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PODCAST

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!

news politics

All Episodes

04:29:44

#1774 Monthly-ish Mix: Who's in Charge?—The Scramble...

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

2026/03/03

Air Date: 3/3/2026 The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month we examine the multi-front struggle for control: military force and economic coercion seizing resources abroad, institutions weaponized to constrain bodies at home, platforms and propaganda capturing minds, and the democratic resistance proving that organized people can still win. Be part of the show! Leave a voice message, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01,

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01:01:59

#1615 Envisioning a Leftist Economic Future of...

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

2026/02/28

Original 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. Be part of the show! Leave a voice message, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

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01:10:21

#1540 The Grift of Life (Scam Culture™ and the...

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

2026/02/26

Original Air Date: 1/31/2023 Today, we take a look at just some of the nearly infinite ways in which our society, culture and economy are infused from top to bottom with Scam Culture™ that is bleeding us dry both financially and mentally. Be part of the show! Leave a voice message, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes Check out our new show, SOLVED! on YouTube! BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links

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22:40

SOLVED! SAMPLE! #34 - Understanding The Dual State:...

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

2026/02/25

Air Date: 2-17-26 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch. 1 - The "dual state" concept coined by German Jewish political scientist and labor lawyer Ernst Fraenkel in his 1941 book "The Dual State: A Contribution to the Theory of Dictatorship" Ch. 2 - Navigating the psychological toll of living under authoritarianism Ch. 3 - "Woke 2.0" as a movement, and dismantling conservative critiques of virtue Ch. 4 - What is actually required to build an effective, broad anti-authoritarian coalition

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03:26:08

#1773 How Big Tech Captured Attention, Kids, and...

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

2026/02/24

Air Date: 2/23/2026 Today we examine how the platforms that monetize your attention are merging with state power. We'll hear how TikTok's new owners include Trump ally Larry Ellison, how DHS sent hundreds of subpoenas to unmask anonymous ICE critics, how Ring's Super Bowl ad cheerfully introduced AI-powered neighborhood surveillance, and how the social media addiction trials that are being likened to the Big Tobacco settlement of the 90s, are finally exposing what these companies knew about the

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03:16:29

#1772 From Fragile to Fascist: How Broken Masculinity...

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

2026/02/21

Air Date: 2/19/2026 Today we trace the pipeline from masculine grievance to fascism. We'll hear how ICE agents' own family members describe them as low-IQ bullies chasing signing bonuses, why a former white nationalist explains that the alternative to unpacking discomfort is becoming overtly racist, how incel culture evolved from lonely forums into a MAGA recruitment tool, and what researchers found about why men socialized to equate violence with manhood end up joining state-sanctioned death

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03:33:38

#1771 They Need You in the Dark: Information,...

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

2026/02/15

Air Date 2/15/2026 Today we explore the gap between free speech rhetoric and the reality of arrested reporters. We'll hear how a decade of cancel culture panic over college students gave way to actual government suppression of journalists, why the DOJ is perverting a law designed to fight the Ku Klux Klan to prosecute Black journalists, how the administration that promised to "bring back free speech" is maintaining lists of forbidden words, and what history teaches about humor as a weapon against

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24:04

SOLVED! SAMPLE! #33 - Be a Mosquito in a Swarm: How...

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

2026/02/13

Air Date: 2-3-26 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch. 1 - Trump's Pillars of Support, and plugging into community building & local support networks Ch. 2 - Case studies in success: Avelo Airlines & Spotify and why they matter Ch. 3 - Pressure campaigns at home and abroad and why they are important Ch. 4 - The new cracks in MAGA, and building up the political opposition party we need SOLVED! BACKSTAGE: Beyond the Algorithm (Members Only!): The second amendment folks' weird

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03:07:38

#1770 Getting in the Fight Against ICE and...

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

2026/02/10

Air Date 2/10/2026 Today we explore what effective resistance actually looks like. We'll hear why Jamelle Bouie says the panic of those in power signals that opposition is working, what abolitionists teach us about fighting without knowing the ending, and how Minneapolis proved that democratic force can overwhelm physical force. Be part of the show! Leave a voice message, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes Check out our new show,

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59:58

#1128 Confronting Fascism in the Land of Free Speech...

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

2026/02/06

Original Air Date: 8-25-2017 Today we look at the constant struggle between the freedom to speak and the necessary limits placed on that freedom due to the rights of others to not be substantially harmed by that speech Be part of the show! Leave a voice message, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes Check out our new show, SOLVED! on YouTube! BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop

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24:47

SOLVED! #32 - How the Left is Always Right Too Soon...

