Best of the Left Podcast

Put a description of your podcast here.

The Podcasts

Air Date 5/21/2020

Today we take a look at the classic battle between good and... not evil exactly but worse than just 'bad'... 'malicious indifference to suffering in the pursuit of ideology over real-world outcomes' maybe?... as seen through the lens of trying to destroy or save the US Post Office, the battle for basic labor rights and protections and the struggle to define the revolutionary change we are going to experience on the back end of the pandemic for either good or ill.

Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991

MEMBERSHIP ON PATREON (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content)

EPISODE SPONSORS: Clean Choice Energy

SHOP AMAZON: Amazon USAAmazon CAAmazon UK


SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: USPS - Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - Air Date 5-10-20

As the U.S. Postal Service faces financial catastrophe, John Oliver discusses why the service is so important, what brought it to this point, and what we can do to help.

Ch. 2: Far from a loser, the post office is a money-making operation - Jim Hightower - Air Date 4-21-20

Antigovernment ideologues and privatization dogmatists hate the very word “public” and they’ve long sought to demonize the US Postal Service, undercut its popular support, and finally dismantle it.

Ch. 3: Trump Attacks Post Office While Carriers & Clerks Die from COVID-19 - Democracy Now - Air Date 4-29-20

President Trump has lashed out at the U.S. Postal Service as the pandemic brings it to the brink of collapse and more people than ever are relying on the mail.

Ch. 4: Is Postal Banking a Good Idea? - David Pakman Show - Air Date 05-14-18

Audience question: Is postal banking a good idea?

Ch. 5: Should Trump be America’s Postal Potentate? - Jim Hightower - Air Date 5-7-20

The humble Post Office is a community fixture, a civic inheritance, a rural lifeline, and one of the last vestiges of a shared civic culture in America.

Ch. 6: Refocusing May Day On The Revolutionary Struggle For Workers' Rights - The Real News - Air Date 5-5-20

The revolutionary history of May Day is recognized around the world in a way that should inspire workers in the United States to continue their fight.

Ch. 7: Mike Elk on Frontline Worker Rights - CounterSpin - Air Date 4-10-20

Mike Elk discusses essential workers and the power of labor and strikes.

Ch. 8: Food Workers and the Virus - Belabored by Dissent Magazine - Air Date 5-9-20

We talk with Raj Patel, research professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin and the author of Stuffed and Starved.

Ch. 9: Charles Derber Upstairs/Downstairs Economy - Unauthorized Disclosure - Air Date 4-5-20

Charles Derber on whether the pandemic may significantly alter the structure of the economy in the United States.

Ch. 10: Congress Sets Aside $1,200 In Trust For Each American Until They Prove They’re Responsible Enough To Handle It - The Topical - Air Date 4-15-20

It’s a historic stimulus bill that will finally offer some financial relief to those affected by the coronavirus outbreak. But will Americans be able to prove they’re mature enough to spend it responsibly?

Ch. 11: Ricardo Salvador on the Food System & COVID-19 - CounterSpin - Air Date 5-8-20

As for food workers—farm laborers, meatpackers, grocery and restaurant workers—how can they be deemed “essential” and yet treated as expendable?

Ch. 12: Demand Congress Pass The #PeoplesBailout via ThePeoplesBailout.org

Go to The People’s Bailout dot org to easily write and call your members of Congress demanding they take effective, inclusive, equitable and preventative legislative action.

Ch. 13: Coronavirus Capitalism and How to Beat It - The Intercept - Air Date 3-16-20

This video is about the ways the still-unfolding COVID-19 crisis is already remaking our sense of the possible.

Ch. 14: The Georgia Experiment - Social Distance - Air Date 4-30-20

Staff writer and Georgia native Amanda Mull join to talk about the political forces pushing to reopen her home state.

Ch. 15: A New Economy for a post-COVID world - Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray - Air Date 5-3-20

As President Trump and many states’ governors are pushing (largely minority) workers to go back to work in unsafe conditions for less than a living wage in the midst of a pandemic, is the word “revolution” too strong to use or is it not quite enough?


FINAL COMMENTS

Ch. 16: Final comments on the best-laid intentions


TAKE ACTION!

