The Professional Left Podcast with Driftglass and Blue Gal

Alt Title:  What 'Road House' Can Teach Democrats

What is the hidden wisdom in Patrick Swayze's movie Road House (MST3K IYKYK) that Democrats desperately need to understand? 

Answers to this and more, in this week's episode! 

Stay in Touch! 

• Email: proleftpodcast@gmail.com
• Website: proleftpod.com
• Support via Patreon: patreon.com/proleftpod
• Mail: The Professional Left, PO Box 9133, Springfield, Illinois, 62791

S...

Why do we keep lurching violently between Democrats and fascists if every election is supposedly a "change election"? What happens when the media's obsession with "disruption" as a political cure-all actually gets what it wished for?

We examine the fundamental split in American politics: Do we want change that means progress toward a better tomorrow, or change that means a belligerent return to an imaginary ...

Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, Tulsi Gabbard, and Jeanine Pirro are in positions of power to finally bring justice to history's greatest villains?  So why are there still no indictments of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton?  We know why!  

We trace the straight line from Bush's load-bearing lies about Iraq and Katrina to Trump's promises of revenge against Democrats, and examine what happens when the MAGA mob's expectat...

Trump's approval ratings have crashed to 37% - that magical Sarah Palin floor where only the most delusional true believers remain loyal. 

What do chemical bonds and political loyalties have in common, and why are some Trump voters starting to break away while his hardcore base would happily be entombed with him in the afterlife? 

Looking back 20 years to Bush's catastrophic second term, we trace the eerily similar trajecto...

What happens when Democratic governors fight like they mean it? We dive into J.B. Pritzker's masterclass in political combat. He talks like a #%&$&! FDR Democrat! 

And here's the crucial question nobody wants to ask: if the majority of Americans already support what would be considered a progressive agenda, why do Democrats keep getting lectured to move right? 

Why do the punches of Pritzker, Newsom, and Walz hit so...

An entire industry profits from pumping out addictive political poison designed to make people angrier, more paranoid, and more stupid. But here's the twist: the carriers of democracy's most lethal disease aren't the red-faced bigots you'd expect.

How did "Both Sides Do It" become the perfect shield for scoundrels and the eternal lament of suckers? Why are seasoned journalists finally catching up to whe...

How does a nineteenth-century Republican president, and a modern Republican vice president, handle low water levels? The answer may cost you taxpayer money!

What drives Laura Loomer to call Marjorie Taylor Greene a "narcissistic witch" and "home-wrecking whore"?   Never mind!  Did you know Trump is all over the Epstein files? 

Are we witnessing fascist purity tests tearing apart Trump's inner circle? Cool!

Why...

When the con man owns the sheriff, the judge, and the executioner, math becomes the enemy.  And Donald Trump and Gavin Newsom are making the same mistake regarding their respective political base voters.  More at proleftpod.com. 

Oh, and Donald Trump is all over the Epstein Files.  It's a cover up. 

Stay in Touch! 

• Email: proleftpodcast@gmail.com
• Website: proleftpod.com
• Support via Patreon: patreon.com/proleftpod
• Mail: The Profe...

This week we cope with the ongoing political chaos by escaping to the movies - specifically The Fantastic Four: First Steps - and then diving deep into why ChatGPT won't help us redraw Illinois congressional districts to eliminate Republican seats entirely. We explore the curious moral programming of AI, question whether algorithmic neutrality is itself a form of partisanship.

Oh, and Donald Trump is in the Epstein Files. 

Stay ...

This week, we dive deep into the concept of justice and ask the hard question: where are the consequences? We break down the different flavors of justice—from retributive to restorative, distributive to procedural—and examine why none of them seem to be working when it comes to holding powerful people accountable.

We explore how the Republican Party has spent decades teaching its voters that they never have to face consequences for ...

We're asking the question everyone stopped asking: whatever happened to QAnon?

And what does it mean when their cult leader starts calling his followers "stupid" and "foolish."

What happens when people who believe JFK Jr and Sr are still alive find out their cult leader is renaming The Kennedy Center?  

It's a "Whatever Happened To?" episode that reveals the answer was hiding in plain sight.  

St...

This week we dive into why platforming fascists is always a terrible idea, using Mehdi Hasan's recent Jubilee debate as our cautionary tale. We examine how these staged confrontations accomplish nothing except providing content for right-wing sites and turning wannabe fascists into MAGA heroes.

We break down the employment reality behind Connor Estelle's firing (spoiler: it's called "at-will employment," not...

We're diving deep into some unexpected connections this week. What do a 425-year-old Shakespeare tragedy and James Gunn's new Superman movie have in common? More than you might think—especially regarding fathers, sons, and the weight of living up to impossible expectations.

We'll also mark the 100th anniversary of the Scopes trial verdict and explore how little (and how much) has changed since then. Spoiler alert: the...

We're mad as hell, and we're not going to take it anymore. After 15 years of ringing alarm bells about the Republican party's dangers to our democracy, we find ourselves in the midst of what we're calling "Stupid Watergate Summer" – and it's cooking now.

This week, we break down the eerie parallels between Nixon's original Watergate scandal and Trump's current pedophile coverup crisis. Fr...

This week we're celebrating Blue Gal's birthday while diving deep into Trump's latest meltdown over the Epstein files. We break down how the former reality TV star is now turning his trademark attack style on his own MAGA base as they demand answers about his promised disclosures that never materialized.

Remember: when MAGA tries to change the subject, there's only one question that matters - what about Trump cov...

Join us this week as we explore the slow-motion collapse of expertise and institutions in America through the lens of Isaac Asimov's classic science fiction story "Nightfall."

We examine how the MAGA mob's assault on knowledge mirrors the fictional planet Lagash, where civilization periodically burns itself down in fear of what it doesn't understand. We're witnessing a Cultural Revolution-style purge of...

We dive into the Republican party's latest identity crisis as their own media machine turns on itself. We explore how decades of conspiracy theories and manufactured outrage have created a base that demands their leaders deliver on impossible promises—and what happens when reality finally catches up.

We examine the MAGA movement's relationship with truth, the cult-like devotion that prevents accountability, and how certain...

We're visiting America in the ICU on her 249th birthday, hoping the old girl still has some fight left in her.

A sad day as Trump's disastrous bill passes the House.  We are still fighting.  

This week, we explore the dark matter of American politics - that invisible force that explains why so many voters can't see what's right in front of them. Spoiler alert: it's not really dark at all.

We examine the origin...

Hat tip to John Fetter-Manchin (copyright Driftglass), we're grudgingly back from our beach vacation (okay, we never actually left the Cornfield Resistance) to bring you the political chaos that just won't quit.

This week, we dive into the summer breakup season hitting Washington hard. From senators throwing tantrums and storming out over Trump's latest budget disaster... to billionaire Twitter feuds that read like ce...