Air Date: 6-30-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- the baffling trend of tech companies using cautionary tales from dystopian fiction as a blueprint for what to create next
- how the people who build or champion tools of oppression never think those same tools will inevitably be turned on them
- the use of drones as first responders, and the long term effects this has had on the residents
- a different perspective on how to think about the end 
- humanity's seeming inability to think about longterm repercussions of technology before we put something into use

REFERENCES:
What Is 'Torment Nexus?' The 'Man-Made Horrors' Trope Explained

Author of cautionary tale about Torment Nexus creates tech company to build Torment Nexus

‘Snow Crash’ Author Neal Stephenson Is Building a ‘Free Metaverse’ Called Lamina1

The Age of the Drone Police Is Here

Watch a swarm of cyborg cockroaches controlled by computers

Are We Doomed? Here’s How to Think About It

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Produced by:
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Air Date 6/28/2024

AI, like all new technologies, won't be all good or all bad. In fact, my favorite understanding of emerging technologies is that they often bring simultaneous utopia and dystopia, though many tend to focus on the benefits while only discovering the drawbacks later.

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Transcript

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KEY POINTS

1: We’re already using AI more than we realize - Vox - Air Date 2-28-24

2: AI is a Lie. - Linus Tech Tips - Air Date 6-13-24

3: What Is an AI Anyway? | Mustafa Suleyman - TED - Air Date 4-22-24

4: How to Limit the Threat of "Killer Robots" and Autonomous Weapons That Are Changing Warfare - Global Dispatches - Air Date 3-13-24

5: How Much AI Regulation Is The Right Amount? - FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast - Air Date 6-13-24

6: How AI causes serious environmental problems (but might also provide solutions) | DW Business - DW News - Air Date 4-29-24

7: Why Are Migrants Becoming AI Test Subjects? With Petra Molnar - Your Undivided Attention - Air Date 6-20-24

8: Big Tech AI Is A Lie - Tina Huang - Air Date 4-30-24

(1:07:12) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the nature of misalignment between AI and human wellbeing

Article: This article is OpenAI training data

DEEPER DIVES

(1:16:18) SECTION A: MORE CURRENT USES OF AI

(1:44:54) SECTION B: POTENTIAL USES OF AI AND THE ETHICS WE NEED TO CONSIDER

(2:08:00) SECTION C: REGULATING AI

MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)

SHOW IMAGE

Description: Graphic showing a human hand and a digital pixilated hand reaching out toward each other with arching digital lines coming from the center of each hand.

Credit: “Digitization Particles Hand” via geralt, Pixabay | Pixabay License | Changes: Expanded

Original Air Date: 10/23/2023

The people who want to pull the country in directions that are only supported by a small minority of the population have to develop very intricate plans to have any hope of succeeding. This is the story of the latest plan to establish unchecked rule to implement unpopular policies supported only by the far right.

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SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: ‘The endgame of election denial is that we shouldn't have elections’: Authoritarianism expert - The ReidOut - Air Date 10-6-23

Donald Trump has ramped up his violent rhetoric in recent weeks. Meanwhile, a Fox host has urged the U.S. towards civil war and claimed that voting does not work.

Ch. 2: Violent Authoritarianism: How Did This Become the GOP? - Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen - Air Date 11-23-21

Pat Buchanan was ahead of his time. He used the KKK’s David Duke to breed a new nativist religious nationalism, based on fear of liberalization. On this show, political science professor Joseph Lowndes sheds light on how the Republican Party got here

Ch. 3: Analyzing The Dark Roots Of Modern Conservatism - The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder - Air Date 10-15-23

Emma hosts John S. Huntington, professor of history at Houston Community College, to discuss his recent book Far-Right Vanguard: The Radical Roots of Modern Conservatism.

Ch. 4: How Often Do YOU Think About the Roman Empire? - Wisecrack - Air Date 10-16-23

The real reason TikTok is crazy for ancient Rome If you’re even a little bit online, you know that the men love ancient Rome. This isn’t new: The civilization has loomed large in the Western imagination ever since its catastrophic collapse.

Ch. 5: The Conservative Plan to Take Over the Country Part 1 - Leeja Miller - Air Date 9-26-23

Project 2025 is the terrifying plan set out by conservatives to take over the government. But it's radical, and it doesn't align with what most Americans want. Which is why we have to make sure this plan never happens.