Write & Call Your Members of Congress & MORE at ThePeoplesBailout.org

Follow @_PeoplesBailout on Twitter

Spread the word with #PeoplesBailout on social media

EDUCATE YOURSELF & SHARE

The Bailout is Working - For the Rich (ProPublica)

Retail workers at Amazon and Whole Foods coordinate sick-out to protest Covid-19 conditions (The Guardian)

For immigrants without legal status, federal coronavirus relief is out of reach (Vox)


Written by BOTL Communications Director Amanda Hoffman 


MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):

  • Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr 
  • PolyCoat - The Cabinetmaker
  • Turning to You - Landsman Duets
  • The Spinnet - Castle Danger
  • Contrarian - Sketchbook
  • Turning - Lathe
  • Eventual Victory - Codebreaker
  • Haena - Cloud Harbor
  • Our Fingers Cold - K2
  • Homegrown - The Pine Barrens
  • Take a Tiny Train - Ray Catcher
  • Vengeful - Warmbody
  • Chilvat - Lillehammer
  • Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
  • Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent

 

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

Support the show via Patreon

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Google PodcastsSpotify | +more

Check out the BotL iOS/Android App in the App Stores!

Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft

Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft

Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

Review the show on Apple PodcastsStitcher and Facebook!

Direct download: 1350_USPS.Labor.Economics_Air_Date_5-3-20_-_5-21-20_15.44.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:23pm EDT

Air Date 5/15/2020

Today, Amanda and I discuss the new film Executive Produced by Michael Moore, Planet of the Humans. We try to hit as many topics as we can but do not claim this is an exhaustive list of problems with the film. In short, the film tries to make a few good points but they are completely drowned in a sea of misinformation potent enough to send climate deniers into a joyous tizzy.

Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991

MEMBERSHIP ON PATREON (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content)

EPISODE SPONSORS: Clean Choice Energy  |  DemandJustice.org/Best


SHOW NOTES

00:00:00 Ch. 1: Intro and Index


00:06:12 Ch. 2: Planet of the Humans DEBUNKED Part 1: Misrepresenting Solar Science - Now You Know - Air Date 5-8-20


00:11:44 Ch. 3: Planet of the Humans DEBUNKED Part 2: Ignoring New Renewable Solutions to Intermittency - Now You Know - Air Date 5-8-20


00:17:12 Michael Moore, filmmakers respond to criticism of new bombshell environmental film Part 1: No Defense of Their Bad Science - The Hill Rising - Air Date 4-28-20


00:20:10 Ch. 4: Michael Moore, filmmakers respond to criticism of new bombshell environmental film Part 2: All the Good Points the Film Failed to Make - The Hill Rising - Air Date 4-28-20


00:24:03 Ch. 5: Michael Moore, filmmakers respond to criticism of new bombshell environmental film Part 3: Population Control? - The Hill Rising - Air Date 4-28-20


00:28:39 Ch. 6: The Climate Conversation has Been Imploded


00:31:04 Ch. 7: The Reason Population Reduction is Not the Answer to Our Climate Emergency


00:33:01 Ch. 8: The Mechanics of Making a Bad Documentary - Manipulative Editing


00:34:44 Ch. 9: The Mechanics of Making a Bad Documentary - Poor Interview Sourcing


00:36:28 Ch. 10: Poor Interview Sourcing, Misleading Data: The GM Volt Launch


00:39:02 Ch. 11: The Mechanics of Making a Bad Documentary - No Follow-Up Interviews


00:46:12 Ch. 12: The Mechanics of Making a Bad Documentary - Bad Data by Ignoring Innovation


00:47:21 Ch. 13: The Mechanics of Making a Bad Documentary - Artificially Inflating Small Issues to Seem Large


00:48:52 Ch. 14: The Mechanics of Making a Bad Documentary - We’re Just Asking Questions


00:49:30 Ch. 15: The Mechanics of Making a Bad Documentary - Terrible Graphs and Visuals


00:52:55 Ch. 16: The Mechanics of Making a Bad Documentary - Silly Anecdotes


00:54:13 Ch. 17: The Mechanics of Making a Bad Documentary - Assuming Makes an Ass Out of You and Me


00:57:16 Ch. 18: Comparing Mountain-Top Wind Farms to Mountain-Top-Removal Coal Mining is Unconscionable


