Air Date 5/30/2025

Given the overwhelming weirdness of Trump and his malfeasant style of governance, it would be perfectly understandable for casual observers to believe that his signature piece of legislation, weirdly named in reality the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," was itself also likely to be pretty weird; a potential departure from usual Republican Party policy priorities. In reality, what's weird is how deeply normal it is: take from the poor and give to the rich while letting corporations get away with murder.

Full Show Notes

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KEY POINTS

KP 1: All the president's side hustles - Today, Explained - Air Date 5-15-25

KP 2: 'Met Gala of pay-for-play' Trump crypto dinner is brazenly corrupt, says Hayes - All In with Chris Hayes - Air Date 5-22-25

KP 3: Historian Julian Zelizer Trump's corruption is the worst ever seen in the White House! - The Dean Obeidallah Show - Air Date 5-13-25

KP 4: Analyst Trump's Middle East Trip Isn't For Peace. It's a Turn Towards Fighting China - BreakThrough News - Air Date 5-16-25

KP 5: Trump's Big Beautiful Bill is Baloney - The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich - Air Date 5-17-25

KP 6: Trump-GOP Tax Bill Cuts Medicaid, SNAP To Give Handouts To Billionaires Part 1- The Majority Report - Air Date 5-20-25

KP 7: Trump Castrated the Courts! Big Beautiful Bill ENDS Constitutional Protection Against Dictatorship - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 5-20-25

(00:55:49) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On why seeing is not believing and how that helps Republicans

DEEPER DIVES

(01:02:25) SECTION A: CORRUPTION

(01:45:05) SECTION B: BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL

(02:19:13) SECTION C: IMPACT

SHOW IMAGE CREDITS 

Description: Composite image depicting Trump giving a speech at a podium with his hands out and an image of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s face in a circle over his shoulder. Text over the image reads “THE BIG CRUEL STUPID BILL”

Credits: Composite design by A. Hoffman. Photo credit: “President of the United States Donald J. Trump at CPAC 2017 February 24th 2017” by Michael Vadon, Flickr | CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Darkened overlay and text and image overlays | “Mike Johnson”  by Gage Skidmore, Flickr | CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped into circle with darker overlay

Air Date 5/27/2025

Slippery slope arguments persist because good ideas taken to extremes become bad ones. Eugenics exemplifies this—often starting with good intentions.

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KEY POINTS

KP 1: The movement that inspired the Holocaust - Alexandra Minna Stern and Natalie Lira - TED-Ed - Air Date 3-10-22

KP 2: MAHA's Soft Eugenics - Conspirituality - Air Date 3-8-25

KP 3: It Must Be Eugenics - I Must Be BUG'N - Air Date 4-24-25

KP 4: Hayek's bastards w/ Quinn Slobodian - Politics Theory Other - Air Date 3-30-25

KP 5: Even More News: Grok's Meltdown, Donald Trump's Rampant Corruption, and Ms. Rachel w/ Mehdi Hasan - Some More News - Air Date 5-16-25

KP 6: Undercover inside a ‘scientific racism’ network - Today in Focus - Air Date 10-25-24

(00:49:40) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the likely future of gene editing ethics

DEEPER DIVES

(01:02:09) SECTION A: HISTORICAL CONTEXT

(01:44:19) SECTION B: RFK JR. ON AUTISM

(01:59:39) SECTION C: TECH BROS

(02:46:44) SECTION D: PRONATALISM

(03:05:05) SECTION E: MAGA

SHOW IMAGE CREDITS

Description: Composite image depicting HHS Secretary RFK Jr. at a microphone in the center of an overlay of repeating, identical “people” icons. A handful of icons are different, bright neon colors and have a red X in a box over them.

