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

Expertly-curated progressive politics, news, and culture produced by leftist humans, not algorithms or AI. This is an award-winning podcast that dives deeply into a wide range of national and international issues facing society and governments. We draw from hundreds of sources of progressive news and commentary. Est. 2006. Save time by listening to a range of perspectives on a focused topic in each episode and be introduced to new sources you will not have come across on your own!

#1779 Community After God: Why the Left Needs What Church Provided 03/24/2026

SOLVED! SAMPLE! #36 - Bribery Jazz - Corruption is the Water We Swim In 03/23/2026

#1778 AI, the Pentagon, Labor and Capitalism: The Fight Over Who Controls the Future 03/19/2026

#1777 How Christian Nationalism, Oil, and Zionism Built The War Against Iran 03/16/2026

#1776 Trump's Pharaoh Complex, Our Flawed Constitution, and the 250th Anniversary 03/12/2026

#1776 Trump's Pharaoh Complex, Our Flawed Constitution, and the 250th Anniversary Air Date: 3/11/2026 Today is episode 1776, in the year of our nation's 250th birthday, and we thought the occasion called for something big. So, we're tracing the full arc — from the constitutional compromises that made this country possible to the authoritarian vanity project that those compromises eventually also made possible. We're talking about the history, the structures, and the insecure current-but-temporary president who thinks a $400 million ballroom and a coin with his face on both sides will make him a pharaoh. Be part of the show! Leave a , message us on Signal at the handle , 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! ! TOP TAKES KP 1: KP 2: KP 3: KP 4: KP 5: KP 6: KP 7: (00:55:00) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On Why America's Coat Doesn't Fit and Why They're Erasing History to Hide It DEEPER DIVES (01:07:08) SECTION A: CONSTITUTION A1: A2: A3: A4: A5: A6: (02:05:58) SECTION B: TRUMPLAND B1: B2: B3: B4: B5: B6: (02:51:18) SECTION C: AUTHORITARIAN NOSTALGIA C1: C2: C3: C4: C5: SHOW IMAGE CREDITS Description: A chaotic composite image against a decomposing American flag background. The Arc de Triomphe (standing in for the proposed “arch d’Trump”), a gilded White House facade, and a rendering of Trump’s proposed gilded ballroom all stand behind an image of Trump giving two thumbs up. He is smiling and wearing a tall Uncle Sam-style hat, unaware a bald eagle is about to attack. A gold ribbon with 250th in awkward gold letters floats above it all. Credit: Internal composite design. | Elements from and Canva (paid Pro Content License) Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at Listen Anywhere! Listen Anywhere! Follow BotL: | | | Like at Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com /episode/index/show/hippiesympathizer/id/40408865

SOLVED! FROM THE ARCHIVES - “Collaborators, Internal Exiles, and Dissidents” (Original Air Date: 01-26-25) 03/09/2026

#1775 Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition and the Remaking of American Politics 03/07/2026

#1774 Monthly-ish Mix: Who's in Charge?—The Scramble for Control of Nations, Bodies, and Minds 03/03/2026

#1615 Envisioning a Leftist Economic Future of Postcapitalism, High-Tech Automation, Universal Basic Income and a World (Mostly) Without Work (Throwback) 02/28/2026

#1615 Envisioning a Leftist Economic Future of Postcapitalism, High-Tech Automation, Universal Basic Income and a World (Mostly) Without Work (Throwback) Original Air Date: 3-1-2024 We don't have to think too hard to understand the fears of a world in which work, and the ability of millions to support themselves, are lost to automation and artificial intelligence. But that is only a capitalist future in which the benefits of technological advancement are hoarded by the already-wealthy. Today we imagine a different path. Be part of the show! Leave a , message us on Signal at the handle , 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! ! SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Introduction to Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work by Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams Ch. 2: Since the demise of the USSR, the mantle of the largest planned economies in the world has been taken up by the likes of Walmart, Amazon and other multinational corporations. Ch. 3: With jobs being automated and handed off to machines at an ever-increasing pace, it's only natural to consider what our future will look like. Ch. 4: In this video we will be discussing automation, which is often confused with being the ‘technological revolution’ in it of itself as it is what the mainstream focuses on, and for good reason, as how we handle automation will determine the trajectory or co Ch. 5: With jobs being automated and handed off to machines at an ever-increasing pace, it's only natural to consider what our future will look like. Ch. 6: In this video we will be discussing automation, which is often confused with being the ‘technological revolution’ in it of itself as it is what the mainstream focuses on, and for good reason, as how we handle automation will determine the trajectory or co Ch. 7: Since the demise of the USSR, the mantle of the largest planned economies in the world has been taken up by the likes of Walmart, Amazon and other multinational corporations. Ch. 8: Ch. 9: SHOW IMAGE CREDITS: Description: Photo of a patch on a backpack that says "What would you do if your income were taken care of?" Credit: "" by Patrick Maynard, Flickr | License: | Changes: Cropped Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at Listen Anywhere! Listen Anywhere! Follow BotL: | | | Like at Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com /episode/index/show/hippiesympathizer/id/40225145

#1540 The Grift of Life (Scam Culture™ and the Economy it has built) (Throwback) 02/26/2026

