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

Air Date 5/3/2024
A look back at previous coverage of criminalizing protests, weaponizing civility, and violent responses to peaceful dissent.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: The Problem with Civility - On the Media - Air Date 6-30-18
Ch. 2: Criminalizing Protest - @USNewsBeat - Air Date 6-14-18
Ch. 3: Civility as a cudgel - Trumpcast - Air Date 6-30-18
Ch. 4: Protests Sweep Across America and Beyond Part 2 - The Daily Show - Air Date 6-9-20
Ch. 5: The coming anti-protest laws w/ Alleen Brown and Akela Lacy Part 1 - This is Hell! - Air Date 2-12-21
Ch. 6: Anti-Protest Bills Popping Up Everywhere - David Pakman Show - Air Date 8-19-20
Ch. 7: Elly Page on Anti-Protest Bills - CounterSpin - Air Date 4-23-21
Ch. 8: Not Ready For That Conversation - On The Media - Air Date 4-23-21
Ch. 9: GOP States Are Pushing for Stricter Penalties for Protesters - The Takeaway - Air Date 4-27-21
Ch. 10: How Corporate Media Protects Violent Cops - Carlos Maza - Air Date 6-4-20
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
 
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Air Date 5/1/2024
The past, present, and future of tackling the uselessness of extreme wealth by exposing and closing tax avoidance loopholes and pushing for a culture change to embrace the need for a more equal society.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: What Happens When You Tax Billionaires at 90 Percent? - The Hartmann Report - Air Date 6-3-23
We did it before, and the result was the creation of the world’s first and largest middle class and a level of peace and prosperity that held its own until Ronald Reagan took a meat-axe to it…
Ch. 2: #TaxBillionaires w/ Robert Reich, Sen. Ron Wyden, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, and more - Americans for Tax Fairness - Air Date 4 -18-22
If you think school teachers shouldn't pay a higher tax rate than billionaires, join us to learn how you can join in on the fight to #TaxBillionaires!
Ch. 3: Wealth Tax Part 1 - Pullback - Air Date 4-11-23
Should we be taxing Scrooge-McDuck wealth? Can we? We talk with friend of the pod Fariya Mohiuddin, a Senior Program Officer with the International Budget Partnership's Tax Equity Program, and our favourite tax justice researcher and activist.
Ch. 4: No One Should Have More Than 10 Million Pounds | Ash Sarkar meets Ingrid Robeyns - Novara Media - Air Date 2-4-24
If you're serious about alleviating poverty, as most liberals claim to be, should there be a cap on how wealthy one person can be?
 
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FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 12: Final comments on anger and irrationality in war and politics
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: A protester holds a sign that says “Tax the Rich”
Credit: “We have a right to the city. Tax the rich.” by dignidadrebelde, Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Cropped
 
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Air Date: 4-29-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: 
- how the film 'Civil War' intentionally avoids any specifics about the "why", and in doing so becomes a perfect encapsulation of the Amanda Principle™
- how "the view from nowhere" journalism is supposed to be straight down the middle and fact-based, but is actually rife with bias and ends up representing the dominant culture
- that America and its culture has been steeped in war and violence since it's inception
- the similarities between modern America and Germany in 1933
REFERENCES:
Americans Have Enjoyed Imagining Civil War for a Long, Long Time
How to Both-Sides a “Civil War”
Alex Garland's Civil War Plays Both Sides
Opinion: Is the US on the brink of another civil war?
‘Civil War’ and the Dangerous Myth of ‘Unbiased’ Journalism
America Isn’t Nazi Germany, but It Looks a Little Like 1933
Modern Mathematics Confronts Its White, Patriarchal Past

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Jay! Tomlinson
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Original Air Date 9/14/2022
Today, we take a look at the history and hysteria behind debt and debt forgiveness while Biden is canceling student debt and opponents of the idea are reacting in the most predictable way possible because they misunderstand the relationship between debt and morality.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Cancel It All: Debt Collective's Astra Taylor on Biden Plan & Need for Full Student Debt Relief - Democracy Now! - Air Date 8-25-22
We speak to Astra Taylor, writer, filmmaker, and co-director of the Debt Collective, a union for debtors and one of the original advocates for a debt jubilee that would cancel all student debt.
Ch. 2: Freedom Dreams: Black Women and the Student Debt Crisis - The Intercept - Air Date 8-22-22
The Intercept’s new documentary, “Freedom Dreams: Black Women and the Student Debt Crisis,” profiles Black women educators and activists struggling under the weight of tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, in student loan debt.
Ch. 3: Hidden History of Student Debt - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 8-25-22
Many woke up to find news that $10k of their student debt would be forgiven, Thom Hartmann and Jefferson Smith break down what this means and what happens next.
Ch. 4: Bidens Big Student Debt Announcement: PITOTWIU for the Indebted Masses - Unf*cking The Republic - Air Date 8-28-22
Max breaks down the politics, the details, and biggest misses of the Biden student debt relief plan and why it’s in danger of being PITOTWIU
 
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FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 11: Final comments on morality and money
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE: 
Description: A dark gray, 3D image of the word "DEBT" sits in a white void, a connected chain and open shackle with an open padlock lie in front of it.
Credit: "3D Shackled Debt" by Chris Potter, Flickr | License: CC by 2.0 | Changes: Enlarged with more white background
 
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

Original Air Date 9/14/2022

Today, we take a look at the history and hysteria behind debt and debt forgiveness while Biden is canceling student debt and opponents of the idea are reacting in the most predictable way possible because they misunderstand the relationship between debt and morality.

Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

Transcript

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SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: Cancel It All: Debt Collective's Astra Taylor on Biden Plan & Need for Full Student Debt Relief - Democracy Now! - Air Date 8-25-22

We speak to Astra Taylor, writer, filmmaker, and co-director of the Debt Collective, a union for debtors and one of the original advocates for a debt jubilee that would cancel all student debt.

Ch. 2: Freedom Dreams: Black Women and the Student Debt Crisis - The Intercept - Air Date 8-22-22

The Intercept’s new documentary, “Freedom Dreams: Black Women and the Student Debt Crisis,” profiles Black women educators and activists struggling under the weight of tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, in student loan debt.

Ch. 3: Hidden History of Student Debt - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 8-25-22

Many woke up to find news that $10k of their student debt would be forgiven, Thom Hartmann and Jefferson Smith break down what this means and what happens next.

Ch. 4: Bidens Big Student Debt Announcement: PITOTWIU for the Indebted Masses - Unf*cking The Republic - Air Date 8-28-22

Max breaks down the politics, the details, and biggest misses of the Biden student debt relief plan and why it’s in danger of being PITOTWIU

Ch. 5: Republican Veteran Concerned By Negative Military Recruitment Amidst Student Loan Forgiveness - The Majority Report - Air Date 8-29-22

Florida Representative Michael Waltz believes the military recruiting crisis will worsen with President Biden’s student loan forgiveness. He also believes it is unfair to those who have not incurred debt.

Ch. 6: Forgiving (and Unforgiving) Debts - Now & Then - Air Date 9-6-22

Heather and Joanne discuss the history of debtors’ prisons in early America, the rise of bankruptcy laws after the Civil War, and the Cold War origins of federal student loans.

MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)

Ch. 9: Bidens Big Student Debt Announcement: PITOTWIU for the Indebted Masses Part 2 - Unf*cking The Republic - Air Date 8-28-22

Ch. 10: Forgiving (and Unforgiving) Debts Part 2 - Now & Then - Air Date 9-6-22

FINAL COMMENTS

Ch. 11: Final comments on morality and money

MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)

SHOW IMAGE: 

Description: A dark gray, 3D image of the word "DEBT" sits in a white void, a connected chain and open shackle with an open padlock lie in front of it.

Credit: "3D Shackled Debt" by Chris Potter, Flickr | License: CC by 2.0 | Changes: Enlarged with more white background





Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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Air Date 4/24/2024
Only by understanding the past can we understand the present and the histories of Cuba and Haiti have very stark lessons to impart about the cruelty of the Cuba embargo, the repercussions of imperial exploitation, and the dangers that arise amid dysfunctional democracy.
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Transcript
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: On Cuba and Haiti The Fight for Liberation & Self-Determination in the Caribbean - Revolutionary Left Radio - Air Date 4-4-24
Musa Springer, Erica Caines, & Onyesonwu Chatoyer from Hood Communist discuss their participation in The Second International Meeting of Theoretical Publications of Left Parties and Movements and discuss history and present events playing out in Haiti.
Ch. 2: Havana Syndrome How the Biden Administration Is Driving Cubans Into Misery - Deconstructed - Air Date 3-22-24
Ryan Grim delves into the complexities of Cuba’s current economic crisis with Andrés Pertierra, a historian of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ch. 3: Havana Syndrome How the Biden Administration Is Driving Cubans Into Misery Part 2 - Deconstructed - Air Date 3-22-24
Ch. 4: Empire's Laboratory— How 2004 U.S.-Backed Coup Destabilized Haiti & Led to Current Crisis - Democracy Now! - Air Date 3-11-24
"The root of this crisis is not last week, it's not this week, it's not even Ariel Henry. But we have to go back to 2004 with the coup-d'état," says Pierre.
 
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FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 11: Final comments on the dangers of unrepresentative, unresponsive government
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE: 
Description: Photo of a protester in 2007 holding a large cloth sign that says “Solidarity…Haiti YES! Occupation NO. Canada-US-U.N. OUT of Haiti”
Credit: “Solidarity - Haiti Yes - Occupation No” by Robert Thivierge, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped
 
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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