Credits: Composite design by A. Hoffman. Elements from Pixabay. Photo credit: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.” by Gage Skidmore, Flickr | CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped, background color change, and added overlay

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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Air Date: 5-26-25

*CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE “SINNERS”*

You thought you were going to listen to SOLVED! today, and you're not alone. We also thought we were going to make an episode of SOLVED!, but this turned into something a little bit different. So, we're calling it a “special” in which Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss storytelling and mythology in general, and the extremely relevant and fascinating themes of the new Ryan Coogler film “Sinners,” in particular. Because storytelling is the process by which humans attempt to understand ourselves, it is, by its nature, never ending.

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REFERENCES:

Humans are not the only animals that create their own culture - Earth.com

Ancient Myths in Modern Times: Illuminating Bygone Legends Through Technology - Connolly Cove

The Vampire in Mythology: Analyzing the Symbolic Meanings and Archetypes of Vampire Figures - Mythology Worldwide

“Sinners” - A film by Ryan Coogler starring Michael B. Jordan

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Jay! Tomlinson

Thanks for listening!

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Original Air Date: 6/29/2020

From 2020: Today we take a look deeper at the concept of "I can't breathe," going beyond the literal utterances by victims of police brutality and COVID-19 sufferers to the metaphorical epidemic of exhaustion, burnout, depression and disaffection in the US and around the world.

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Full Show Notes

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SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: Black Lives Matter Protests, "Outside Agitators," and the Coronavirus - DOOMED with Matt Binder - Air Date 5-30-20

Ch. 2: Structural robbery, mass resistance with William C. Anderson Part 2 - This Is Hell! - Air Date 6-4-20

Ch. 3: George Floyd, you, me… us - Jim Hightower - Air Date 6-9-20

Ch. 4: The End of Policing with Alex Vitale Part 1 - Tysky Sour, Novara Media - Air Date 6-3-20

Ch. 5: America, Racism & Patterns of Change (with Heather Cox Richardson)- Stay Tuned with Preet - Air Date - 6-11-20

Ch. 6: The End of Policing with Alex Vitale Part 2 - Tysky, Novara Media - Air Date 6-3-20

Ch. 7: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor on how racism & racial terrorism fueled nationwide anger - Democracy Now! - Air Date 6-1-20

Ch. 8: The End of Policing with Alex Vitale Part 3 - Tysky, Novara Media - Air Date 6-3-20

Ch. 9: The Uprising and Its Leadership: What Does it Look Like in This Moment? - The Takeaway - Air Date 6-10-20

Ch. 10: Cornel West: Nationwide uprisings herald "America's moment of reckoning" - Democracy Now! - Air Date 6-1-20

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Air Date: 5-21-2025

A popular MAGA refrain is, "promises made, promises kept." The key is having known which promises to take seriously. Weaponizing the government against his enemies and attempting to wield dictatorial power, sure. Benefit his supporters or the working class more broadly, or rid the government of waste, fraud, or corruption... not so much.

Direct Download

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KEY POINTS

KP 1: 100 Perfect Days - Pod Save America - Air Date 4-29-25

KP 2: 100 Daze of Trump's 'Fascist Death Spiral' with Heather Digby Parton of Salon, 'Driftglass' of 'Pro Left Podcast' - The BradCast - Air Date 4-30-25

KP 3: There is no president, really - Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie - Air Date 4-26-25

KP 4: 100 days of payback - Today, Explained - Air Date 4-29-25

KP 5: Trump Is Losing A Lot In Court. Plus, the First Episode of The Divided Dial (S2). - On The Media - Air Date 5-9-25

KP 6: 100 Days of Hypocrisy - Main Justice - Air Date 4-29-25

KP 7: A Trumped Up Police State Is Coming Part 1 - The Intercept Briefing - Air Date 5-8-25

KP 8: 100 Days of Chaos Skye Perryman - Future Hindsight - Air Date 5-1-25

(52:39) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the upcoming No Kings protest on June 14

DEEPER DIVES

(57:36) SECTION A: EXECUTIVE POWER

(1:35:05) SECTION B: IMMIGRATION & FORCE

(1:58:20) SECTION C: INCOMPETENCY AND SELF ENRICHMENT

(2:40:49) SECTION D: RESISTANCE

SHOW IMAGE CREDITS for #1711 - Trump 100 days

Description: Black and white photo of Trump at a podium at the White House looking stern, with a policeman standing behind him.

