Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
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!
Episodes
Air Date 11/21/2025
In an ethical political system, being willing to break the law in order to starve people amid a political dispute wouldn't be a source of greater leverage and power but it is in ours and the shutdown put the wildly different senses of ethics between the parties on full display.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestO...
Air Date: 11-10-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:
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Ch. 1 - "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps"
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Ch. 2 - "Politically correct"
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Ch. 3 - "Ethnic cleansing"
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Ch. 4 - "Meritocracy"
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Ch. 5 - Our current "wealth pump" crisis and how it has been solved throughout history
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BACKSTAGE! Beyond the Algorithm (Members Only!): The best words to articulate the current moment
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...Air Date 11/7/2025
The most dangerous part of nuclear weapons has always been the people in charge of them. As we potentially enter a new arms race, some of the worst people in the world are in charge of the vast majority of nuclear weapons.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Air Date: 11/11/25
The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month we examine how power is being quietly consolidated across institutions, how propaganda and AI are reshaping our sense of reality, and how division and fear are fueling both domestic repression and global aggression. From the Supreme Court to state media manipulation, from dismantled voting rights ...
Air Date 11/7/2025
The United States claiming a divine (and imperialist) right to tamper in the politics of South American countries is nothing new. As is so often the case with Trump, the biggest difference is that he's doing proudly and in the open what used to be done only shamefully and in secret.
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Re-Air Date: 11–6-25
Unless you were a member in January of 2025, this episode of SOLVED! will be brand new to you! We're slowing down production for a little bit to reorganize our production processes, so enjoy this episode from our archives (and B.Y: before YouTube) where Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:
- Ch. 1 - Why people love villains
Air Date 11/4/2025
Elections are always coming up, some sooner than others, so we thought we would take a look at the state of our democracy and what we must do to maintain it in the face of the greatest direct assault on our institutions we've seen in our 250 year history.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Air Date 11/02/2025
A lot of people on the left aren't feeling the love for their country right now and that's understandable but we have some thoughts on more productive ways to channel those conflicting feelings toward a country that is currently falling far short of living up to its founding ideals.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@...
Air Date 10/28/2025
As we were looking for episode topics, I came across an article making the case that racism is a real problem in the country and that there were lots of recent examples that proved the point. And I was like, "Racism? In the US?! In Trump's Republican Party?? That doesn't sound like the country I've heard of." (sarcasm) But then we looked into it and it turns out racism is everywhere a...
Air Date 10/25/2025
Trump's attacks on free speech, particularly with the use of the Federal Communications Commission, goes far beyond the Jimmy Kimmel story. We're in the middle of an all-out assault on freedom of speech, a free and unbiased press, and freedom of association.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestofthele...
Original Air Date: 10/13/2020
Today we take a look at the myths of Columbus and American Exceptionalism™ that we cling to and turn our gaze to some of the less-understood but more accurate and important aspects of our collective history
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Air Date: 10–14-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:
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Ch. 1 - The cartoonish conservative and libertarian responses to Trump's state capitalism
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Ch. 2 - Trump's interest in sovereign wealth funds, and the lie the right sells its supporters about getting money back
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Ch. 3 - The left spectrum of reactions to Trump's state capitalism
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Ch. 4 - Why Trump is definitely, 100%, not in any way a ...
Air Date 10/19/2025
Robber Barons™ of The Gilded Age™ told themselves stories about how they were ushering in progress for all which is why, they argued, they shouldn't be constrained by things like safety regulations or worker unions - impoverishing millions while injuring and killing thousands in the process. It took a stock market crash, the Great Depression, WWII, and The New Deal to finally wrench the power away and redistribu...
Air Date: 10–5-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:
- Ch. 1 - The state of American media consolidation
- Ch. 2 - The debate over free speech and the how the history of the right proves they have never been in favor of it.
- Ch. 3 - The Trump administrations latest aggressive anti-free speech moves, and the Jimmy Kimmel suspension
- Ch. 4 - A look at how independent media was a...
Air Date 10/10/2025
The strategy that Trump and the masterminds behind Project 2025 are following is to move as fast as possible to implement their agenda because they know perfectly well how unpopular it is and will be as time goes on. It's hard to argue that anything good will come of this but I'm going to try during my comments anyway.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the h...
Air Date 10/7/2025
The Trump administration has been doing what we knew it would: breaking laws and losing about 95% of their court battles. And the conservatively stacked Supreme Court has been doing what we knew it would: overwhelmingly ruling for Trump to cover his tracks because that's what they were put there to do.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestofthelef...
Air Date 10/3/2025
People around the world are angry, often for different reasons and even more frequently based on falseities - though not always. For instance, the Right in the UK and France are upset about immigration though most of those who are angry are wrong about the facts. But there's also widespread dissatisfaction with national governments and pessimism about their ability to make life better over the short term which is...
Air Date: 09/30/25
The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month we track the dangerous convergence of domestic collapse and international chaos by looking at political violence and martyrdom accelerating division, institutional capture from the courts to the media, the dismantling of voting rights and public health infrastructure, military deployments at home and wars abroa...
Air Date: 9–24-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:
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Ch. 1 - Intro, and quick follow up on bad satire
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Ch. 2 - The new culture of 'buy now pay later' and how these companies are manipulating the public to normalize the culture of overconsumption
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Ch. 3 - How companies pass the environmental toll of their products on the public, and the rise of "cute" debt
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Ch. 4 - The way heavy 'buy now ...
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 ...
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