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
Original Air Date: 10–16-2020
Today we take a look at the history and origins of the American militia movement right up to the recent plot to kidnap the Governor of Michigan, the likelihood of more violence and the high probability that they will show up at polling places on Election Day.
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Air Date 7/16/2025
It increasingly feels like we are completely past the era of legitimate differences in political philosophy and policy preferences. Now that the Republican governing style has been completely consumed by Trumpism, we've entered the era of scam politics which fits nicely with Trump's traditional retail scams, capitalism's continual reinvention of financial scams, and the new age of crypto scams.
Air Date: 7–13-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:
⁃ The calculated, propaganda motives behind “Mar-a-Lago face”
and bizarre MAGA hyper-femininity
⁃ How MAGA uses Kristi Noem’s “Border Barbie” vibes to attempt to
Air Date 7/12/2025
The idea of the founders was to separate and balance the powers of the federal government and that, as Madison wrote, that ambition would counteract ambition. The problem we face now is that the ambition of the Supreme Court is to give as much power as possible to the executive branch because, ironically, they seem to be nostalgic for a king.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, messag...
Air Date 7/9/2025
It's an old joke that "military intelligence" is a good example of an oxymoron so I just asked an AI chatbot to finish a joke about what a military becomes when they implement artificial intelligence. It said, "an oxymoron squared - or as the generals call it, "strategically enhanced stupidity with a confidence interval of 95%" which is not funny but still managed to be pretty on point regarding the dangers of ove...
Air Date: 7–7-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:
- Some advice on understanding how to identify imperfect allies vs. true opponents
- Good-faith critiques of (and agreements with) socialist NYU Professor Vivek Chibber’s views on identity politics on the Left
- Working Families Party head Maurice Mitchell’s id...
Original Air Date: 10-21-20
Today we take a look at some of the many zany foreign misadventures the United States has had over the past 100 years. And by "zany misadventures" I mean the naked pursuit of capitalism at any cost, the support of military coups and other undemocratic overthrows of foreign governments and wars for oil and resources in an unabashed attempt to keep America wealthy and the rest of the world less so - all wh...
Air Date 7/2/2025
The militarization of Trump's deportation regime and response to protesters is the clearest example of his desire to implement a fully authoritarian government. Pure and simple.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on the infamous Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Check out our new show, SOLVED! on ...
Air Date: 6–30-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:
- Shifting the way we think and talk about the benefits of peaceful nonviolence at anti-fascist protests
- The unlimited patience for capitalism vs. the knee-jerk “Impossible!” for left-wing ideas
- The centrists Democrats (and their consultants) missing the forest for the trees
- An antidote to decades of neoliberal approaches ...
Air Date 6/28/2025
The militarization of Trump's deportation regime and response to protesters is the clearest example of his desire to implement a fully authoritarian government. Pure and simple.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on the infamous Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Full Show Notes
Check out our new show, SOLVED! on YouTube!
Air Date: 6-25-2025
We thought we were going to have an episode about the war Israel is conducting ready for you last week but then they started another war. So, it would have felt odd to release an Israel episode without the latest major updates including Iran. I can only imagine what will happen between the time I speak these words and when you hear them that will make this episode feel out of date.
Air Date: 6–23-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:
- The long history of nostalgia in politics as we find ourselves reliving the 1980s
- How MAGA Youth have a lot in common with Reagan Youth (a la Alex P. Keaton) without the context
- Trump’s Reaganitis: All the ways Trump is just straight up copying Reagan and how he could fail like ...
Air Date 6/21/2025
The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month, we're focusing on the way authoritarian movements operate across multiple fronts simultaneously to reshape society.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on the infamous Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Air Date 6/18/2025
Critics of capitalism like us often advocate for the system to come to an end and be replaced with another that aligns better with human needs and continued existence. Well, it's possible that the system is close to having run its course and will be making way for something different. Unfortunately, the natural course of capitalism is to concentrate wealth and, by extension, power so that's what's happened and we...
Original Air Date: 2-20-2024
"Luddite" should never have become the epithet that it is as the Luddites were never afraid of or opposed to technological advancement, they only opposed the exploitation of workers and the degradation to society that came with the unfair distribution of the benefits of the targeted technology.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on the i...
Air Date: 6-11-2025
Following the 2023 attack and counterattack between Israel and Hamas which brought the simmering conflict into the mainstream of American politics, we're now living with the opportunistic weaponization of antisemitism being used as a pretext to crack down on anti-Israel protests and universities that just aren't teaching a Trump-aligned curriculum. Meanwhile, genuinely inexcusable antis...
Air Date: 6-8-25
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Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:
- The right’s attack on free speech and academic freedom
- Trumponomics, men, and tradwives
- The lessons to learn about culture wars from the fight for gay marriage
- How the internet and Trump force us to live in and re-litigate the past
- How the left can avoid Trump’s culture war traps
Air Date 6/6/2025
Today, Trump's administration is doing everything in its power to end the era of educational dominance the US has enjoyed for decades. The simple fact that explains the change is that democracy used to be valued across the political spectrum while todays Republican Party is authoritarian and understands that an educated public is a public that demands democracy while an uneducated public is much easier to manipula...
Original Air Date: 12-8-2023
Neoliberalism has created a lot of economic suffering and insecurity in addition to weakened social ties over the past few decades. And now, in what may be the most devastating result of the ideology yet, neoliberalism may be leading much of the world toward fascism bolstered by legitimate grievances about economic precarity which are coopted by the false promises of right-wing...
Air Date: 6–2-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:
- The role of art in political movements and moments under capitalism
- The problems with the Democratic Party that go far beyond Biden
- The Democrats’ gerontocracy that is literally dying and allowing Trump legislation to pass
- Our response to the latest DNC Executive ...
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