The Professional Left Podcast with Driftglass and Blue Gal

NOTE:  The shocking news of Senator Alex Padilla being forcibly removed and handcuffed at a Kristi Noem press conference simply for trying to ask questions as an elected official?  We cover that in the news round-up.  In this week's episode, we take a brief break from documenting Republican authoritarianism to explore the 1948 film noir masterpiece "The Big Clock," but quickly retur...

We dive into the chaos on the right as their messaging machine encounters serious technical difficulties. While they're busy thrashing between conflicting loyalties and scrambling for the next official lie, we explore how power always finds someone else to blame and why Rebecca Solnit's brilliant "she made him do it" theory seems to explain everything in politics these days. Pl...

We're back from the Cornfield Resistance with the messiest billionaire breakup of the century—complete with explosive social media threats and some very familiar names getting dragged into very damning files. We're watching Pride Month get weaponized, civil rights heroes getting erased from naval vessels, and Republican voters acting shocked when the leopards they voted for start eating...

We're talking about Trump's "Move Fast and Break Things" presidency - from Tulsi Gabbard wanting to turn intelligence briefings into Fox News shows, to Elon Musk's deadly DOGE disaster that's killed hundreds of thousands worldwide. Senator Joni Ernst delivers peak Republican callousness by dismissing Medicaid death concerns with "We're all gonna die!" w...

This week, we take you back to the "Before Time" - specifically 2011 - to trace the toxic road that led us to where we are today. We revisit the birther movement, explore how "Conservatism cannot fail; conservatism can only be failed" evolved into "Trump cannot fail; Trump can only be failed," and examine what happens when an entire political movement becomes nothing...

This week, we’re diagnosing a political condition we’re all feeling — what we’re calling Political Cabin Fever . It’s not hopelessness, it’s exhaustion, and if you're part of the Democratic Base, we bet you know exactly what we mean. We remember before-time examples of MAGA from Archie Bunker to Bill Hicks to RoboCop, and we talk about how liberals like us have been sounding the alarm for dec...

We're serving up some hard-won advice about winning elections - and it's not pretty. While our Never Trump allies and high-paid consultants keep screaming the same tired strategies at Democratic politicians, we're here with a bolder approach inspired by David Bowie's wisdom about language and a certain scene from "Better Call Saul." We dive deep into what undecided an...

This week on The Professional Left: Weather woes! Driftglass and Blue Gal welcome some special guests - tornado refugees (the two younger kids!) - as severe weather interrupts podcast preparations. A "No Fair Remembering Stuff" segment takes us back to 2008's bizarre tire pressure inflation controversy - and why it matters as a "telling detail" in the trajectory of Republi...

Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea! Flash! Those audio chatterboxes they call "The Professional Left Podcast" are taking to the airwaves tonight with a retrospective that'll curl your permanent wave! From the swanky studios of downtown Springfield, Illinois, to your very own listening device comes "Nine Hundred Episodes in Sixty Minutes" — a piping...

This week on The Professional Left, we're asking the question that's suddenly on everyone's mind: "Does motivated reasoning have any limits?" When a president accepts a $400 million jet as a "gift" from Qatar and his administration floats suspending habeas corpus, are we finally reaching a tipping point? We'll explore why even some of the most devoted right-...

In our 898th episode, we examine a puzzling question: why has political persuasion become seemingly impossible in America today? We explore how the landscape has fundamentally shifted beyond mere policy disagreements into something that looks surprisingly like religious conflict. We connect historical patterns of how religious movements evolve and rewrite their narratives to what we're witnes...

In this episode of The Professional Left Podcast, we return from our break to tackle the media's misuse of political vocabulary and how a certain pundit twists language to avoid placing blame where it belongs. We break down a prominent columnist's appearance on PBS that perfectly illustrates this problem, while examining how his myth of the "Sensible Center" continues to poison...