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

2026/02/05

Air Date: 01-28-26 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch 1 - Why it's not actually "fun" to be right too early (despite being called 'insufferable') Ch 2 - The political elites and neoliberals who are frantically changing their tune now that a left-wing populist movement is here Ch 3 - The Cassandras of the Left who knew and tried to warn that Trump would be a fascist Ch 4 - The Anti-Alarmists who stifled the Cassandras warnings Ch 5 - What if we actually listened to the Left next time

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02:55:49

#1769 Politics Beyond the Ballot Box: Elections and...

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

2026/02/01

Air Date 2/1/2026 Today we examine what's actually working against the Trump regime and the role of this year's elections. Unsurprisingly, his own voter fraud investigation just proved him a liar, Democrats are overperforming expectations in House special elections, and Zohran Mamdani's campaign based on having fun in community needs to be a model for every movement against authoritarianism. Be part of the show! Leave a voice message, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email

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03:37:03

#1768 The End of an Era: The International...

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

2026/01/30

Air Date 1/29/2026 Today we examine the collapse of the American-led, rules-based world order (such as it was) in real time. Canada's Prime Minister pointed out that the emperor has no clothes and declared US hegemony over while Europe called Trump's bluff on Greenland... all the more reason why he would prefer a fake "Board of Peace" that he can rule over as a worldwide plutocracy. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01,

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54:37

SOLVED! FROM THE ARCHIVES - "Of Horse Races and Men:...

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

2026/01/26

Re-Air Date: 01–26-26 Original Air Date: 06-09-24 Unless you were a member in June of 2024, this episode of SOLVED! will be brand new to you! If you were a member back then, THANK YOU and this one is worth a re-listen. We're slowing down production for a little bit to reorganize our production processes, so enjoy this episode from our archives (and before YouTube) where Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: - How the media focus on the "politics" of an event trivializes the impact that event has

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02:48:05

#1767 Wars Are Won By Teachers and Trump is Attacking...

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

2026/01/25

Air Date: 1/25/2026 Today we examine education as the battleground for democracy itself. We'll hear how authoritarians erase history to maintain power, why liberal arts colleges don't exist in authoritarian societies, how the administration is punishing universities for their political views, and what the detention of student protesters reveals about the cost of dissent in Trump's America. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle

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03:35:10

#1766 The Fragility of State Violence: The ICE...

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

2026/01/21

Air Date: 1/21/2026 Today we look at ICE's reign of terror as a paramilitary occupation force and the communities pushing back. We'll hear about Renee Goode, an unarmed woman shot dead by federal agents, and Keith Porter, killed by an off-duty agent on New Year's Eve, in addition to historical parallels from Civil-Rights Era Selma, Alabama and the Boston Massacre. The signs of hope here are that the oppressed won those fights and the oppressors were forced to retreat - there's every reason to

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26:14

SOLVED! SAMPLE! #31 - There is no "Male Loneliness...

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

2026/01/20

Air Date: 01-12-26 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch. 1 - Why it's actually NOT a "Male Loneliness Epidemic (TM)" and even the non-crazy male influencers aren't helping Ch. 2 - Why loneliness is better understood by age, and how society has not emotionally equipped men for struggle Ch. 3 - Why American-style capitalism is the root cause of loneliness epidemic and is stranding women and mothers Ch. 4 - Why the solutions for societal loneliness don't align with fascist governments,

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02:58:10

#1765 AI Capitalism Will Not Deliver an AI Utopia

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

2026/01/17

Air Date: 1/17/2026 There's a lot to be concerned about with AI but the biggest concern is the economic system we have in place at the moment when AI is being introduced. Capitalism is not a good steward of new and potentially dangerous technology, as we've seen from Zuckerberg's move-fast-and-break-things era of social media that he later recognized as having triggered a genocide. When the profit drive necessitates light-speed growth, ethical and safety considerations are the first things to be

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02:39:40

#1764 Wealth Inequality is Bad for Society and...

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

2026/01/15

Air Date: 1/14/2026 Being a bad person who doesn't care about others is helpful in one's pursuit of becoming wealthy. However, becoming wealthy is also helpful in becoming a bad person who doesn't care about others, not that anyone sets out with this as a goal but it is a natural byproduct of wealth and the normal functioning of our market economy. What this means is that the nature of money, market dynamics, and wealth to corrode morality is a systemic problem, not a collection of individual

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02:47:27

#1763 It's Not a Health Care System, it's a Wealth...

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

2026/01/10

Air Date: 1/9/2026 The Republican Party has been angry about every government service and regulation designed to help average people for at least the past 90 years. And, given any opportunity to hobble or destroy any of those services or regulations in the past decades, they've done just that. Now, after 15 years of striving to destroy the Affordable Care Act - itself originally a conservative plan from the Heritage Foundation (not joking) - they're using the cult-like hold that Trump has on the

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