Credit: “P20250519JB-0425P20250519JB-0425” by The White House, Flickr | Government work, Public Domain

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Air Date: 5-19-25

Today, Jay!, Amanda, and Deon (Erin was on vacation) discuss:

• The origins of and problems with “the one way” Christian mindset
• Why Finland’s happiest country title and happiness itself are terribly misunderstood by Americans
• How our globalized world is messing with perceptions of our cultural similarities and differences
• The link between genocides, pseudoscience, and conspiracy theories
• Naomi Klein’s analysis on the problems with how we talk about the Holocaust
• How we get back to humanization and recognizing our core similarities as beings floating on a rock in space
• Some Finnish wisdom that encapsulates life, the universe, and everything

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REFERENCES:

My Miserable Week in the Happiest Country on Earth - The New York Times

Doppelgänger by Naomi Klein (If you buy via this link, you can support indie bookstores and SOLVED! at the same time!)

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan (If you buy via this link, you can support indie bookstores and SOLVED! at the same time!)

A Wilder Shore: The Romantic Odyssey of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson by Camille Peri (If you buy via this link, you can support indie bookstores and SOLVED! at the same time!)

“Pale Blue Dot” - An excerpt from Carl Sagan’s book “Pale Blue Dot” (If you buy via this link, you can support indie bookstores and SOLVED! at the same time!)

SOLVED! SONG! “Pale Blue Dot” - Concepts: Human Intelligence. Song: Artificial Intelligence.

TAKE ACTION:

June 14th - “No Kings” Nationwide Day of Action

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Produced by:

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Air Date 5/18/2025

The full quote from today's title is from one of the most celebrated writers of Southern American literature, William Faulkner, who said, "The past is never dead. It’s not even past. All of us labor in webs spun long before we were born, webs of heredity and environment, of desire and consequence, of history and eternity.” The new film, Sinners, set in the Jim Crow South, attempts to take on some of the subjects that make up that web of history and consequence. The theme of today's episode is an attempt to dig into many of the subjects of the film.

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KEY POINTS

KP 1: Sinners: Director Ryan Coogler on His Latest Hit, Delta Blues, His Mississippi Roots & Vampires Part 1 - Democracy Now! - Air Date 4-25-25

KP 2: Sinners and the General State of Things - The Morbid Zoo - Air Date 5-10-25

KP 3: Western Christianity and White Supremacy Part 1 - Meant For This - Air Date 3-23-22

KP 4: How Do You Put A Price On America's Original Sin? - Consider This - Air Date 3-27-23

KP 5: Storm and Stress: Jim Crow America Part 1 - History is US - Air Date 6-5-22

KP 6: Trump's first 100 days, but it's just the racism - Garrison Hayes - Air Date 5-2-25

(48:29) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On how to talk about the interplay between economics and identity politics

DEEPER DIVES

(57:48) SECTION A: CHRISTIANITY

(1:33:29) SECTION B: RACE

(2:18:56) SECTION C: CULTURE

SHOW IMAGE CREDITS

Description: Portion of the 1830s painting “Slave Market” (Brazil) depicting two white men discussing the sale of enslaved, black Brazilian men with a church with steeple and cross in the background and the iconography of the Virgin Mary on the wall above.

Credit: “Slave Market” by Johann Moritz Rugendas, New York Public Library Digital Collections | Copyright status undetermined by NYPL | Changes: Cropped with increased contrast and brightness

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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Original Air Date 6/4/2022

Today we take a look at some of the obvious steps we need to take to reduce gun violence in the United States, debunk some of the favored propaganda supporting unfettered gun ownership and explore the origins of how Gun Culture™ was invented by corporations as the frontier era need for guns began to vanish pushing them to convert guns from tools that were needed but not loved into items that were loved though no longer needed.