00:58:39 Ch. 19: The Mechanics of Making a Bad Documentary - Making Arguments in Nonsensical Ways


01:00:58 Ch. 20: White Men Fail to Discuss Reproductive Justice or Environmental Justice in Any Way


01:02:01 Ch. 21: EVs, Green Energy in Michael Moore's Confused New Documentary Planet Of The Humans - Transport Evolved - Air Date 4-29-20


01:04:47 Ch. 22: The Film Leaves Viewers With a Conclusion the Filmmakers Didn’t Intend


01:05:43 Ch. 23: The Film Doesn’t Speak to Anyone Advocating a New Way of Living


01:07:53 Ch. 24: Who is Benefitting and Who is Being Hurt By This Film?


01:12:00 Ch. 25: Planet of the Humans DEBUNKED Part 3: Emboldened Deniers - Now You Know - Air Date 5-8-20


01:14:53 Ch. 26: Right-Wing Media LOVES This Film: The Left 'has attacked' Michael Moore for his 'Planet Human' documentary - Sky News Australia - Air Date 4-27-20


01:17:03 Ch. 27: Debunking the Idea that Anyone Ever Called for the Film to be Banned


01:18:07 Ch. 28: The Damage to the Climate Movement: The Problem With “Planet Of The Humans” Part. 1 ft. Joshua Kahn Russell - Michael Brooks Show - Air Date 5-7-20


01:24:16 Ch. 29: Attempting to Make Good Points About the Neoliberalism at the Heart of the Climate Movement but Completely Botching it


01:28:28 Ch. 30: The Producers Defend the Use of Bad Science by Asserting that Science Doesn’t Matter


01:30:00 Ch. 31: Michael Moore in a live discussion with Extinction Rebellion co-founder Clare Farrell Part 1 - Extinction Rebellion - Air Date 5-5-20


01:32:03 Ch. 32: Science is Foundational to Their Arguments but Also Doesn’t Matter


01:34:14 Ch. 33: Michael Moore in a live discussion with Extinction Rebellion co-founder Clare Farrell Part 2 - Extinction Rebellion - Air Date 5-5-20


01:35:56 Ch. 34: Fostering Conspiratorial Thinking


01:37:50 Ch. 35: Scientists are Religious, Only we Know the Truth: Michael Moore in a live discussion with Extinction Rebellion co-founder Clare Farrell Part 3 - Extinction Rebellion - Air Date 5-5-20


01:40:43 Ch. 36: Naïve, Wishful Thinking is Not a Thesis


01:42:22 Ch. 37: How to Make an Argument that Centers the Need to Reduce Consumption


01:44:50 Ch. 38: Michael Moore Proves His Profound Ignorance: Michael Moore in a live discussion with Extinction Rebellion co-founder Clare Farrell Part 4 - Extinction Rebellion - Air Date 5-5-20


01:45:54 Ch. 39: Explaining Moore’s Deep Ignorance


01:50:32 Ch. 40: The Need to Trust in Experts, Not Buffoons


01:51:14 Ch. 41: Accidental Eugenics Leads Predictably to Deeply Racist Outcomes


01:54:42 Ch. 42: Why Focusing on Over-Population is Not the Solution to Our Climate Emergency


01:57:02 Ch. 43: Sunrise Movement Response to the Film


01:59:08 Ch. 44: Response to the Film by Michael Moore’s Former Fact-Checker


02:01:33 Ch. 45: Extinction Rebellion Response to the Film


02:02:57 Ch. 46: Why We Need to Debunk This Film


Articles for Further Reading (Or Just to Marvel at the Sheer Number of Them)

Planet of the humans: A reheated mess of lazy, old myths, Ketan Joshi

This is where hard work got us (another post about the bad film), Ketan Joshi

The great giving up (and the film that made it worse), Ketan Joshi

6 Reasons Why “Planet of the Humans” is a Disaster of Misinformation, Ben Wehrman

10 Reasons « Planet of the Humans » Gets Everything Wrong on Climate, Benjamin Tincq

Why “Planet of the Humans” is crap, Tom Athanasiou, EcoEquity

Film Review: Forget about PLANET OF THE HUMANS by Jeff Gibbs and Michael Moore by Neal Livingston

Michael Moore produced a film about climate change that’s a gift to Big Oil, Leah Stokes

