Libsyn Directory

SOLVED! #20 - America’s Brain Drain: How Scientific Empires Fall

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Release Date: 08/29/2025

SOLVED! SAMPLE! #27 - Watch what you say! How weaponized language changes our reality

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Air Date: 11-10-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch. 1 - “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” Ch. 2 - “Politically correct” Ch. 3 - “Ethnic cleansing” Ch. 4 - “Meritocracy” Ch. 5 - Our current “wealth pump” crisis and how it has been solved throughout history BACKSTAGE! Beyond the Algorithm (Members Only!): The best words to articulate the current moment FOLLOW US ON: (This full episode premieres on YouTube on Friday - please share!) REFERENCES - Huffington Post - NPR - Mondo Weiss - Lucid (Substack) - Michael Sandel - Kottke ...

#1752 Reigniting the Nuclear Arms Race: Fat Man, Little Boy, and Donald Trump

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Air Date 11/7/2025 The most dangerous part of nuclear weapons has always been the people in charge of them. As we potentially enter a new arms race, some of the worst people in the world are in charge of the vast majority of nuclear weapons. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on 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 audiobook purchasing experience! ! KEY POINTS KP 1: KP 2: KP 3: KP 4: KP 5: KP 6: (00:44:32)...

#1751 Monthly-ish Mix: Institutions Fall, Reality Breaks, Empire Rises

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Air Date: 11/11/25 The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month we examine how power is being quietly consolidated across institutions, how propaganda and AI are reshaping our sense of reality, and how division and fear are fueling both domestic repression and global aggression. From the Supreme Court to state media manipulation, from dismantled voting rights to foreign influence campaigns, we trace the machinery of authoritarian control—and spotlight the journalists, educators, and activists still pushing back to keep truth and...

#1750 "America's Backyard" - The War on Terror Meets the War on Drugs

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Air Date 11/7/2025 The United States claiming a divine (and imperialist) right to tamper in the politics of South American countries is nothing new. As is so often the case with Trump, the biggest difference is that he’s doing proudly and in the open what used to be done only shamefully and in secret. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on 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: (00:53:59) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On the...

SOLVED! FROM THE ARCHIVES - “Transgressive Thoughts in a Villain Era” (Original Air Date: 1-6-25)

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Re-Air Date: 11–6-25 Unless you were a member in January of 2025, this episode of SOLVED! will be brand new to you! We’re slowing down production for a little bit to reorganize our production processes, so enjoy this episode from our archives (and B.Y: before YouTube) where Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch. 1 - Why people love villains Ch. 2 - How plutocracy kills Ch. 3 - Why the path forward is through membership organizations FOLLOW US ON: (This full episode premieres on YouTube on Friday - please share!) Nostr public key:...

#1749 Democracy: In Theory, In Practice, and Under Threat

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Air Date 11/4/2025 Elections are always coming up, some sooner than others, so we thought we would take a look at the state of our democracy and what we must do to maintain it in the face of the greatest direct assault on our institutions we've seen in our 250 year history. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on 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: KP 7: KP 8: (00:49:12) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On the willingness...

#1748 Patriotism in Peril: Democracy, the Military, and the Fight Over What America Means

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Air Date 11/02/2025 A lot of people on the left aren't feeling the love for their country right now and that's understandable but we have some thoughts on more productive ways to channel those conflicting feelings toward a country that is currently falling far short of living up to its founding ideals. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on 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: KP 7: (00:59:59) NOTE FROM THE...

#1747 Racism in the United States, it turns out, is a problem

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Air Date 10/28/2025 As we were looking for episode topics, I came across an article making the case that racism is a real problem in the country and that there were lots of recent examples that proved the point. And I was like, "Racism? In the US?! In Trump's Republican Party?? That doesn't sound like the country I've heard of." (sarcasm) But then we looked into it and it turns out racism is everywhere and also quite bad. (true) Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Check out our new show, SOLVED! on ! ...

#1746 What an actual attack on free speech looks like

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Air Date 10/25/2025 Trump's attacks on free speech, particularly with the use of the Federal Communications Commission, goes far beyond the Jimmy Kimmel story. We're in the middle of an all-out assault on freedom of speech, a free and unbiased press, and freedom of association. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on 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 audiobook purchasing experience! ! KEY POINTS KP 1: KP 2: ...

#1374 Tell Stories, Not Myths: Columbus and the Centrality of Colonialism (Throwback)

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Original Air Date: 10/13/2020 Today we take a look at the myths of Columbus and American Exceptionalism™ that we cling to and turn our gaze to some of the less-understood but more accurate and important aspects of our collective history Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Check out our new show, SOLVED! on ! (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) ! SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Ch. 2: Ch. 3: Ch. 4: Ch. 5: Ch. 6: Ch. 7: Ch. 8: Ch. 9: SHOW IMAGE | | Modifications: Cropped ...

More Episodes

Air Date: 8–28-25

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

Ch. 1 - How scientific empires fall
Ch. 2 - How fascists of the past have destroyed their country’s scientific progress in fear of inconvenient truths
Ch. 3 - How other countries are taking the opportunity to poach American scientists
Ch. 4 - Living in a society that is shifting away from believing in evidence based science
Ch. 5 - The 1938 pro-science manifesto that defended democracy against fascism
BACKSTAGE: Beyond the Algorithm - Trump’s eugenicist mindset and what we didn’t have time for from our main articles

YouTube (This episode drops on YouTube on Friday - please share!)

Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e

REFERENCES:

AOL Dial-Up Ending Reminds Us That All Empires Collapse Eventually - Kotaku

Every Scientific Empire Comes to an End - The Atlantic

What’s Behind the Rejection of Science? - American Laboratory

Attacks on the U.S. Innovation Ecosystem Are an Attack on a Wellspring of American Prosperity - American Progress

The World Is Wooing U.S. Researchers Shunned by Trump - NY Times