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Full Show Notes | Transcript

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SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: Igor Volsky on Ending Gun Violence - CounterSpin - Air Date 5-27-22

Ch. 2: NRA's "Good Guy With A Gun" Theory Failed In Real Time In Uvalde - All In with Chris Hayes - Air Date 5-27-22

Ch. 3: Jordan Klepper Debunks The "Good Guy with a Gun" Argument - The Daily Show - Air Date 12-11-15

Ch. 4: The Second Amendment Isn't About Killing Politicians or Overthrowing Democracy - The Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 5-31-22

Ch. 5: Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger speaking to Charlayne Hunter-Gault - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 12-16-1991

Ch. 6: How the Gun Industry Used Marketing to Change a Culture - Letters and Politics - Air Date 8-7-19

Ch. 7: Mass Shootings: American Exceptionalism of the Worst Kind - Breaking the Sound Barrier by Amy Goodman - Air Date 5-26-22

SHOW IMAGE:

Description: A pencil sketch of a larger-than-life hand gun on the shoulders of a weary man, in the image of Jesus carrying the cross. He stands in a pool of red blood.

Credit: “Gun Culture” by Christopher Dombres, Flickr | Public Domain | Changes: Cropped

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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Original Air Date 5/24/2019

As the neoliberal order collapses from the pressure of its failures to provide for working people, we take a look at the much-maligned, rarely-understood field of economic and social study known as Marxism.

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SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: The Contributions of Karl Marx Part 1 - Economic Update - Air Date 5-25-18

Professor Wolff takes a deeper look at the life and work of Karl Marx in celebration of the 200th anniversary of his birth.

Ch. 2: Marxism Today - Analysis - Air Date 6-19-16

Robin who was a BBC reporter for 25 years thinks Marx was always in the background discourse of politics, an influence he partly feared and didn't fully understand. He takes a walk through central London in the footsteps of the great revolutionary.

Ch. 3: David Harvey on Marx, Capital, and the Madness of Economic Reason - Left Out - Air Date 11-5-17

David Harvey is arguably the most influential living geographer, as well as one of the world’s leading Marxist scholars. He is among the most cited intellectuals of all time across the humanities and social sciences.

Ch. 4: This Ruthless Criticism of All That Exists Marxism as Science - Revolutionary Left Radio - Air Date 2-2-19

J. Moufawad-Paul, a Marxist philosopher and author of "Continuity and Rupture", "The Communist Necessity", and "Austerity Apparatus", joins Breht to discuss his most recent essay "This Ruthless Criticism of All That Exists: Marxism as Science".

Ch. 5: Erosion of Consumer Choices - David Harvey's Anti-Capitalist Chronicles - Air Date 4-24-19

Prof. Harvey discusses Marx's theory of Capital and its relevance today. Consumers have less and less autonomy. Their choices, even how they will spend their leisure time, are increasingly influenced by capitalists.

Ch. 6: The Contributions of Karl Marx Part 2 - Economic Update - Air Date 5-25-18

Professor Wolff takes a deeper look at the life and work of Karl Marx in celebration of the 200th anniversary of his birth.

Produced by Jay!

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Air Date 5/6/2025

The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month we look at government surveillance overreach, challenges facing immigrant and refugee communities, the shifting landscape of American culture brought on by Christian Nationalism and the emerging broligarchy, and grassroots movements challenging institutional power.

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Full Show Notes | Transcript

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PART 1: GOVERNMENT POWER & ITS MISUSE

#1697 The Trump World Order: Are we the Baddies?