Ch. 6: The GOP’s "Red Caesar" New Political Order Plan Marches Forward - The Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 10-3-23

A Trump supporter just displayed exactly how stochastic terrorism works.

Ch. 7: The Conservative Plan to Take Over the Country Part 2 - Leeja Miller - Air Date 9-26-23

Ch. 8: Think Tanks: How Fake Experts Shape the News - Tom Nicholas - Air Date 5-13-23

A video about how billionaire-funded right-wing “think tanks” such as the Heritage Foundation, Adam Smith Institute, Manhattan Institute, and Institute of Economic Affairs manipulate the news to spread their propaganda

Air Date: 6-23-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- The Kidult trend in depth (since we had to cut it short last time)
- A right-wing attempt at a puppet-based kids show to draw in young viewers early
- How Nanalan' - a kids puppet show from the 90s - is helping some Millennials with reparenting

REFERENCES:
Adults Are Spending Big on Toys and Stuffed Animals—for Themselves

Kidults - do you have one in your life?

PLAYBACK The UK’s adults-only soft play, ball pits, Lego nights, museum sleepovers & holiday camps where grown-ups play like kids

'Gus Plus Us' Offers a Glimpse of Texas Filmmaking’s Conservative Future 

What is Bentkey?

'She Is the Icon of All That Is Joyful in the World

Nanalan' on YouTube

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Produced by:
Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 6/21/2024

The European elections could have been worse but they weren't great. Shifting politics among mainstream parties is legitimizing far-right policies at the same time as people's concerns over immigration is being reflected in a willingness to vote for far-right parties.

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KEY POINTS

KP 1: Clear Shift Toward the Far Right Anti-Immigrant Nationalists Gain Ground Across Europe - Democracy Now! - Air Date 6-11-24

KP 2: Europe Slides to the Right Unpacking the EU Parliamentary elections. - UNFTR - Air Date 6-15-24

KP 3: How the EU Parliament Voted This Year - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 6-12-24

KP 4: Does the economy matter to the far right? - Business Beyond - Air Date 5-31-24

KP 5: How Deep Does Right Wing Extremism Go In The Republican Party With Teddy Wilson - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 6-11-24

KP 6: What is behind the rise of the far-right in Europe - Al Jazeera English - Air Date 6-11-24

KP 7: Far Right Surges in European Elections - Pod Save The World - Air Date 6-12-24

KP 8: Europe Slides to the Right Unpacking the EU Parliamentary elections Part 2 - UNFTR - Air Date 6-15-24

(49:23) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the snowball effect of factors leading to a rightward shift in politics

DEEPER DIVES

(56:56) SECTION A: THE EU STRUCTURE AND ELECTION RESULTS

(1:05:58) SECTION B: IMMIGRATION AND THE CULTURE WAR

(1:24:12) SECTION C: THE PLAYBOOK AND MESSAGING OF THE FAR RIGHT

SHOW IMAGE:

Description: Photo of European Parliament off-center, shifted right.

Credit: “European Parliament Strasbourg Hemicycle” by Diliff, Wikimedia | License: CC BY-SA 3.0 | Cropped

Original Air Date: 12/11/2021

Today we take a look at the many structures of American government that tilt to favor minority rule and conservatism which, in our case, is one and the same. Some structures like the Senate and the filibuster were intentionally designed to give extra weight to the minority while others like gerrymandering and the influence of large-dollar political donors were, well, I suppose they were designed for about the same reason but just in a different way.

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SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: Lawrence Lessig on Unrepresentative Democracy - Network for Responsible Public Policy - Air Date 10-1-21

Ch. 2: Why Wyoming Has More Power Than California in the Senate - AJ+ - Air Date 10-14-20

Ch. 3: Perpetual Minority Rule with David Faris - Battleground with Amanda Litman and Faiz Shakir - Air Date 6-10-21

Ch. 4: Biden's DOJ is SUING Texas For Their Brazenly Discriminatory Gerrymandering - The Humanist Report - Air Date 12-7-21

Ch. 5: Andrew Perez on the Filibuster - CounterSpin - Air Date 6-18-21

Ch. 6: A To-Do List for Senate Democrats - Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick - Air Date 7-17-21

MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)

Ch. 7: Chauncey DeVega On Why Democracy Might Not Survive - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 12-7-21

