#1708 Rent Asunder: From the Moderation of Pope Francis to Extremism of JD Vance, the Catholic Church is Deeply Divided
Release Date: 05/02/2025
#1376 Tell Stories, Not Myths- America is a Force But Not Always For Good (Throwback)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Original Air Date: 10-21-20 Today we take a look at some of the many zany foreign misadventures the United States has had over the past 100 years. And by "zany misadventures" I mean the naked pursuit of capitalism at any cost, the support of military coups and other undemocratic overthrows of foreign governments and wars for oil and resources in an unabashed attempt to keep America wealthy and the rest of the world less so - all while maintaining an anti-imperial, pro-democracy, pro-freedom, live-and-let-live poker face Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or...
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#1720 Building an Organized Left, the Eternal Oxymoron
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Air Date 7/2/2025 The militarization of Trump's deportation regime and response to protesters is the clearest example of his desire to implement a fully authoritarian government. Pure and simple. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on the infamous Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Check out our new show, SOLVED! on ! (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) ! KEY POINTS KP 1: KP 2: KP 3: KP 4: KP 5: KP 6: (00:45:01) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On how to fund the politics we need DEEPER DIVES (00:56:26) SECTION A: PROTESTS (01:25:24) SECTION B:...
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#13 - How to Make Enemies and Influence People
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Air Date: 6–30-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Shifting the way we think and talk about the benefits of peaceful nonviolence at anti-fascist protests The unlimited patience for capitalism vs. the knee-jerk “Impossible!” for left-wing ideas The centrists Democrats (and their consultants) missing the forest for the trees An antidote to decades of neoliberal approaches to policy (and we reject Ezra Klein’s “Abundance”) FOLLOW US ON: Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e REFERENCES: - In These...
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#1719 The Fascist Playbook: Immigrants, Brown Shirts, and the Backlash
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Air Date 6/28/2025 The militarization of Trump's deportation regime and response to protesters is the clearest example of his desire to implement a fully authoritarian government. Pure and simple. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on the infamous Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Full Show Notes Check out our new show, SOLVED! on ! (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop and for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! ! KEY POINTS KP 1: KP 2: KP 3: KP 4: KP 5: KP 6: KP 7: KP 8: (01:00:15) NOTE...
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#1718 On the Path to Destruction: Israel Attacks Iran as Support for War on Gaza Drops
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Air Date: 6-25-2025 We thought we were going to have an episode about the war Israel is conducting ready for you last week but then they started another war. So, it would have felt odd to release an Israel episode without the latest major updates including Iran. I can only imagine what will happen between the time I speak these words and when you hear them that will make this episode feel out of date. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on the infamous Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Check out our new show, SOLVED! on ! (Members...
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SOLVED! #12 - Back to the…1980s? The Power of Nostalgia and Trump’s Reaganitis
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Air Date: 6–23-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: The long history of nostalgia in politics as we find ourselves reliving the 1980s How MAGA Youth have a lot in common with Reagan Youth (a la Alex P. Keaton) without the context Trump’s Reaganitis: All the ways Trump is just straight up copying Reagan and how he could fail like him too The “Landlord in Chief” and how to fight back against the new feudalism FOLLOW US ON: REFERENCES: - Jacobin - The New York Times - Mother Jones - Current Affairs EXTRAS: “Wrestling is Drag” - Smartypants ...
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#1717 Monthly-Ish Mix: Wealth Concentration, Knowledge Suppression, and Identity Exploitation: The Systems of Control of the Authoritarian Playbook
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Air Date 6/21/2025 The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month, we're focusing on the way authoritarian movements operate across multiple fronts simultaneously to reshape society. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on the infamous Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop and for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! ! PART 1: ECONOMIC CONTROL (00:01:20) (00:26:46) (00:49:50) PART 2: INFORMATION...
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#1716 The Fight for Workers: Oligarchy and its Bipartisan Enablers
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Air Date 6/18/2025 Critics of capitalism like us often advocate for the system to come to an end and be replaced with another that aligns better with human needs and continued existence. Well, it's possible that the system is close to having run its course and will be making way for something different. Unfortunately, the natural course of capitalism is to concentrate wealth and, by extension, power so that's what's happened and we're now getting close to basically reinventing feudalism. So, wrong direction. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, or email Check...
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#1612 New Tech and the New Luddite Movement; Inequitable Distribution of Benefits from New Technology Always Sparks Demands from Labor and AI is Rekindling the Old Arguments (Throwback)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Original Air Date: 2-20-2024 "Luddite" should never have become the epithet that it is as the Luddites were never afraid of or opposed to technological advancement, they only opposed the exploitation of workers and the degradation to society that came with the unfair distribution of the benefits of the targeted technology. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on the infamous Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Check out our new show, SOLVED! on ! (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop and for a non-evil book and...
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#1715 The Weaponization of Antisemitism and Counterproductive Violence
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Air Date: 6-11-2025 Following the 2023 attack and counterattack between Israel and Hamas which brought the simmering conflict into the mainstream of American politics, we're now living with the opportunistic weaponization of antisemitism being used as a pretext to crack down on anti-Israel protests and universities that just aren't teaching a Trump-aligned curriculum. Meanwhile, genuinely inexcusable antisemitism is being either condemned or excused by Israel supporters based more on political affiliation than the danger posed to Jews. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at...
info_outlineAir 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.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email [email protected]
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KEY POINTS
KP 3: The Meaning of Pope Francis - Know Your Enemy - 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
(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!