Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy Best of the Left
-
- Actualités
-
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!
-
Bonus Sample: Satire requires a clarity of purpose and target lest it be mistaken for and contribute to that which it intends to criticize.
Air Date: 5-5-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- Jerry Seinfeld blaming the "extreme left" and "PC culture" for the death of sitcoms
- how Poe's Law (and the Amanda Principle) makes creating and identifying satire difficult
- how TV shows trying to satirize the left for the left struggle to land the jokes
REFERENCES:
Jerry Seinfeld Says TV Comedy Is Being Killed By the ‘Extreme Left and P.C. Crap and People Worrying So Much About Offending Other People’
Jerry Seinfeld Is a Lazy Hack Out of Touch with the Real World—And Who Can Blame Him?
Poe’s Law and Internet Satire
In the Know (Peacock)
‘In the Know’ Showrunners Unpack Its Loving Evisceration of Public Radio, Progressive Politics
Zach Woods, NPR Fan, Reads NPR Fans for Filth
Exclusive: In the Know's Zach Woods and Brandon Gardner on Satirizing Liberals with Mike Judge
The Cleaner - S2 E5 The Statue (Acorn)
Malthusian Conception
Join our Discord Server
Leave a message at 202-999-3991
Produced by:
Jay! Tomlinson
Thanks for listening!
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft
Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft
Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Review the show on Apple Podcasts! -
Remix - Protest Crackdown: Power Concedes Nothing Without a Demand and the Response is Predictable
Air Date 5/3/2024
A look back at previous coverage of criminalizing protests, weaponizing civility, and violent responses to peaceful dissent.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Clips and Shows + No Ads!)
Join our Discord community!
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)
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere!
Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft
Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft
Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com -
Society of Extreme Wealth and its Discontents: Tax avoidance, wealth inequality and the detrimental effects felt by us all
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.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Transcript
BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Clips and Shows + No Ads!)
Join our Discord community!
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?
SEE FULL SHOW NOTES
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
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com -
Bonus Sample: War Is the Continuation of Policy with Other Means
Get full, weekly bonus shows!
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
Join our Discord Server
Leave a message at 202-999-3991
Produced by:
Jay! Tomlinson
Thanks for listening!
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft
Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft
Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Review the show on Apple Podcasts! -
The Morality of Debt and Forgiveness (Throwback)
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
BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Get AD FREE Shows and Bonus Content)
Join our Discord community!
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
SEE FULL SHOW NOTES
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
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com -
The Morality of Debt and Forgiveness (Throwback)
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
Join our Discord community!
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
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere!
Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft
Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft
Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com