We discuss Chicago politics as 26-year-old progressive influencer Kat Abughazaleh challenges veteran Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who may be announcing her retirement after 14 terms in Congress.  Then we take a look at Trump's latest projection scheme as his DOJ targets ActBlue while conveniently ignoring WinRed's shady operations.  Both sides don't!  Only one for-profit fundraising platfor...

Today’s episode is going to be a little more unstructured than usual because we have a very special guest.  He is a renowned political journalist and staff writer for Esquire, where he writes the popular blog "Politics with Charles P. Pierce." He's known for his sharp political commentary, incisive humor, and encyclopedic knowledge of American politics and history. He previously wro...

In Episode 894, "The Shipping News," we explore Pope Francis's passing, compare Easter messages from presidents past and present, and examine how "Mr. Fix The Economy On Day One" is actually doing with tariffs and trade wars. We reveal alarming economic indicators, presidential gaslighting about grocery prices, and share some outrageous local political news. Join us as we...

This week, we're examining the disturbing parallels between past and present as we approach the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. We'll explore how the extremist rhetoric that drove Timothy McVeigh has found new life in today's political landscape. We dive into the Republican propaganda machine's decades-long strategy of relentlessly blaming liberals for everything...

In this week's episode, we examine the disturbing realities of Trump's America in 2025, where Supreme Court rulings are ignored, critics face politically motivated investigations, and erratic tariff policies create economic chaos. We connect these developments to warnings we shared a year ago about the rise of fascism, reminding listeners that what's happening now was entirely predi...

In this week's episode, we dive into why Republicans keep winning the messaging war despite their policies hurting average Americans. We explore how stories consistently triumph over facts in political discourse and why Democrats' reliance on statistics isn't working. From "The Inspector General" to parables in the Bible, we examine how powerful narratives shape public per...

Time to dive into Donald Trump's tantrum-driven manufacturing policy and catastrophic tariff regime. We follow the destructive path of his administration as it systematically dismantles Biden's successful manufacturing initiatives - from shutting down EV charging stations to threatening billions in loans for electric vehicle factories. We explain how manufacturing jobs create a powerful...

In this week's episode, we break down Trump's chaotic new trade war and its immediate devastating impact on the markets. We draw parallels between this administration's trade "liberation" and the Bush-era Iraq War disaster, examining: The fallout from Trump's sweeping tariff announcements that wiped $1.65 trillion from the US stock market in minutes The mass layoffs h...

AKA There Is No Trump without Newt.  In episode 888 of The Professional Left Podcast, hosts driftglass and Blue Gal dive into the political landscape of April 1st, 2025, where April Fools Day is effectively canceled at the Cornfield Resistance due to the real Fool occupying the Oval Office. The hosts examine how Republicans have weaponized language over decades, tracing the destructive path from N...

Tulsi Gabbard's memory seems as selective as Alberto Gonzales's infamous "I don't recall" testimony from 2007. Imagine a Director of National Intelligence who can't remember being part of a classified Signal chat from just yesterday.  She's also not good at lying, which is a requirement included in her job description as Trump's DNI.  From the Bush-era playb...

In this week's episode, we dive deep into the world of narrative storytelling and spectacular political incompetence. What happens when an entire administration accidentally texts its top-secret military plans to a reporter? Welcome to the "Idiot Plot," a storytelling concept in which the entire plot is driven by everyone involved being profoundly stupid. We'll break down the T...

In this fiery episode, we turn the tables on the right-wing outrage machine by exploring what actual cancel culture looks like under the current administration. We dive into the Pentagon's removal of webpages about minorities who served in the military, including Ira Hayes, the Native American Marine who helped raise the flag at Iwo Jima. We play a game of "Do You Remember?" highlig...

Happy 20th Blogiversary to Driftglass!  We celebrate by bringing on board a new fake sponsor.  Cryptocurrency that is modeled on our chatty, slightly annoying cat, Bosco.  $Bosco will make all your dreams come true!  Glitter paws and crypto minds $Bosco’s here leaving doubts behind Cash your dreams in feline flair $Bosco Coin taking you everywhere!!! [Chorus] $Bosco Coin boogie, let’s ignite Danci...