Planet of the Humans Comes This Close to Actually Getting the Real Problem, Then Goes Full Ecofascism, Brian Kahn, Gizmondo

Inside Clean Energy: 6 Things Michael Moore’s ‘Planet of the Humans’ Gets Wrong, Dan Gearino, Inside Climate News

A Bomb in the Center of the Climate Movement’: Michael Moore Damages Our Most Important Goal, Bill McKibben, Rolling Stone

POTH Traffics in Myths, Errors, and Dangerous Misdirection, John Rogers, Union of Concerned Scientists

Planet of the Humans: Let’s just have a think…, Dave Borlace, Just Have a Think (note: a video response)

Michael Moore’s ‘Planet of the Humans’ Film Trashes Clean Energy, Offers Zero Solutions, Sally Ho, Green Queen

The Important Debate POTH Misses, Kate Aronoff, New Republic

Michael Moores New Film Turns Heroes into Villains and Villains into Heroes, Dr. Michael Mann, Newsweek

The absurdity of releasing Planet of the Humans in April 2020

#POTH: Michael Moore’s (@MMFlint’s) false choice & a lesson in how not to build a movement

How Did Michael Moore Become A Hero to Climate Deniers and the Far Right? (George Monbiot, The Guardian)

Extinction Rebellion Response (Twitter)

Sunrise Movement's Response (Twitter)

George Monbiot's Breakdown of the #PopulationGrowth in Response (Twitter thread)

Joanne Doroshow, Michael Moore's Former Fact Checker, Responds (Facebook)


MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)

 

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

Support the show via Patreon

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Google PodcastsSpotify | +more

Check out the BotL iOS/Android App in the App Stores!

Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft

Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft

Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

Review the show on Apple PodcastsStitcher and Facebook!

Direct download: Bonus_Show_208_Public_-_5-15-20_16.30.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT

Air Date 5/7/2020

Today, Amanda and I discuss the dangerous, pervasive epidemic of hope fueled by desperation spreading throughout the country that is leading people to self-destructive thoughts and actions. 

Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991

MEMBERSHIP ON PATREON (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content)

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

SHOP AMAZON: Amazon USAAmazon CAAmazon UK


SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: Dr. Tony Fauci From One Pandemic to Another: Mark Harrington and Peter Staley - EPIDEMIC with Dr. Celine Gounder and Ronald Klain - Air Date 4-10-20

Dr. Celine Gounder talks to Peter Staley and Mark Harrington, members of Act Up, co-founders of the Treatment Action Group, and dedicated HIV/AIDS activists who know firsthand what it is like to live through a large-scale pandemic.

Ch. 2: The placebo reject

Ch. 3: Waiting For a Game-Changer - On The Media - Air Date 5-6-20

Derek Lowe, the organic chemist behind the science blog In the Pipeline, urges caution. He speaks with Bob about how to report on the so-called "game-changer" drugs, and where he believes reporting on the "race for a cure" falls short.

Ch. 4: Profiteering off of the desperation of those with rare diseases

Ch. 5: Dr. Leana Wen Discusses the Tortuous and High Stakes Path that Dr.'s Fauci and Birx Must Navigate - The Al Franken Podcast - Air Date 4-5-20

Dr. Wen gives her unique insight into the dilemma that Fauci and Birx face in dealing with an inarguably crazy president.

Ch. 6: Strategic lying to save the lives of the irrational and those with whom they come in contact


MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):

  • Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr 
  • Tar and Spackle - Plaster
  • The Summit - K2
  • Closer - American Moon Bicycle
  • Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
  • Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent

 

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

Support the show via Patreon

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Google PodcastsSpotify | +more

Check out the BotL iOS/Android App in the App Stores!

Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft

Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft

Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

Review the show on Apple PodcastsStitcher and Facebook!

Direct download: Bonus_Show_207_Public_-_5-7-20_17.30.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:58pm EDT

Air Date 5/3/2020

Today we take a look at the unique, profound dysfunction at the heart of the train wreck that is Trump's response to the Coronavirus. Plus, we explore the death cult that is the group of people still supporting the president.

Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991

MEMBERSHIP ON PATREON (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content)

EPISODE SPONSORS: Clean Choice Energy

SHOP AMAZON: Amazon USAAmazon CAAmazon UK


SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: Memory Hole - On the Media - Air Date 4-18-20

McKay Coppins [@mckaycoppins], staff writer at The Atlantic, on the latest pivots in the Trump administration's ever-evolving "disinformation architecture."

Ch. 2: Is Trump Criminally Responsible for Coronavirus Deaths? - Deconstructed with Mehdi Hasan - Air Date 4-2-20

Mehdi talks with Glenn Kirschner about Trump's inaction and misinformation that is leading to deaths.

Ch. 3: What Trump Knew & When He Knew It NYT on How Trump Ignored COVID-19 Warnings Until It Was Too Late - Democracy Now - Air Date 4-13-20

We look at how President Trump led the country to this point with Eric Lipton, lead author of The New York Times’s explosive new exposé, “He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump’s Failure on the Virus.”

Ch. 4: Warnings To The White House - Frontline - Air Date 4-10-20

Trump and the government's response to the Pandemic are explored.

Ch. 5: Explaining why he can't do that but just did anyway - The Bugle - Air Date 4-18-20

The answer to everything strange in America is slavery.

Ch. 6: Michael Lewis On How Trump’s Handling of Covid-19 Has Proven His Book, The Fifth Risk, Tragically Prophetic. - The Al Franken Podcast - Air Date 4-19-20

In The Fifth Risk, Lewis portrayed Donald Trump as a man totally ignorant of and disinterested in the actually functioning of the federal government.

Ch. 7: Trump Cuts Funds for World Health Org as Oxfam Warns Pandemic Could Push Half a Billion into Poverty - Democracy Now - Air Date 4-15-20

President Donald Trump says he will cut U.S. support for the World Health Organization. Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet medical journal, called it a “crime against humanity.”

Ch. 8: Bleach? Nevermind - The Bugle - Air Date 4-25-20

Andy, Nish and Hari attempt to make sense of another week of transatlantic buffoonery.

Ch. 9: Is the Trump Cult a Death Cult? - Deconstructed with Mehdi Hasan - Air Date 3-25-20

The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer joins Mehdi Hasan to discuss the President’s continuing refusal to take the Covid-19 pandemic seriously.

Ch. 10: Jared Yates Sexton reflects on his childhood and life in Trumplandia - The Chauncey DeVega Show - Air Date 3-24-20

Jared Yates Sexton reflects on his childhood and life in Trumplandia and the power that Trump’s cult holds over so many white right-wing so-called “Christians.”

Ch. 11: Tim Wise Explains How White Privilege is Making the Pandemic Much Worse - The Truth Report with Chauncey DeVega - Air Date 4-21-20

Tim Wise reflects on how only white men such as Donald Trump and his cabal could still be viewed as competent given their gross and willful negligence in how they chose to (not) respond to the pandemic.

Ch. 12: The Tactics Of The “Re-Open America” Protests ft. Joshua Kahn Russell - The Michael Brooks Show - Air Date 4-23-20

Joshua Kahn Russell joins us to analyze the reopen America protests.

Ch. 13: Kurt Andersen, Fantasyland, and How Irrational Thought Worsened the Pandemic - Point of Inquiry - Air Date 4-9-20

Kurt Andersen, the author of Fantasyland, explains what happens when the departure from empirical, reality-based thought plays out during a global pandemic.


FINAL COMMENTS

Ch. 14: Final comments on my use of The Al Franken Show


MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):

  • Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr 
  • Haena - Cloud Harbor
  • Arizona Moon - Cholate
  • Decompression - Rayling
  • Waterbourne - Algea Fields
  • Molly Molly - Barstool
  • Take a Tiny Train - Ray Catcher
  • 7.1 The Spinnet - Castle Danger
  • Tar and Spackle - Plaster
  • Denzel Sprak - CloudCover
  • Feather on the Crest - Wax Museum
  • Interlude - The Nocturne
  • Tripoli - Pecan Grove
  • Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
  • Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent

 

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

Support the show via Patreon

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Google PodcastsSpotify | +more

Check out the BotL iOS/Android App in the App Stores!

Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft

Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft

Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

Review the show on Apple PodcastsStitcher and Facebook!

Direct download: 1349_Coronovirus_Trump.Followers_Air_Date_5-3-20_-_5-4-20_12.32.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00pm EDT