Air Date 3/28/2025

You might not be trans yourself but that's just like how coal miners aren't canaries because when they saw that the canaries were under threat, they knew the danger was all around them. Fascists always start with those who are the easiest to dehumanize but they never stop there.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Watch, like, subscribe & comment on our newly-launched YouTube show, SOLVED!

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Activism Roundup

KEY POINTS

KP 1: The Threat of Project 2025 on LGBTQ+ Rights - The Blueprint with Jen Psaki - Air Date 9-16-24

KP 2: The fight to protect LGBTQ+ rights from Trump - Politics Weekly America - Air Date 1-31-25

KP 3: Ezra Young on Trans Rights Law, Anne Sosin on RFK Jr. and Rural Health - CounterSpin - Air Date 2-7-25

KP 4: The Rights About-Turn on Parental Rights - Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick - Air Date 11-30-24

KP 5: Humanizing Trans People Laverne Cox - The Majority Report - Air Date 3-23-25

KP 6: Imperialism and Totalitarianism Go Hand in Hand M. Gessen on Trumps Policies at Home & Abroad - Democracy Now! - Air Date 3-14-25

KP 7: The Fight for Trans Futures - In The Thick - Air Date 12-12-24

KP 8: Know Your LGBTQIA+ Rights with Chase Strangio - At Liberty - Air Date 2-13-25

(01:02:12) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the launch of SOLVED!

DEEPER DIVES

(01:10:48) SECTION A: POLICY ROLLSBACKS

(01:47:25) SECTION B: DEHUMANIZATION

(02:25:13) SECTION C: HISTORICAL ATTACKS

(02:59:41) SECTION D: STORIES 

(03:29:55) SECTION E: TRANS JOY AND RESISTANCE 

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Original Air Date: 3/29/2022

Today we take a look at the current iteration of the cynical culture wars being waged by conservative Republicans against LGBTQ kids for political gain. The current wave of anti-trans and anti-gay legislation sprouting across the country is not about protecting kids and is absolutely nothing new.

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SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: Protecting Women and Children Is a Shield for Transphobia - At Liberty - Air Date 3-17-22

Ch. 2: Andy Marra on Trans Youth Rights - CounterSpin - Air Date 3-4-22

Ch. 3: The Anti-Trans Agenda (w/ Gillian Branstetter) - Know Your Enemy - Air Date 3-20-22

Ch. 4: Chase Strangio on the GOPs Push in Florida, Texas, Idaho to Eradicate Trans Youth & Trans Lives - Democracy Now! - Air Date 3-9-22

Ch. 5: Protecting Women and Children Is a Shield for Transphobia Part 2 - At Liberty - Air Date 3-17-22

Ch. 6: Don't Say Gay - Today, Explained - Air Date 3-17-22

Ch. 7: Behind the Transphobic Hate Campaigns (and Steven Crowder) on College Campuses in Texas (w/ Steven Monacelli) Part 1 - DOOMED with Matt Binder - Air Date 3-23-22

Ch. 8: Protecting Women and Children Is a Shield for Transphobia Part 3 - At Liberty - Air Date 3-17-22

Ch. 9: Behind the Transphobic Hate Campaigns (and Steven Crowder) on College Campuses in Texas (w/ Steven Monacelli) Part 2 - DOOMED with Matt Binder - Air Date 3-23-22

Ch. 10: Andy Marra on Trans Youth Rights Part 2 - CounterSpin - Air Date 3-4-22

Ch. 11: Protecting Women and Children Is a Shield for Transphobia Part 4 - At Liberty - Air Date 3-17-22

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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Air Date: 3–24-25

Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:

- Our new game Satire Showdown

- The authoritarian takeover of the term common sense

- How Americans actually feel about DEI initiatives

- The right’s turn on Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett

- A deep dive on the theory of a multiracial Right and how Democrats should respond

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REFERENCES:

How populist leaders like Trump use ‘common sense’ as an ideological weapon to undermine facts  - The Conversation

The Age of Anti-Woke Overreach - The Atlantic

‘She is evil’: Amy Coney Barrett under attack by right wing after USAid ruling - The Guardian

Trump and the Rise of the Multiracial Right - In These Times

“Common Sense” - Concepts: Human Intelligence. Song: Artificial Intelligence. Based on SOLVED! Ep. #342: Common Sense Is Not So Common (March 25th)

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Air Date 3/21/2025

If you've been paying attention, the weaponization of the government against Trump's political and ideological enemies is exactly what you would have seen coming and now it's here.

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KEY POINTS

KP 1: Special - The Arrest of Mahmoud Khalil w/ Spencer Ackerman - American Prestige - Air Date 3-12-25

KP 2: Trump Invokes Wartime Alien Enemies Act, Then Ignores Judicial Order to Turn Around Deportation Flights - Democracy Now! - Air Date 3-17-25

KP 3: Are Non-Violent Protestors Now Labeled "Terrorists?" - Thom Hartmann - Air Date 6-20-13

KP 4: John Harwood on Trump's attack on free speech: ‘Everyone in civil society needs to stand up' - Velshi - Air Date 3-6-24

KP 5: Trump Hates Science - Factually! with Adam Conover - Air Date 3-14-25

KP 6: Fascism is Officially Here | Hasanabi reacts - Hasanabi Productions - Air Date 3-17-25

(48:46) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the need for us to protect each other

DEEPER DIVES

(53:17) SECTION A: FREE SPEECH CAN BE TERRORISM

(1:25:56) SECTION B: OPPOSING TRUMP CAN BE TERRORISM

(1:43:42) SECTION C: DOJ, FBI, & THE JUDICIARY

(2:20:30) SECTION D: GOVERNMENT FUNCTION

SHOW IMAGE

Description: Protestors in New York City hold signs that say “Release Mahmoud Khalil - Hands off our students” and “Release Mahmoud Khalil” with the activist’s photo.

Credit: “Mahmoud Khalil NYC detention protest 013” by SWinxy, Wikimedia | License: CC BY 4.0

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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Air Date: 3–19-25

Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:

- A special little ditty Jay put together

- The legitimate problems that helped birth the damaging MAHA movement

- Sherrod Brown’s OpEd on how the Democrats lost their way

- What Jay learned from India’s railway engineers

- An interview with Ro Khanna that sparked some hope

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REFERENCES:

“Like a Flame in the Night” - Based on SOLVED! Ep. #340: Prophetic Voices from the Past and Hope for the Future (March 9th)

Health Paranoia and the Politics of MAHA

Democrats Must Become the Workers’ Party Again

Ro Khanna Is Doing More Than Voting 'No'

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Air Date 3/18/2025

In this special Podcasthon episode, we're joining thousands of podcasts around the world in taking the opportunity this week to support a cause or organization that we believe in. In this time of fighting fascism, Best of the Left has chosen to support Indivisible, the grassroots organizing team that's working to resist Trumpism and pressure Democrats to do the same. Follow the link in the description of this episode to make a donation but also take a moment to find and join your local Indivisible chapter to stay engaged.

SUPPORT INDIVISIBLE WITH A DONATION AND SIGN UP WITH YOUR LOCAL CHAPTER!

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Activism Roundup

KEY POINTS

KP 1: Bernie Response Does Huge Numbers｜One Democrat Defies Trump - The Rational National - Air Date 3-5-25

KP 2: How to Rebuild the Left as the Far Right Floods the Zone - UNFTR Media - Air Date 2-5-25

KP 3: How to Really Resist - The Intercept Briefing - Air Date 2-28-25

KP 4: Republicans finally go NUCLEAR over town hall disasters - Brian Tyler Cohen - Air Date 3-5-25

KP 5: How Leftists Can Win in 2025 - Harper O'Conner - Air Date 1-3-25

KP 6: Gov. Pritzker SLAMS Trump and Musk in closing remarks of State of the State address - NBC Chicago - Air Date 2-19-25

(50:04) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Giving the call to join the fight at Indivisible.org

DEEPER DIVES

(52:46) SECTION A: STRATEGY & GOALS

(1:16:30) SECTION B: HUMOR AS A TACTIC

(1:35:34) SECTION C: PROTEST

(1:54:57) SECTION D: BOYCOTT

(2:13:48) SECTION E: RESOURCES

(2:37:09) SECTION F: POWER STRUCTURES

SHOW IMAGE

Description: A protestor holds a Trans Pride flag with the word RESIST (with an equals sign in the E) in front of a state capitol building.

