Tue, 29 April 2025
Air Date 4/29/2025 The economic and political fallout of Trump’s misguided tariffs, exposing his self-proclaimed deal-making prowess as a fraud and his grasp of the relevant issues to be childlike at best. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! KEY POINTS KP 1: The Lost History of Trump's Tariff War Part 1 - Lever Time - Air Date 4-4-25 KP 2: What we can learn from a past tariff tiff - Make Me Smart - Air Date 2-11-25 KP 5: Is Trump (Already) Giving Up On Tariffs? - TLDR News - Air Date 4-25-25 KP 6: The tariffs are just stupid. - Factually! with Adam Conover - Air Date 4-18-25 (00:48:40) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On the related topics of masculinity and labor DEEPER DIVES (00:53:39) SECTION A: MOTIVATION (01:17:08) SECTION B: DOMESTIC EFFECT (01:57:28) SECTION C: INTERNATIONAL EFFECT (02:43:36) SECTION D: HISTORY Tariffied: Exposing Trump's Artless Deal Description: Composite image. An illustrated outline of Trump’s bust, including hair and suit and tie, with overlapping tariff stamps where the eyes and nose should be, and a wide open mouth with a globe between his teeth. Credit: Design by A. Hoffman | Components License: Pixabay
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere! Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Direct download: 1707_Tariffied__Exposing_Trumps_Artless_Deal.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:42am EDT |
Mon, 28 April 2025
Air Date: 4-28-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - Why the “manly” manufacturing jobs Trump and MAGA want are never coming back - Why incels love Trump’s tariffs - The sad flails of the “Make America Manly Again” movement - The “Sigma grindset” guys’ obsession with - and complete misunderstanding of - disturbing fictional movie characters - Cliffhanger! Jay explains our upcoming schedule - SOLVED! SONG! “Blinded” (Directly inspired by this episode!)
FOLLOW US ON:
REFERENCES: Manufacturing jobs are never coming back - Vox The strange link between Trump’s tariffs and incel ideology - Vox Trump’s Tariff Pause Sets Back the “Make Men Manly Again” Movement - The Nation Sigma grindset: TikTok's toxic worshipping of Patrick Bateman is another sign young men are lost - GQ
SOLVED! SONG! “Blinded” - Concepts: Human Intelligence. Song: Artificial Intelligence. Based on SOLVED! Ep. #8: “Part 1: Drowning Men Will Clutch at Straws: Masculinity in a MAGA world” (April 26th)
TAKE ACTION: May Day nationwide action - May 1st Find your Indivisible group - or start one Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 Use the 5 Calls app for scripts and to reach all your elected officials
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Produced by: Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts! |
Sat, 26 April 2025
Air Date 4/26/2025 For those of us who knew that Trump was lawless and deeply racist in his desire for mass deportations of brown people, we're getting exactly what we expected. For others, at least the lawlessness is coming as a bit of a surprise, and yet, here we are. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! KEY POINTS KP 1: Mr. Abrego Garcia - Main Justice - Air Date 4-15-25 KP 2: Dara Lind on Criminalizing Immigrants - CounterSpin - Air Date 4-11-25 KP 3: Are Trump Administration Officials in Criminal Contempt - Strict Scrutiny - Air Date 4-21-25 KP 4: Bukele Goes To Washington w. Roberto Lovato - The Majority Report - Air Date 4-20-25 KP 7: Trump's Real Plan With El Salvador Revealed - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 4-15-25 NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On finding glimmers of hope for the future DEEPER DIVES SECTION A: DEPORTATION PRACTICES SECTION B: VICTIMS OF REGIME SECTION C: VENEZUELA AND EL SALVADOR SECTION D: RESISTANCE SHOW IMAGE Description: Composite image. An illustration of ghost-like man, woman, and child walking into a dark, complex maze with the I.C.E. logo and Trump’s mug shot at the entrance. Credit: Design by A. Hoffman | Components License: Pixabay
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Direct download: 1706_Trumps_Kafkaesque_Deportation_Nightmare_is_the_Shame_of_the_Nation_New.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:44pm EDT |
Tue, 22 April 2025
Air Date 4/22/2025 George W. Bush proposed privatizing Social Security and didn't succeed. But, as with appointing Justices that would eventually overturn Roe V. Wade, groundwork was being laid as part of a multi-decade effort that would, they hoped, pay off in the future. So don't be surprised when they come for your earned benefits programs just as they came for the fundamental right to bodily autonomy. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) KEY POINTS KP 1: What few people know about the program that saved America - Meg Jacobs - TED-Ed - Air Date 6-17-21 KP 3: What DOGE could mean for Medicare and Medicaid? - Consider This - Air Date 2-10-25 (00:51:58) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On the false moral arguments for cutting social safety nets DEEPER DIVES (01:02:18) SECTION A: SOCIAL SECURITY (01:51:24) SECTION B: GENERAL CUTS (02:34:52) SECTION C: MEDICAID & HHS SHOW IMAGE Description: Photo of a homemade protest sign that says “Hands Off My Social Security” from the Hands Off nationwide rallies. Credit: Private permission photo
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Direct download: 1705_Threatened_Social_Safety_Nets_Are_Foundational_to_Healthy_Societies.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:42pm EDT |
Fri, 18 April 2025
Air Date 4/18/2025 Before the election, I heard interviews and statistics about Trump supporters responding to his stated desire to weaponize the government against his political enemies. Their response was that 1) they didn't want him to do that and 2) didn't think he would. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) KEY POINTS KP 1: Free Mahmoud Khalil with Ben Wizner and Baher Azmy - At Liberty - Air Date 3-26-25 KP 3: Trump's Revenge - The Majority Report - Air Date 4-1-25 KP 6: Trumps Attacks on Law Firms, Lawyers, and the Law - Boom! Lawyered - Air Date 3-20-25 KP 7: Trump and the Courts w Samuel Moyn - Behind the News - Air Date 3-7-25 (00:52:02) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On how racism and anti-intellectualism are a self-inflicted injury to society DEEPER DIVES (00:59:09) SECTION A: COMPLYING ENTITIES (01:46:29) SECTION B: GOVERNMENT WEAPONIZATION (03:01:33) SECTION C: JUDGES AND LEGISLATORS Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere!
