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: 6-2-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- How one MIT study used AI to reduce belief in conspiracy theories
- How a new AI tool is attempting to make comments sections less awful
- Some advice from Korea's litigious political environment on how to deal with Trump
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REFERENCES:
America’s Worst Time Zone
Original Air Date: 9/19/2017
Today we look not so much at hurricanes and the climate science behind them (though we touch on that as well) but focus more on what we can see more clearly when it’s illuminated by so-called “natural” disasters, the structural inequality and legacies of decision-making that make these disasters worse than they need to be
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Air Date 5/28/2024
Today we look at the most disappointing yet most idolized false heroes of our day, the titans of tech and the zany hijinks they've been getting up to recently.
Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
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KEY POIN...
Air Date: 5-26-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- the con of supply and demand economics being about distributing goods with the greatest efficiency, and is instead nothing more than predatory greed
- what we value as humans goes far beyond the price of commodities
- even more examples of the enshitification of life via hostile experiences from things we've already paid for
- how companies restrict functionality to cr...
Air Date 5/24/2024
Assessing the impacts of new diet drugs on physical and mental health in the context of our unhealthy food system and societal fat phobia
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KEY POINT...
Air Date 5/21/2024
Whether by the US government playing matchmaker for the domestic weapons industry or through the illegal trade of the 'iron river,' the US is the leading seller of weapons around the world, fueling violence and conflict, oppression and rights abuses.
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Original Air Date: 5/9/2015
Today we take a look at the continuing failure that is the War on Drugs™ as well as some of the signs of hope that we may be making progress toward shutting it down
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
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Air Date: 5-16-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- How mega drive-throughs are ruining American towns and cities
- Why giant car washes are popping up across the country and what we could have instead
- How Tokyo's beautiful public toilets are an inspiration
- The impact boring and ugly buildings are having on our mental hea...
Air Date 5/15/2024
In an age of cultish in-group/out-group politics and media, we seek to find messaging for progressive partisans to achieve electoral success
Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
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FRONTPAGE
FP 1: Everything's a cult n...
Air Date 5/11/2024
The effort to turn theory into practice that will open up new ways of thinking about antitrust lawsuits attempting to rein in big tech and other mega-corporations, which are operating in a new phase of capitalism.
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BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get B...
Air Date 5/7/2024
Civil resistance on campuses across the country against Israeli genocide in Gaza calling for cease fire and divestment, university administrations up to the Biden administration respond, often with overwhelming violence and claims of antisemitism.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Air Date: 5-5-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- Jerry Seinfeld blaming the "extreme left" and "PC culture" for the death of sitcoms
- how Poe's Law (and the Amanda Principle) makes creating and identifying satire difficult
- how TV shows trying to satirize the left for the left struggle to land the jokes
REFERENCES:
Jerry Seinfeld Says TV Comedy Is Being Killed By the ‘Extreme Left and P.C. Crap and People Worrying ...
Air Date 5/3/2024
A look back at previous coverage of criminalizing protests, weaponizing civility, and violent responses to peaceful dissent.
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SHOW NOTES
Air Date 5/1/2024
The past, present, and future of tackling the uselessness of extreme wealth by exposing and closing tax avoidance loopholes and pushing for a culture change to embrace the need for a more equal society.
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BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Clips a...
Air Date: 4-29-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- how the film 'Civil War' intentionally avoids any specifics about the "why", and in doing so becomes a perfect encapsulation of the Amanda Principle™
- how "the view from nowhere"...
Original Air Date 9/14/2022
Today, we take a look at the history and hysteria behind debt and debt forgiveness while Biden is canceling student debt and opponents of the idea are reacting in the most predictable way possible because they misunderstand the relationship between debt and morality.
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Air Date 4/24/2024
Only by understanding the past can we understand the present and the histories of Cuba and Haiti have very stark lessons to impart about the cruelty of the Cuba embargo, the repercussions of imperial exploitation, and the dangers that arise amid dysfunctional democracy.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
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Air Date: 4-22-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- How Israeli citizens and government officials use of the US's settler-colonialist past, westward expansion, and religious fundamentalism to justify their own settler expansion
- How the members of the extreme right are put in positions of power within the Israeli government, which is then used to...
Air Date 4/20/2024
Old habits die hard and the American establishment's unquestioning support for Israel is a very old habit indeed. Israel's government drifts farther and farther to the right, culminating in a genocidal push into Gaza. Meanwhile, President Biden, standard-bearer of the old establishment, seems destined to be the very last Democrat to see the need for a change.
Air Date: 4-18-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- how a tech start-up is trying to sell a shortcut to bliss
- the world of drug-free psychedelic experiences
- the capitalists trying to solve the loneliness epidemic
REFERENCES:
The Meditation Start-Up That’s Selling Bliss on Demand
What’s it like to take a $249 drug-free psychedelic trip? We found out
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