Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Original Air Date 1/15/2022 Today we take a look at tradeoffs that are becoming ever more evident between the advancement of mass communication and social media technologies and the ways in which those advancements contribute to the degradation of social cohesion. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com   Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (...

Original Air Date: 2-23-23 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Erin and Deon discuss: - Briefly celebrating a Super Bowl victory - Extinguishing empathy for profit  - Manifesting disaster through film - The Ohio derailment - The value of ownership - Reducing workplace stressors   REFERENCES: 'You unleash hell on your kids': Central Texas mom warns parents about 'Hocus Pocus 2′   After East Palestine derailment,...

Air Date 2/22/2023 Today, we take a look at some of the work of the chaotic wrecking crew that is the GOP of the 118th Congress including their plan to hold the world economy hostage and weaponize the government against Democrats all while infighting their way to the 2024 presidential election. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com   Transcr...

Air Date 2/17/2023 Today, we take a look at the importance of teaching a full and unflinching version of Black history and why the campaign to block it is reaching a peak at this moment in time. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com   Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Get AD FREE Shows and Bonus Content) Join our Discord community ! OUR...

Air Date 2/14/2023 Today, we take a look at some origins, alternatives and misunderstandings of capitalism from the Dutch East India Company, to Adam Smith and up through the planned obsolescence and marketing that have tricked us all into working far harder than necessary while failing to make us happy. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com...

Air Date 2/10/2023 Today, we take a look at the recent rise in tensions in the wake of Israel electing what may be their most right-wing government to date. Literal fascists are now in the governing coalition, violence is rising and reforms are being considered to effectively remove judicial review from the governing process all while the US continues to give its support. Be part of the show! Leav...

Air Date: 2-8-23 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Erin and Deon discuss: - Using emotional intelligence to talk about sports - Uncomfortable conversations and circular logic - Nouning The French - Political Spam REFERENCES: The French Want to Remain the French - New York Times Words Matter by Sally McConnell-Ginet (Affiliate link) CONNECT ON DISCORD Connect your Discord to Patreon https://support.patreon.com/...

Air Date 2/5/2023 Today, we take a look at the threat to the lives of environment protectors around the world with a special focus on the first environmental activist in the U.S. to lose their life at the hands of police while defending the environment and the people who depend on it as part of the Defend the Atlanta Forest movement against the construction of what they have dubbed "Cop City." Be...

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 us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com   Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Get AD FREE Shows and Bonus Content...

Original Air Date: 1-17-23 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Erin and Deon discuss: - The updated dress code in the Missouri legislature  - One-Way Empathy - Andrew Tate and Capitalism Culture - The management and labor of modern conveniences   REFERENCES: Outrage after Missouri lawmakers' new dress code for women in the state House   Andrew Tate: The Arrest, Greta Thunberg Feud and Everything Else You Need to...

Air Date 1/25/2023 Today, we take a look at the long, global history of invading peoples stealing the children of native families to be acculturated into the population of the invading force. Reasons can range from a tactic of war and an intention to commit genocide, usually based on an ideology of racial superiority, to concerns over shifting national demographics, simple economic dispossession,...

Air Date 1/21/2023 Today, we take a look beyond our shores to other examples of anti-democratic forces seeking to take control of governments in Germany, Brazil, and Peru, all of which echo, in some form or fashion, the coup attempt on January 6th, 2021 by pro-Trump insurrectionists. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com   Transcript BestOfT...

Original Air Date 12/15/2021 Today we take a look at the cracks and fissures appearing ever more quickly in the neoliberal order that was already widely criticized before the pandemic stripped it bare, exposing all of the inherent inequality and inhumanity baked right into the system. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com   Transcript BestOf...

Air Date 1/14/2023 This Martin Luther King Day weekend, we take a look at a wider range of Black radicals who all helped build the unfinished Civil Rights Movement and who our history either whitewashes or demonizes to fit the narrative of American Exceptionalism™ marching us inexorably toward perfection. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.co...

Air Date 1/11/2023 Today, we take a look at the way unscientific guidelines, government subsidies, corporate propaganda, cultural context, capitalism, community stigma, and many actively and loudly wallowing in ignorance have shaped your personal food choices. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com   Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Get...

Air Date 1/7/2023 Today, we take a look at the criminal charges against Donald Trump that the January 6th Committee has referred to the DOJ but examine them through the lens of past presidential crimes that have gone unpunished from Nixon to George W. Bush Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com   Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Get AD F...

Air Date 1/3/2023 Today, we take a look at the emerging implementation of facial recognition technology in public and commercial spaces along with the tracking and "amplifagandizing" capabilities of TikTok Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com   Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Get AD FREE Shows and Bonus Content) Join our Discord commu...

Original Air Date: 12-15-22 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Erin, and Deon discuss: - Why framing corporations are moral actors is a step on the path to conspiratorial thinking - Conservative framing that doesn't make them look as good as they think it does - Indoctrination as a scare word - Defining political topics that are beyond the scope of civil debate   Connect to out Discord   References: Tucker Carl...

Original Air Date 10/27/2021 Today we take a look at some of the ways that 25 years of Fox News has reshaped our media and political landscape. Crucially, understanding Fox isn't just about their influence on their conservative viewers but how they manage to hack the political conversation for the rest of us. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLef...

Air Date 12/24/2022 Today, we compare the far-right religious extremists who are fighting to gain power in the US with the protests against the theocratic regime in Iran supporting women's rights in the country. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com   Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Get AD FREE Shows and Bonus Content) BestOfTheLeft.co...

What if California seceded from the United States? If it did, what would happen? Would it usher in a new era of peace and prosperity? Or plunge the US into a new civil war? This is The Last Resort, a new documentary podcast following the rise, fall, and rebirth of CAL EXIT: the campaign for Californian Independence. It's a story about a dream for a new progressive utopia on the West Coast. It's ab...

Original Air Date: 12-1-22 Today, Jay!, Amanda and Deon discuss: - That the youth are doing away with "You're welcome" - Words Matter: Building solidarity or maintaining power structures through vocatives - The power play of intentional misnaming - Ye's name, ego and run for president   Connect our Discord Community   References: A scorching hot take on why younger people say 'no problem' instead...

Air Date 12/17/2022 Today, we take a look at the fringe philosophy of accelerationism that is having a bigger impact on society than you will likely have realized as it's been behind some of the worst terror attacks in recent years and is likely behind attacks on infrastructure targeting society as a whole. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft....

Air Date 12/13/2022 Today, we take a look at the labor dispute within our freight rail industry as well as other unionization fights that corporations are vehemently opposing while the Democrats and Biden, the "most pro-labor president ever" are doing precious little to help. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com   Transcript BestOfTheLeft.c...

Original Air Date 11/9/2021 Today we take a look at the Facebook business model that is driving hate, lies, violence, extremism, and the breakdown of democracy around the world as well as some of the regulatory ideas geared toward reigning it in and mitigating the damage. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com   Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (...