#1500 America, A Beginner's Guide (Throwback)
Release Date: 12/24/2025
#1760 Hot Mess: Conservative Chaos Below the Surface of Trump's Authoritarian Regime
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Air Date 12/26/2025 Authoritarian governments are always very focused on making it look like they have everything on absolute lock down. Everyone in lockstep, everything proceeding according to plan. But they do this for propaganda purposes, not because it has anything to do with reality. In fact, the opposite is always true. All of which is to say that conservatives are not in chaos because Trump is particularly chaotic, though he is. They're in chaos because that is the natural result of attempting to enforce monolithic thinking and ideological conformity. Be part of the show! Leave us a...
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#1500 America, A Beginner's Guide (Throwback)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Original Air Date: 7/4/2022 Today, for this milestone episode, I attempted to squeeze in as many clever and interesting ideas as I could and ended up writing a starter guide to understand the United States. Plus, there are jingles! 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 ! Use our links to shop and for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! ! SHOW NOTES (00:01:30) Ch. 1: Political Structures of Our Country Tracking the political eras that proceeded...
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#1759 Why Dictators Are Lunatics and Their Followers are Fools
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Air Date 12/22/2025 It's said that mockery is one of the most effective weapons against dictators. I guess it depends on your goal, but still, there's truth there. And the good thing in that regard is that they are so very mockable. No really nice, likable, non-clownish people make themselves dictators and so the people who do are, without exception, absolutely ridiculous lunatics who deserve all the mockery and disdain in the world. 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!...
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SOLVED! FROM THE ARCHIVES - “This is Really Happening” (Original Air Date: 12-12-24)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Re-Air Date: 12–18-25 Unless you were a member in December of 2024, this episode of SOLVED! will be brand new to you! If you were a member back then, THANK YOU and this one is worth a re-listen. We’re slowing down production for a little bit to reorganize our production processes, so enjoy this episode from our archives (and before YouTube) where Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch. 1 - What the orcas are up to Ch. 2 - Confronting the truth about eating meat Ch. 3 - How to not let grief destroy leftist movements Ch. 4 - Living a better life by accepting...
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#1758 Why you think the Sudanese civil war doesn't involve you
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Air Date 12/14/2025 The sad ease with which we manage to ignore some atrocities, even while paying much attention to others, has to do with how visible or invisible to us the systems are that are propping up those events. Nothing happens in a vacuum and in our world, if you're willing to dig deep enough, you'll always find how we're all connected - across both time and geography. 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...
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SOLVED! SAMPLE! #29 - “Don’t Be Cringe”: Is Gen Z’s Humor a Political Warning Sign?
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Air Date: 12-10-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, and Deon (Erin was out this week) discuss: Ch. 1 - Generational humor, and analysis of Gen Z’s absurdist humor and the impact it’s having Ch. 2 - The unexpected social side effects of NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s campaign on Gen Z volunteers Ch. 3 - The “App”stinence Movement helping people get off of social media Ch. 4 - How the peak Millennial humor mobile game “Sword and Sworcery” has evolved with the times SOLVED! Backstage: Behind the Algorithm: Elon Musk’s “Grokapedia” reminding us of the “Conservapedia” of...
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#1757 Life is But a Game (that you can now bet on)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Air Date 12/14/2025 Albert Einstein said, "Life is just like a game, first you have to learn rules of the game, and then play it better then any one else." (Or just get some insider knowledge about which team is paid off to lose and bet on the game rather than playing it, am I right?) Now, while it's well known that sports gambling has great potential to corrupt the game, I'm sure being able to bet on literally anything in life all the time right from your phone with billionaires funding persuasion campaigns to convince you to do it will probably work out fine. Be part of the show! Leave us a...
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#1756 War Criminal Dick Cheney's Guide to Ethical Governance and Saving Democracy
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Air Date 12/10/2025 Dick Cheney used to be thought of as Darth Vader but did he have an end-of-life conversion back to the light side of the force? No, he was bad all along and only thought Trump was worse. 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: (00:48:24) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On the...
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SOLVED! FROM THE ARCHIVES! - “Not Everything That Counts Can Be Counted” (Original Air Date: 5-26-24)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Re-Air Date: 12–2-25 Unless you were a member in May of 2024, this episode of SOLVED! will be brand new to you! If you were a member back then, THANK YOU and this one is worth a re-listen. 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 - How supply and demand economics is not about “distribution of goods with the greatest efficiency” and is instead about nothing more than predatory greed Ch. 2 - How what we value as humans goes far...
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#1605 Our Prison System is a Demonstrable Failure (Throwback)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Original Air Date: 1-23-2024 The recent discovery of hundreds of bodies buried behind a jail in unmarked graves sparks a renewed discussion about the futility and counter-productiveness of our system of incarceration and the context of our history that has brought us to this point. 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: EDUCATE YOURSELF...
info_outlineOriginal Air Date: 7/4/2022
Today, for this milestone episode, I attempted to squeeze in as many clever and interesting ideas as I could and ended up writing a starter guide to understand the United States. Plus, there are jingles!
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 Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Check out our new show, SOLVED! on YouTube!
Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience!
SHOW NOTES
(00:01:30) Ch. 1: Political Structures of Our Country
Tracking the political eras that proceeded our current situation and looking at what may come next.
Jingle 1: Strawman
(00:13:09) Ch. 2: Progressives and Progress
Looking at a progressive perspective of the last 20 years and the process of progress itself
Jingle 2: Defer to Authority
(00:24:25) Ch. 3: Understanding Race, Gender, Privilege and Power
Understanding why our understanding of the world is often insufficiently complicated
Jingle 3: Just Asking Questions
(00:37:06) Ch. 4: Progressives in Politics
Tracing the fissures on the political left from Bush to Biden
Jingle 4: Manipulating Data
(00:46:45) Ch. 5: Republican Transformation
Tracing conservatism from mid-century Republicans to 21st-century insurrectionists
Jingle 5: Appeal to Emotion
(00:59:32) Ch. 6: Foreign/Power
Looking at various forms of power and how they play out on the international stage
Jingle 6: Passive Voice
(01:08:52) Ch. 7: The Progress Trap
The progress traps of new technology and why we're not defending against them
Jingle 7: Clickbait
(01:19:07) Ch. 8: Structural Thinking and the Alternative
What happens when an individualist thinker is faced with problems that only structural thinking can handle?
Jingle 8: Conspiracy Theories
Jingles: Concept and Some Lyrics by Jay Tomlinson, Music and Most Lyrics by Jonathan Mann
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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