FINAL COMMENTS

Ch. 8: Final comments on public policy, human nature and Cold War talking points

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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Air Date: 6-16-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- The importance of unsupervised playtime for children and why it's disappearing
- The roots and consequences of over-scheduling kids and why it's so hard to cut back
- The rise of the "Kidult"

REFERENCES:
Parents: Keep Out! - Hidden Brain

The Fine Art of Underscheduling

Adults Are Spending Big on Toys and Stuffed Animals— For Themselves 

Let Grow Play Club

Chasing Childhood documentary

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Produced by:
Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 6/14/2024

We're in the middle of Supreme Court opinion season, which is not going well for non-extreme conservatives in the country, at the same time as scandal, corruption, and justices Thomas and Alito's refusal to recuse in the face of clear bias is reaching a modern peak.

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KEY POINTS

1: Opinionpalooza A Bad June Rising At SCOTUS Part 1 - Amicus

2: How The Mifepristone Case Reached SCOTUS - Amicus

3: Way Too Close Insane SCOTUS Case Could've Sunk The Country w Mark Joseph Stern - The Majority Report

4: Fact-Checking the Supreme Court - 99% Invisible

5: The IVF Decision We Should Have Seen Coming - Amicus

6: SCOTUS Flag Neighbor Exposes Alito’s BS Story- The Majority Report

7: Delegitimize The Court - Contempt of Court

(1:03:35) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On some of Alito's finer absurdity

Articles:

Alito says the Supreme Court’s fake ethics code allows him to be unethical

The Republican Party's man inside the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court's new voting rights decision is a love letter to gerrymandering

DEEPER DIVES

(1:14:19) SECTION A: DO FACTS MATTER?

(1:45:47) SECTION B: POLICING MEDICAL CARE

(2:15:48) SECTION C: THE REPUBLICAN COURT WE’VE ALL WAITED FOR

(2:42:24) SECTION D: SCOTUS IS A FLAWED SYSTEM

Description: Photo of the U.S. Supreme Court building with an ominous red filter. An image of golden, uneven scales of justice sits on top.

Credit: Composite design by A. Hoffman. / Photo: “The Supreme Court” by Glenn Beltz, Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Overlaid with red and imagery as part of composite. / Illustration: “Uneven scales of justice” via TheDigitalArtist, Pixabay.

Air Date 6/11/2024

Democracies don't break all of a sudden in a moment of crisis, they fail slowly over time and only by knowing the warning signs and responding effectively to the threat before it's too late can the worst be averted.

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KEY POINTS

1: Why and Where is Democracy in Decline? - TLDR News

2: Is Democracy Under Threat? - Tufts University

3: The decline of American democracy won't be televised - Vox

4: How Republicans are fueling Russia and China_s global effort to undermine democracy - Velshi

5: How Republican Attorneys General are Undermining Voting Rights - Democracy Docket

6: Democracy vs. Autocracy: An Unproductive Dichotomy - Marxist Project

7: When Democracy Breaks: Final Thoughts with Archon Fung, David Moss and Arne Westad - Democracy Paradox

8: Protecting Voting Rights with Eric Holder - Why Is This Happening?

9: Rich Logis Escaped the Trump - MAGA Cult -- Heed His Warnings About Its Power and Extreme Danger to America - Chauncey DeVega Show

10: "The President of Forgetting" - Dastardly Cleverness in the Service of Good

(1:03:29) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Those who defend authoritarians against criticism during D-Day commemoration

Conservatives Angry at Biden’s Anti-Nazi D-Day Speech

Fighting Trump on the Beaches

DEEPER DIVES

(1:09:52) SECTION A: DISSECTION OF DEMOCRACY

(1:31:56) SECTION B: INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRACY

(2:09:54) SECTION C: THE CULT OF TRUMP

(2:36:47) SECTION D: DEMOCRACY IN ACTION

IMAGE:

Description: Black and white photo of a person holding a homemade sign that says “Fighting for Democracy”

Credit: “For Democracy” by Alisdare Hickson, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Change: Cropped

Air Date: 06-09-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- how focusing on the "politics" of an event trivializes the impact that event has on real people
- the detrimental effects combining the daily news grind and the prioritization of profits forces has on news coverage
- how keeping news coverage light and ignoring the effects of neoliberalism leaves desperate people vulnerable to fascism
- the way history is repeating itself when it comes to news media not treating a demagogue's rhetoric as the emergency it is
- the difference between symbolic beliefs vs factual beliefs

