Best of the Left Podcast

Put a description of your podcast here.

The Podcasts

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

Full Show Notes | Transcript

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!

Join our Discord community!


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 3: Who Got Rich? The Trump Tariffs, Explained by MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle - PABLO TORRE FINDS OUT- Air Date 4-11-25

KP 4: From “Liberation Day” to Chaos: Trump Pauses Most Tariffs While Escalating Trade War with China - Democracy Now! - Air Date 4-10-25

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

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:

Bluesky

Mastadon

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

 

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

 

 

Join our Discord Server

Reach us via Signal:

Bestoftheleft.01

Leave a message at 202-999-3991

 

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!

Direct download: AUDIO_SAMPLE_-_SOLVED_8_Part_1_Audio.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:30am EDT

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

Full Show Notes | Transcript

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!

Join our Discord community!


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 5: What a photojournalist saw as Venezuelan migrants arrived in El Salvador - 60 Minutes - Air Date 4-6-25

KP 6: Dictator Behind Trump's Notorious El Salvadorian Prison Deportations Wants U.S. Dissents Locked Up - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 4-16-24

KP 7: Trump's Real Plan With El Salvador Revealed - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 4-15-25

KP 8: Sen. Van Hollen on Meeting Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador & Escalating Constitutional Crisis - Democracy Now! - Air Date 4-21-25


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

 

Produced by Jay!

Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere!

Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X


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

Full Show Notes | Transcript

BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!)

Join our Discord community!


KEY POINTS

KP 1: What few people know about the program that saved America - Meg Jacobs - TED-Ed - Air Date 6-17-21

KP 2: Trump is coming for Social Security. And he has a new 'Big Lie' to justify it. - All In with Chris Hayes - Air Date 5-5-25

KP 3: What DOGE could mean for Medicare and Medicaid? - Consider This - Air Date 2-10-25

KP 4: Food banks feel the pain from higher prices and cuts to government programs - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 4-10-25

KP 5: Important HHS services _will grind to a halt_ with cuts, former Secretary Sebelius says - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 4-2-25

KP 6: Trumps Butchering Social Security to Feed His Starving Billionaires w/ Alex Lawson - The Hartmann Report - Air Date 3-12-25

KP 7: 'The federal workforce feels tormented': Federal employees on the consequences of losing their jobs Part 1 - On Point - Air Date 4-1-25

KP 8: INTERVIEW: Tim Faust on Defending Medicaid - The Worst of All Possible Worlds Part 1 - Air Date 3-31-25


(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

 

Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere!


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

Full Show Notes | Transcript

BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!)

Join our Discord community!


KEY POINTS

KP 1: Free Mahmoud Khalil with Ben Wizner and Baher Azmy - At Liberty - Air Date 3-26-25

KP 2: News Brief Dem Leaders, 'Free Speech' Warriors Mostly Shrug as Trump Disappears Political Dissidents - Citations Needed - Air Date 4-2-25

KP 3: Trump's Revenge - The Majority Report - Air Date 4-1-25

KP 4: Trump Pauses Tariffs, Businesses Welcome Relief, Trump Targets Former Officials - Up First - Air Date 4-10-25

KP 5: Mahmoud Khalil and a New Red Scare. Plus, Press Freedom Under Threat. - On The Media - Air Date 3-14-25

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!

Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X


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

Full Show Notes | Transcript

BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!)

Join our Discord community!


ACTIVISM ROUNDUP

KEY POINTS

KP 1: The Broligarchy Pt 2: Is this Techno-Fascism? Part 1 - Close All Tabs - Air Date 4-2-25

KP 2: Capitalism Has Mutated Into Something Worse with Yanis Varoufakis - Factually! with Adam Conover - Air Date 2-7-24

KP 3: How Technofacism is Rooted in Silicon Valley / Becca Lewis Part 1 - This Is Hell! - Air Date 2-11-25

KP 4: We Went To Georgia Facebooks Data Center Took This Town Hostage - More Perfect Union - Air Date 3-27-25

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.

 

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere!

Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X

Direct download: 1703_The_Broligarchy_and_the_Rise_of_Techno-Feudalism.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:42am EDT

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

Full Show Notes

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!

Join our Discord community!


Show Notes

Ch. 1: Peter Beinart on anti-Semitism in America and illiberalism in Israel - The Ezra Klein Show - Air Date 11-28-18

Ch. 2: Inequality and the Fight Against Anti-Semitism Q&A with Paul Jay (2/5) - @TheRealNews - Air Date 11-1-18

Ch. 3: Advocates: Israel’s Jewish Nation-State Law Constitutionally Enshrines Racism Against Palestinians - @DemocracyNow - Air Date 7-23-18

Ch. 4: Canada's Trudeau Attacks BDS, Joins Trump & Israel Blaming 'Both Sides' for Anti-Semitism - @TheRealNews - Air Date 11-12-18

Ch. 5: Noam Chomsky Condemns Israel’s Shift to Far Right & New “Jewish Nation-State” Law - @DemocracyNow - Air Date 7-30-18

Ch. 6: The Last Temptation of Evangelicals - Progressive Faith Sermons w @RevDrRay - Air Date 5-21-18

Ch. 7: Saudi Crown Prince Tells Palestinians to 'Shut up' as He Cozies up to Israel - @TheRealNews - Air Date 5-3-18


 

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


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

Full Show Notes | Transcript

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!

Join our Discord community!


KEY POINTS

KP 1: Donald Trump is Rewriting the Past. Plus, the Christian Groups Vying for Political Power - On The Media - Air Date 2-17-25

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 5: Trump Can't Destroy The Dept. Of Education But He Will - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 3-7-25

KP 6: Trump orders 'restoring' American history through Smithsonian overhaul - Trump's Terms - Air Date 3-28-25

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

 

Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere!

Direct download: 1702_Right_Wing_Education_-_4425_22.37.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:51am EDT

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

Full Show Notes | Transcript

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!

Join our Discord community!


KEY POINTS

KP 1: 'Now is the time to break glass’: Chris Hayes reacts to Schumer interview 'Now is the time to break glass’: Chris Hayes reacts to Schumer interview - All In with Chris Hayes - Air Date 3-19-25

KP 2: Why Are Some Democrats Trying To Be Republicans?- Kat Abughazaleh - Air Date 3-3-25

KP 3: WATCH: Crowd ROARS As AOC Lays Out Fighting Strategy For Democratic Party - The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder - Air Date 3-23-25

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

KP 6: Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D-IL) Speaks at the 2025 HRC Los Angeles Dinner - Human Rights Campaign - 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!

Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X