated’: 31-year-old heiress is letting 50 strangers give her $27 million fortune away The Baffling Disaster Unfolding at the Washington Post The Democratic Governor Whose Message Can’t Be Beat Best of the Left #1247 The Fight for the Four Freedoms (FDR vs

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02:54:11

#1640 China Explained: From Cars to Computer Chips,...

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on... ·

2024/07/05

Air Date 7/5/2024 China is an undeniable force in the world relating to several major political issues and to address their influence without a deep understanding of the history, context, and current dynamics would be to invite 100 years of humiliation. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS KP 1: Joe Biden's Radical Worldview - More

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