Credit: Private permission photo

Air Date 3/15/2025

It always bears repeating that the progressive perspective on the state of the world is not that everything was going just fine before Trump showed up but there's a world of difference between the leftist desire to improve things and Trump's bull-in-a-china-shop foreign and economic policies. Allow us to list the ways.

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KEY POINTS

1: Project 2025 Foreign Policy America Last - The Tristan Snell Show - Air Date 8-15-25

2: March 6, 2025 Full Show - Democracy Now! - Air Date 3-6-25

3: Trump's Foreign Policy - It Could Happen Here - 11-14-24

4: Ukraine's Fight for Self-Determination w/ Howie Hawkins - Jacobin Radio - Air Date 3-3-25

5: Russia, Ukraine, US The Global Chessboard - WhoWhatWhy's Podcasts - Air Date 3-4-25

6: After restarting aid to Ukraine, U.S. will present ceasefire proposal to Russia - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 3-11-25

7: Trump's tariff tumult - The NPR Politics Podcast - Air Date 3-6-25

8: Trumps On-and-Off-Again Tariffs, and Decoding Make America Healthy Again - On the Media - Air Date 3-7-25

9: Global Chess Europe's Unity Strengthens While American Trade Policy Falters - The Tristan Snell Show - Air Date 3-6-25

(59:04) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On Monthly-ish Recaps and the week of activism

DEEPER DIVES

(1:02:33) SECTION A: RUSSIA AND UKRAINE

(1:44:50) SECTION B: TRADE WARS AND TARIFFS

(2:27:43) SECTION C: USAID

(3:03:26) SECTION D: US REALIGNMENT & NATO

SHOW IMAGE

Description: Rendering of Donald Trump handing Vladimir Putin the world while they stand at podiums with the American and Russian flags behind them.

Credit: “trump-putin-russia-usa-politics” by Lola4556677, Pixabay | License: Pixabay

Air Date 3/12/2025

The (Approximately) Monthly Mix is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month we look at the future for Gaza, Trump's plans for mass deportations, the decline of the US on the international stage, the wrecking crew dismantling the federal government, RFK Jr. and the threat to public health, and Trump's endemic corruption.

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PART 1: ETHNIC CLEANSING AT HOME AND ABROAD

#1687 Respite: Ceasefire in Gaza and the Legacy of Imperial Folly in the Middle East

1: Gaza Ceasefire Explained Reading Between The Lines Part 2 - The Socialist Program - Air Date 1-16-25

2: On the Situation in Syria and its Implications for the Region - Revolutionary Left Radio - Air Date 1-6-25

3: Egypt, Jordan Reject Trump Plan to Clean Out Gaza; Palestinians Return to N. Gaza in Historic Day - Democracy Now! - Air Date 1-27-25

(25:13) #1693 Empowering Ethnostates: Ethnically cleansing Gaza and Trump's South Africa fixation

4: Trump's Insane Plan To Own Gaza - Pod Save the World - Air Date 2-12-25

5: West Bank Annexation Inevitable - The Majority Report - Air Date 2-6-25

6: Trump's South Africa Fixation - What Next - Air Date 2-12-25

(49:33) #1692 Ethnically Cleansing America

(1:16:02) #1688 International Decline: The Old Is Dying and the New Cannot Be Born

PART 2: TRUMP AND THE WRECKING CREW

(1:41:55) #1689 The Media and the Moguls

(2:02:34) #1691 Breaking the Government

(2:25:26) #1690 Oligarchy Unmasked- Why Billionaires Hate Democracy and How They're Dismantling It

(2:45:15) #1694 Unhealthy Discourse - RFK Jr. and the Anti-Science Movement Endangering Global Health

(3:02:31) #1695 Trump's Corruption As A Matter Of Course

Air Date: 3–9-25

Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:

- The Founding Fathers’ prophetic concerns that we don’t ever talk about

- FDR VP Harry Wallace’s op-ed on American fascism from 1944

- Philosopher Richard Rorty’s chilling predictions from 1998

- A few reasons - with caveats - why U.S. Democracy might make it through Trump 2.0

- Some hope and advice from a country that recently defeated their authoritarian regime

