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

Air Date 6/14/2024
We're in the middle of Supreme Court opinion season, which is not going well for non-extreme conservatives in the country, at the same time as scandal, corruption, and justices Thomas and Alito's refusal to recuse in the face of clear bias is reaching a modern peak.
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Transcript
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KEY POINTS
1: Opinionpalooza A Bad June Rising At SCOTUS Part 1 - Amicus
2: How The Mifepristone Case Reached SCOTUS - Amicus
3: Way Too Close Insane SCOTUS Case Could've Sunk The Country w Mark Joseph Stern - The Majority Report
4: Fact-Checking the Supreme Court - 99% Invisible
5: The IVF Decision We Should Have Seen Coming - Amicus
6: SCOTUS Flag Neighbor Exposes Alito’s BS Story- The Majority Report
7: Delegitimize The Court - Contempt of Court
(1:03:35) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On some of Alito's finer absurdity
Articles:
Alito says the Supreme Court’s fake ethics code allows him to be unethical
The Republican Party's man inside the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court's new voting rights decision is a love letter to gerrymandering
DEEPER DIVES
(1:14:19) SECTION A: DO FACTS MATTER?
(1:45:47) SECTION B: POLICING MEDICAL CARE
(2:15:48) SECTION C: THE REPUBLICAN COURT WE’VE ALL WAITED FOR
(2:42:24) SECTION D: SCOTUS IS A FLAWED SYSTEM
Description: Photo of the U.S. Supreme Court building with an ominous red filter. An image of golden, uneven scales of justice sits on top.
Credit: Composite design by A. Hoffman. / Photo: “The Supreme Court” by Glenn Beltz, Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Overlaid with red and imagery as part of composite. / Illustration: “Uneven scales of justice” via TheDigitalArtist, Pixabay.

Air Date 6/11/2024
Democracies don't break all of a sudden in a moment of crisis, they fail slowly over time and only by knowing the warning signs and responding effectively to the threat before it's too late can the worst be averted.
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Transcript
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KEY POINTS
1: Why and Where is Democracy in Decline? - TLDR News
2: Is Democracy Under Threat? - Tufts University
3: The decline of American democracy won't be televised - Vox
4: How Republicans are fueling Russia and China_s global effort to undermine democracy - Velshi
5: How Republican Attorneys General are Undermining Voting Rights - Democracy Docket
6: Democracy vs. Autocracy: An Unproductive Dichotomy - Marxist Project
7: When Democracy Breaks: Final Thoughts with Archon Fung, David Moss and Arne Westad - Democracy Paradox
8: Protecting Voting Rights with Eric Holder - Why Is This Happening?
9: Rich Logis Escaped the Trump - MAGA Cult -- Heed His Warnings About Its Power and Extreme Danger to America - Chauncey DeVega Show
10: "The President of Forgetting" - Dastardly Cleverness in the Service of Good
(1:03:29) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
Those who defend authoritarians against criticism during D-Day commemoration
Conservatives Angry at Biden’s Anti-Nazi D-Day Speech
Fighting Trump on the Beaches
DEEPER DIVES
(1:09:52) SECTION A: DISSECTION OF DEMOCRACY
(1:31:56) SECTION B: INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRACY
(2:09:54) SECTION C: THE CULT OF TRUMP
(2:36:47) SECTION D: DEMOCRACY IN ACTION
IMAGE:
Description: Black and white photo of a person holding a homemade sign that says “Fighting for Democracy”
Credit: “For Democracy” by Alisdare Hickson, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Change: Cropped

Air Date: 06-09-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- how focusing on the "politics" of an event trivializes the impact that event has on real people
- the detrimental effects combining the daily news grind and the prioritization of profits forces has on news coverage
- how keeping news coverage light and ignoring the effects of neoliberalism leaves desperate people vulnerable to fascism
- the way history is repeating itself when it comes to news media not treating a demagogue's rhetoric as the emergency it is
- the difference between symbolic beliefs vs factual beliefs
REFERENCES:
Why Americans Hate the Media
The Media Still Doesn’t Grasp the Danger of Trump
Don’t Believe What They’re Telling You About Misinformation
 