(00:27:13) #1699 A Government Of the People, By the People, and Weaponized Against the People

(00:41:10) #1704 Weaponization and Capitulation: Trump vs Immigrants, Universities, and Media

(01:05:30) #1706 Trump's Kafkaesque Deportation Nightmare is the Shame of the Nation

PART 2: VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES & CIVIL RIGHTS

(01:29:29) #1700 Dehumanizing Trans People is Always the First Step for Fascists

(01:49:55) #1705 Threatened Social Safety Nets Are Foundational to Healthy Societies

PART 3: CULTURAL & SOCIETAL TRANSFORMATION

(02:03:47) #1702 Destroying Education, Boosting Christian Nationalism: Rewriting the Past and Hamstringing the Future

(02:24:21) #1703 The Broligarchy and the Rise of Techno-Feudalism

PART 4: OPPOSITION & RESISTANCE

(02:39:54) #1698 Resistance is Not Futile: Support the collective revolt against Trumpism (Special Podcasthon!)

(02:53:32) #1701 Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way: Installing the Backbone Democrats Need

Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

Air Date: 5-5-25

Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin continue our discussion on masculinity and dive into:

- The dangers of the online obsession with Patrick Bateman from American Psycho

- John Adams’ famous quote that could give some insight into today’s incels

- The Matt Walsh/Megan Kelly skirmish that exposes Walsh’s siloed world-view

- A small but interesting group of former Trumpers who seem to have woken up to the bullshit of traditional gender roles

- The studies that show women have better sex under socialism

- SOLVED! SONG! “Love’s Not a Game” (Directly inspired by this episode!)

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REFERENCES:

Sigma grindset: TikTok's toxic worshipping of Patrick Bateman is another sign young men are lost - GQ Magazine

John Adams Writes to Abigail: ‘I must study politicks and war’

Megyn Kelly Rebukes Matt Walsh for Saying Women Should Be ‘Traditionally Feminine’: Men Find Working Wives ‘Smokin Hot’ - Mediaite

Daily Wire's Matt Walsh: “Men are generally not attracted to ambitious career-driven women” - Media Matters

The Vibe Shifts Against the Right - The New York Times

Why Women Had Better Sex Under Socialism - The New York Times (August 2017)

SOLVED! SONG! “Love’s Not a Game” - Concepts: Human Intelligence. Song: Artificial Intelligence. Based on SOLVED! Ep. #8: Part 2

EXTRAS

“The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity and Love”  by bell hooks (If you buy via this link, you can support indie bookstores and SOLVED! at the same time!)

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Air Date 5/2/2025

We're taking the passing of Pope Francis as an opportunity to explore the deeper political implications of the extremist, rightward turn for some in the Catholic Church, including many recent converts.

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KEY POINTS

KP 1: Why Pope Francis successor could have great influence on U.S. politics - MSNBC Reports - Air Date 4-23-25

KP 2: Trump Purges Military Leaders And Angela Denker On The Radicalization Of White Men - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 2-25-25

KP 3: The Meaning of Pope Francis - Know Your Enemy - Air Date 4-25-25

KP 4: Weekly Roundup The Pope, JD Vance, and Anti-Christian Bias - Straight White American Jesus - Air Date 4-25-25

KP 5: Opus Dei A Catholic Cult with Gareth Gore - Free Thought Matters - Air Date 2-20-25

KP 6: To Understand JD Vance, You Need to Meet the TheoBros - Mother Jones - Air Date 10-2-24

KP 7: The Radical Catholic Right from Paul Weyrich to JD Vance Part 1 - Straight White American Jesus - Air Date 9-23-24

(53:23) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the benefits of democracy

DEEPER DIVES

(1:04:00) SECTION A: THE POPE

(1:22:49) SECTION B: IN POLICY

(1:43:34) SECTION C: POST-LIBERAL CATHOLICS

(2:17:50) SECTION D: MEN

SHOW IMAGE CREDITS 

Description: Composite image. Showing a disgruntled looking JD Vance looking toward an image of Pope Francis smiling while blessing a child in a crowd. A quote in a box says “What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly, and will end badly.”

Credit: Design by A. Hoffman | Components: “JD Vance” Gage Skidmore, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped, used in composite |  “Blessing of children pope” by ansehen, Pixabay | License: Pixabay

Produced by Jay!

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