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REFERENCES:

Benjamin Franklin to the Federal Convention

The Other Fear of the Founders - The Atlantic

Vice President Henry A. Wallace on ‘The Danger of American Fascism’ in 1944 - Brewminate

An eerie prophecy of Trump’s second term - Vox

Three reasons why American democracy will likely withstand Trump - Vox

Poland just showed the world how democracy wins

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Air Date 3/7/2025

Corruption, for those who indulge, isn't just a perk of power, it can also be a method of maintaining it. Trump is not bothering to hide the corruption he's working to facilitate or how it's geared toward supporting his desire for unchecked power.

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KEY POINTS

KP 1: President Trump's Second Administration and Project 2025 - Trump's Terms - Air Date 2-11-25

KP 2: The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau was protecting you from corporate greed. It's gone now. - The Real News Network - Air Date 2-18-25

KP 3: The Gangster Presidency - Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick - Air Date 2-15-25

KP 4: Trump's Theory of Power - Brennan Center for Justice - Air Date 2-5-25

KP 5: See Trump's blatant quid pro quo with Eric Adams play out live on Fox News - All In w Chris Hayes - Air Date 2-14-25

KP 6: The Billionaires Government Branko Marcetic on Trumps Complete Betrayal of His Base - Democracy Now! - Air Date 2-27-25

KP 7: D.C. Gutted. Grassroots Galvanized. - Ralph Nader Radio Hour - Air Date 2-22-25

KP 8: Elie Mystal On The Peoples Checks and Balances - Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast - Air Date 2-21-25

(56:17) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the impact of corruption

DEEPER DIVES

(1:05:38) SECTION A: THE CABINET OF GREED

(1:48:28) SECTION B: QUID-PRO-QUO

(2:10:58) SECTION C: CORPORATE INTERESTS

(2:48:08) SECTION D: KING TRUMP

SHOW IMAGE

Description: A protestor holds up a sign that says “Stop The Billionaire Grift!”

Credit: “HANDS OFF THE CFPB RALLY at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau” by Elvert Barnes, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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Air Date 3/4/2025

An old proverb says that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and we're all about to see how dangerous as know-nothings and science skeptics take over the government agencies staffed by doctors and scientists with the goal of keeping the population healthy.

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KEY POINTS

KP 1: U.S. health agencies hit with mass layoffs by Trump administration - Way Too Early with Ali Vitali - Air Date 2-18-25

KP 2: Department of Health and Holy Sh*t: RFK Jr.’s MAHA Movement and What It Means for America Part 1 - Inside the Hive - Air Date 2-5-25

KP 3: Psychiatric Struggle w/ Danielle Carr - The Dig - Air Date 2-17-25

KP 4: MAHA Forever - The Dream - Air Date 2-16-25

KP 5: Republicans are Proposing Bills SO F***ing Stupid They’ll Make Your Head Explode - The Humanist Report - Air Date 2-18-25

KP 6: Samoa's Health Chief Says RFK Jr. Spread Anti-Vax Misinformation Before Deadly Measles Outbreak - Democracy Now! - Air Date 1-31-25

(48:15) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the tragedy of the mirror world

DEEPER DIVES

(57:25) SECTION A: HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS

(1:15:51) SECTION B: RFK JR.

(1:30:48) SECTION C: ANTI-SCIENCE DANGERS

(1:55:19) SECTION D: PREDATORS AND PREY

SHOW IMAGE

Description: RFK Jr. speaks at the podium at a Trump-Vance rally while an out-of-focus Donald Trump watches him in the background.

Credit: “Donald Trump & Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.” by Gage Skidmore, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped

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Air Date: 3-2-25

Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:

- How “entrepreneurialism” has gained unearned adoration and disempowered labor organizing

- The 100-year-old “New Thought” era and how it shaped our current culture of work

- The social critic Theodore Roszak’s accurate predictions about the dark turn of tech and work

- What Democrats should learn from Steve Bannon’s approach to Musk

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REFERENCES:

The Cult of the Entrepreneur - The New Republic

The Social Critic Who Predicted Big Tech’s Dark Turn - The Nation

What Anti-Musk Democrats Can Learn From Steven Bannon - NY Magazine

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