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Produced by:
Jay! Tomlinson
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Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com 
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Air Date 6/7/2024
Banning abortion is wildly unpopular and also one of the primary motivators for the group most strongly supporting the Republican Party and Donald Trump, the Christian Right, which has transformed both the party and politicians into extremists made in their own image, threatening the lives and health of millions and sacrificing democracy in the process.
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Transcript
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KEY POINTS
1: Abortion and Reproductive Rights - Lectures in History
2: Abortion and the erosion of privacy - The Weeds
3: Digital surveillance and reproductive rights - Technically Optimistic
4: Anti-abortion hardliners want restrictions to go farther. It could cost Republicans - Consider This
5: Abortion and Reproductive Rights Part 2 - Lectures in History
6: Rakeen Mabud on Greedflation, Rachel K. Jones on Mifepristone - CounterSpin
7: Abortion and the erosion of privacy Part 2 - The Weeds
8: Digital surveillance and reproductive rights Part 2 - Technically Optimistic
(57:00) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the abuse produced by abortion restrictions
DEEPER DIVES
(1:02:40) SECTION A: CRIMINALIZING ABORTION
(1:21:07) SECTION B: ABORTION EXTREMISM OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
(1:36:40) SECTION C: ABORTION IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM
(1:53:45) SECTION D: WHAT IS THERE TO DO?
SHOW IMAGE: 
Description: A person dressed in a red cape and white conical bonnet with a red sash over their nose and mouth (referencing the Handmaid's Tale) stands outside the U.S. Supreme Court at dusk holding a cardboard sign with the words "This is NOT fiction."
Credit: Photo by Tyler Merbler, Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Cropped

Air Date 6/4/2024
The problems that arise within the systems of sports are the same problems we all face everywhere which makes them a good lens through which to understand the mechanisms of broader society. Fair pay, both journalism and addictive games functioning under capitalism, and benefits for billionaires all resonate far beyond the bounds of the players, owners and fans of sports clubs.
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Transcript
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: Pay for Play Part 1 - University of Iowa
KP 2: What the historic $2.8 billion settlement to pay NCAA players means for college sports - PBS NewsHour
KP 3: Pay for Play Part 2 - University of Iowa
KP 4: Sports Media has changed forever. - Brett Kollmann
KP 5: Dan Le Batard Tells Stephen A. Smith He Hates What He and Skip Bayless Did to Sports Media - LeBatardShow
KP 6: Report Finds That Sports Owners Use Their Teams To Avoid Millions In Taxes - MSNBC Reports
KP 7: The Sports Stadium Scam - Robert Reich
KP 8: The gambling problem in sports - The Current
(1:01:43) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the value of sports to building community
DEEPER DIVES
(1:06:18) SECTION A: PAY FOR PLAY
A1: Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger: What NCAA Suit Settlement Means for Paying Players - The Rich Eisen Show
A2: "Amateurism Is Dead" - The Rich Eisen Show
A3: Pay for Play Part 3 - University of Iowa
(1:23:57) SECTION B: STADIUMS, OUR GREAT FOLLY
(1:40:18) SECTION C: SPORTS JOURNALISM
(1:59:15) SECTION D: SPORTS GAMBLING
SEE FULL SHOW NOTES
 
SHOW IMAGE: 
Description: A grocery store display of Coca-Cola soft drinks stacked in the shape of a basketball and “NCAA!”.
Credit: “Coca Cola NCAA Cases Display” by Mike Mozart, Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Cropped

Air Date: 6-2-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- How one MIT study used AI to reduce belief in conspiracy theories
- How a new AI tool is attempting to make comments sections less awful
- Some advice from Korea's litigious political environment on how to deal with Trump
BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!)
REFERENCES:
America’s Worst Time Zone
Chatbots can persuade conspiracy theorists their view might be wrong
The AI That Could Heal a Divided Internet
South Korea Has a Warning About Donald Trump’s Trial
 
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!