Direct download: 1704_Weaponization_and_Capitulation__Trump_vs_Immigrants_Universities_and_Media.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:40pm EDT |
Mon, 14 April 2025
Air Date 4/14/2025 Everything, it turns out, is a double-edged sword. Democracy and freedom are great but it also contains the keys to its own destruction. Love is pretty good but it turns out that only love can break your heart. And technology, which has freed people from countless hours of menial labor also has the power to subsume our economy, our politics, and much of our everyday lives. It may even be said to have supplanted capitalism itself. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) KEY POINTS KP 1: The Broligarchy Pt 2: Is this Techno-Fascism? Part 1 - Close All Tabs - Air Date 4-2-25 KP 3: How Technofacism is Rooted in Silicon Valley / Becca Lewis Part 1 - This Is Hell! - Air Date 2-11-25 KP 5: The Rise of Techno-Authoritarianism - Radio Atlantic - Air Date 2-26-24 KP 6: What does Palantir actually do? - Good Work - Air Date 3-28-25 (00:52:52) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On the faustian bargain of the internet's walled gardens DEEPER DIVES (01:02:20) SECTION A: FALLOUT (01:45:41) SECTION B: ORIGINS (02:10:50) SECTION C: TECH BROS (02:37:42) SECTION D: APARTHEID Technofeudalism Description: A composite image of Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Jeff Bezos wearing tiny golden crowns with dollar signs on them. An illustration of tiny replication of workers at desks in cubicles is in the background.
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Direct download: 1703_The_Broligarchy_and_the_Rise_of_Techno-Feudalism.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:42am EDT |
Tue, 8 April 2025
Original Air Date: 3/5/2019 From 2019: Today we take a look at how the illiberalism of the Israeli government has alienated the vast majority of democratic nations and individuals who support human rights, leaving the country with some of the most far-right, fascist, white-supremacist, anti-Semitic people in the world as their only remaining allies. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Show Notes Ch. 6: The Last Temptation of Evangelicals - Progressive Faith Sermons w @RevDrRay - Air Date 5-21-18
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere! Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Direct download: 1254_Israeli_right-wing_politics_has_lead_to_some_strange_fascist_bedfellows_Throwback.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:27am EDT |
Sat, 5 April 2025
![]() Air Date 4/5/2025 Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past. And with Trump in place, the Christian Nationalists are looking to rewrite history to their liking in order to create the dystopian future they desire. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! KEY POINTS KP 2: Trumps Vision for America I Am God - The Intercept Briefing - Air Date 3-7-25 KP 3: How to Stand Up to Project 2025 and Save Public Education - Assembly Required - Air Date 12-12-24 KP 4: How School Integration Failed Black Students w Noliwe Rooks - This Is Hell! - Air Date 3-19-25 KP 7: Make America Great Again means segregation - Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie - Air Date 3-25-25 KP 8: Does Trump Have A Mandate - Stop Christian Nationalism - Air Date 11-20-24 (00:54:50) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On the power of repetition DEEPER DIVES (01:00:41) SECTION A: PUBLIC EDUCATION (01:45:37.350) SECTION B: CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM (02:35:29) SECTION C: RELATED TOPICS SHOW IMAGE CREDITS for #1702 - White nationalism Description: A composite image of an illustration of Trump holding up a white cross against a dark background of a brick wall painted with the American flag. Credit: Custom composite design. | Components License: Pixabay
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Direct download: 1702_Right_Wing_Education_-_4425_22.37.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:51am EDT |
Wed, 2 April 2025
Air Date 4/2/2025 Love them or loathe them, the Democratic Party is the political institution available to the left to structurally take on Trumpism but we need a whole lot of new energy and new commitments to the fight to turn them into an opposition worthy of the moment we face. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com New Format Notes Code BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! KEY POINTS KP 2: Why Are Some Democrats Trying To Be Republicans?- Kat Abughazaleh - Air Date 3-3-25 KP 4: Why Democrats Are Failing Us - Bean Thinking - Air Date 3-19-25 KP 5: Why Im Running For Congress - Kat Abughazaleh - Air Date 3-24-25 (00:48:03) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR With a VM on trans kids and a sneek peek at SOLVED! DEEPER DIVES (00:58:17) SECTION A: (01:37:40) SECTION B: (02:19:15) SECTION C: (02:35:50) SECTION D: (02:55:46) SECTION E: Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere!
Direct download: 1701_Lead_Follow_or_Get_Out_of_the_Way__Installing_the_Backbone_Democrats_Need.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:10pm EDT |