REFERENCES:
Why Americans Hate the Media

The Media Still Doesn’t Grasp the Danger of Trump

Don’t Believe What They’re Telling You About Misinformation

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Produced by:
Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 6/7/2024

Banning abortion is wildly unpopular and also one of the primary motivators for the group most strongly supporting the Republican Party and Donald Trump, the Christian Right, which has transformed both the party and politicians into extremists made in their own image, threatening the lives and health of millions and sacrificing democracy in the process.

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KEY POINTS

1: Abortion and Reproductive Rights - Lectures in History

2: Abortion and the erosion of privacy - The Weeds

3: Digital surveillance and reproductive rights - Technically Optimistic

4: Anti-abortion hardliners want restrictions to go farther. It could cost Republicans - Consider This

5: Abortion and Reproductive Rights Part 2 - Lectures in History

6: Rakeen Mabud on Greedflation, Rachel K. Jones on Mifepristone - CounterSpin

7: Abortion and the erosion of privacy Part 2 - The Weeds

8: Digital surveillance and reproductive rights Part 2 - Technically Optimistic

(57:00) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the abuse produced by abortion restrictions

DEEPER DIVES

(1:02:40) SECTION A: CRIMINALIZING ABORTION

(1:21:07) SECTION B: ABORTION EXTREMISM OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

(1:36:40) SECTION C: ABORTION IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM

(1:53:45) SECTION D: WHAT IS THERE TO DO?

SHOW IMAGE: 

Description: A person dressed in a red cape and white conical bonnet with a red sash over their nose and mouth (referencing the Handmaid's Tale) stands outside the U.S. Supreme Court at dusk holding a cardboard sign with the words "This is NOT fiction."

Credit: Photo by Tyler Merbler, Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Cropped

Air Date 6/4/2024

The problems that arise within the systems of sports are the same problems we all face everywhere which makes them a good lens through which to understand the mechanisms of broader society. Fair pay, both journalism and addictive games functioning under capitalism, and benefits for billionaires all resonate far beyond the bounds of the players, owners and fans of sports clubs.

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KEY POINTS

KP 1: Pay for Play Part 1 - University of Iowa

KP 2: What the historic $2.8 billion settlement to pay NCAA players means for college sports - PBS NewsHour

KP 3: Pay for Play Part 2 - University of Iowa

KP 4: Sports Media has changed forever. - Brett Kollmann

KP 5: Dan Le Batard Tells Stephen A. Smith He Hates What He and Skip Bayless Did to Sports Media - LeBatardShow

KP 6: Report Finds That Sports Owners Use Their Teams To Avoid Millions In Taxes - MSNBC Reports

KP 7: The Sports Stadium Scam - Robert Reich

KP 8: The gambling problem in sports - The Current

(1:01:43) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the value of sports to building community

DEEPER DIVES

(1:06:18) SECTION A: PAY FOR PLAY

A1: Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger: What NCAA Suit Settlement Means for Paying Players - The Rich Eisen Show

A2: "Amateurism Is Dead" - The Rich Eisen Show

A3: Pay for Play Part 3 - University of Iowa

(1:23:57) SECTION B: STADIUMS, OUR GREAT FOLLY

(1:40:18) SECTION C: SPORTS JOURNALISM

(1:59:15) SECTION D: SPORTS GAMBLING

SEE FULL SHOW NOTES

SHOW IMAGE: 

Description: A grocery store display of Coca-Cola soft drinks stacked in the shape of a basketball and “NCAA!”.

Credit: “Coca Cola NCAA Cases Display” by Mike Mozart, Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Cropped

Air Date: 6-2-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- How one MIT study used AI to reduce belief in conspiracy theories
- How a new AI tool is attempting to make comments sections less awful
- Some advice from Korea's litigious political environment on how to deal with Trump

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REFERENCES:
America’s Worst Time Zone

Chatbots can persuade conspiracy theorists their view might be wrong

The AI That Could Heal a Divided Internet

South Korea Has a Warning About Donald Trump’s Trial

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Produced by:
Jay! Tomlinson
Thanks for listening!
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft
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Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com 
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