#1540 The Grift of Life (Scam Culture™ and the Economy it has built) (Throwback) Original Air Date: 1/31/2023 Today, we take a look at just some of the nearly infinite ways in which our society, culture and economy are infused from top to bottom with Scam Culture™ that is bleeding us dry both financially and mentally. Be part of the show! Leave a , message us on Signal at the handle , 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! ! SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: For those that need to read this: you aren’t a capitalist. You’re capital. Ch. 2: Betsy DeVos and her family have been important figures in the business world for decades. They’re involved in a massive MLM, invest in shady businesses, and have put their money toward politics for as long as anyone can remember. Ch. 3: How does a corrupt mortgage scam by brokers in California become a massive national fraud that puts the whole economy into a deep crisis? Bill Black on theAnalysis.news with Paul Jay. Ch. 4: “Whatever fun name you wanna put on it, it’s the same damn thing we’ve seen over and over again.” David Dayen, Executive Editor of The American Prospect, joins us to talk through the spectacular rise and fall of crypto exchange FTX Ch. 5: The gig economy has revolutionized how we think about work, but not necessarily for the better. How have a bunch of multi-billion-dollar companies like Uber or Instacart so fundamentally changed our economy? Ch. 6: An investor's guide to breaking the thing you're trying to sell. Ch. 7: Explaining the appeal of Andrew Tate and his accolites to young, insecure men Ch. 8: TikToker @benno56 shares his family's experience with a terrifying new A.I. voice-mimicking scam. Max Burns breaks it down. Ch. 9: Scam call centers are just one cancerous offshoot of bureaucracy under capitalism, and while pranking these places may be cathartic, it's not enough to tackle the root cause. Ch. 10: "Money, it's a gas," wrote Pink Floyd's Roger Waters for their hit 'Money'. Author, speaker, and social innovator Vicki Robin would probably agree: she posits that most people don't understand the true, human, working value of money. Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at Listen Anywhere! Listen Anywhere! Follow BotL: | | | Like at Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com /episode/index/show/hippiesympathizer/id/40224890

SOLVED! SAMPLE! #34 - Understanding The Dual State: Life Under Authoritarianism and Your Role in Fighting It 02/25/2026

#1773 How Big Tech Captured Attention, Kids, and Democracy 02/24/2026

#1772 From Fragile to Fascist: How Broken Masculinity Feeds Authoritarianism 02/21/2026

#1771 They Need You in the Dark: Information, Journalism, and the Fight Against Fascism 02/15/2026

SOLVED! SAMPLE! #33 - Be a Mosquito in a Swarm: How to Put Cracks in Authoritarian Power 02/13/2026

#1770 Getting in the Fight Against ICE and Authoritarianism 02/10/2026

#1128 Confronting Fascism in the Land of Free Speech (Throwback) 02/06/2026

SOLVED! #32 - How the Left is Always Right Too Soon (With Receipts) 02/05/2026

#1769 Politics Beyond the Ballot Box: Elections and the Movements that Power Them 02/01/2026

#1768 The End of an Era: The International Rules-Based Order Gives Way to Trump's Might-Makes-Right Plutocracy 01/30/2026

SOLVED! FROM THE ARCHIVES - “Of Horse Races and Men: The Result of Decades of Media Atrophy (aka: Uncertain and Powerless” 01/26/2026

#1767 Wars Are Won By Teachers and Trump is Attacking Them Like a Foreign Adversary 01/25/2026

#1766 The Fragility of State Violence: The ICE Occupation, Renee Good, and the Minneapolis Uprising 01/21/2026

SOLVED! SAMPLE! #31 - There is no “Male Loneliness Crisis(TM)”: Why Patriarchy & Capitalism Are Hurting Us ALL 01/20/2026

#1765 AI Capitalism Will Not Deliver an AI Utopia 01/17/2026

#1764 Wealth Inequality is Bad for Society and There's No Good Counterargument 01/15/2026

#1763 It's Not a Health Care System, it's a Wealth Extraction System 01/10/2026

#1248 There you go again. Venezuela and America's addiction to imperialism (Remix) 01/07/2026

#1248 There you go again. Venezuela and America's addiction to imperialism (Remix) Original Air Date: 2/8/2019 Amid the ongoing fallout of a contested presidential election, we take a look back, briefly, at the last 100 years of Venezuelan history to understand how they went from oil riches and inequality to revolution and social progress only to run afoul of American imperialism. 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! ! SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Sharmini Peries hosts a wide-ranging conversation about the US-backed attempted coup in Venezuela Ch. 2: Venezuela was split between the rich and poor. Politicians lead the way to oil reliance. Ch. 3: Topics Include: Hugo Chavez, the Constituent Assembly, the opposition, the Venezuelan Communes, the concept of dual power, Jacobin Magazine and the Bolivarian Revolution Ch. 4: You need to be paying attention to what's happening in Venezuela. Eva Golinger joins Michael Brooks and the Majority Report crew to discuss this. Ch. 5: Ivan Briscoe, Latin America and Caribbean program director for Crisis Group, joins Ring of Fire’s Sam Seder, to talk about Maduro's corruption and Venezuela's economic disaster. Ch. 6: Writer Jorge Martin examines the two futures of Venezuela and the Bolivarian revolution. Jorge wrote the article “Maduro Wins Presidential Election, Despite Imperialist Meddling – What Next?” Ch. 7: This push for regime change in Venezuela did not appear in a vacuum. The CIA has been plotting with so-called rebels in Venezuela from the early days of the Trump administration. Ch. 8: Investigative journalist Allan Nairn explains many aspects of the US attempts at a coup in Venezuela Ch. 9: Larry Wilkerson joins Paul Jay discuss why countries that claim to support the UN and international law are supportive of US imperialistic escapades Ch. 10. Jay shares a ton of additional content on Venezuela and muses on the developing pattern of the Trump administration using poem-based propaganda Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at Listen Anywhere! Listen Anywhere! Follow BotL: | | | Like at Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com /episode/index/show/hippiesympathizer/id/39638585

#1762 Trump's Imperialistic Shakedown of Venezuela 01/03/2026

SOLVED! SAMPLE! #30 - Everything is Ugly: How Convenience Killed Beauty—And How We Can Bring It Back 12/30/2025

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

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