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!
- Update frequency
- every 2 days
- Average duration
- 76 minutes
- Episodes
- 582
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
#1165 To Exist is to Resist: Life and Activism in Occupied Palestine Working Toward Rights and Democracy For All in Israel (Throwback)
Original Air Date 2-17-2018
We hear from activists and advocates to get a sense of the life, land, and walls that divide occupied Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza
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#1163 Strange Bedfellows: Looking at why Ethno-Nationalists Admire Israel and the Violence Inflicted on Gaza (Throwback)
Original Air Date 2/7/2018
Looking at Israel from a variety of angles including what they do to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and why White supremacists, of all people, support them
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Bonus Sample: #293 I love you, man
Air Date: 3-3-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - why men struggle with friendship - why men and boys are lonelier than ever - the impact of different masculine identities on relationsh…
#1615 Envisioning a Leftisț Economic Future of Postcapitalism, High-Tech Automation, Universal Basic Income and a World (Mostly) Without Work
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 intelligen…
#1614 Deep-Fakery and Deep Consequences for Democracy: AI-generated fake news threatens elections around the world and makes people question the ability to know what is real
Air Date 2/28/2024
AI-generated deepfakes, entirely fabricated audio and video of recognizable people, are here. They have been on the horizon for years but they have finally arrived during the bigge…
Bonus Sample #292 Techno Authoritarians vs Interoperabilities
Air Date: 2-25-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, and Deon discuss: - authoritarian Technocracy - and why interoperability may be one of the best weapons against it
REFERENCES: THE RISE OF TECHNO-AUTHORITARIAN…
#1613 Breathless Speculation: Biden's Baggage, Trump's Tyranny, Misleading Media, Courts and Criminality
Air Date 2/23/2024
2024 is already shaping up to be even more of a disaster than expected. The causes for anxiety are many and varied, leaving many of us with questions. We generally try to avoid top…
#1612 New Tech and the New Luddite Movement; Inequitable Distribution of Benefits from New Technology Always Sparks Demands from Labor and AI is Rekindling the Old Arguments
Air Date 2/20/2024
"Luddite" should never have become the epithet that it is as the Luddites were never afraid of or opposed to technological advancement, they only opposed the exploitation of worker…
Bonus Sample #291 Recommendations and Manipulations
Air Date: 2-19-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda and Deon discuss: - how augmented reality and the Apple Vision Pro affects the human brain - how algorithms are changing and flattening our culture - how to tak…
#1611 Higher Education: the Myths, McCarthyism, and Change Makers at a time when education is under attack for free speech, DEI and CRT but arguably needs changes to meet a changing world
Air Date 2/17/2024
The debate over education has been derailed from the legitimate concerns of the past focused on the downfalls of No Child Left Behind and Common Core policies into a cul-de-sac of …
#1610 The Border, and Our Border Politics, Are a Mess - As Trump and MAGA-driven misunderstanding and panic about the nature of immigration dominates election concerns.
Air Date 2/13/2024
The entire political system has lurched to the right on immigration as Democrats adopt the talking points of the Republicans and the MAGA Republicans put Trump's election chances o…
#1609 The Post-Roe World is Bad But it Could Still Get Worse - Abortion Bans in the US Are Causing Widespread Suffering for Both Patients and Doctors Attempting to Navigate the New Normal
Air Date 2/10/2024
Continuing to tell the stories of those directly impacted by abortion bans is important to demonstrate the extreme stances taken by anti-choice politicians but we also look ahead t…
#1608 Widespread Loneliness is a Solvable Social Problem - Urban Design, Architecture, Co-housing, and Community Action and Support Can Make Our Towns Better
Air Date 2/7/2024
Loneliness is an epidemic that long-predates the COVID lockdowns that only made things worse but it's not primarily cultural or even technological in origin. The issue largely has t…
Bonus Sample #289 A Cul-de-Sac of Ignorance
Air Date: 2-6-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - The impacts of the myth of the model minority - Haley and Ramaswamy Denying America's racism as they both experience and use racism duri…
#1607 The Tangled, Flammable Web of War in the Middle East
Air Date 2/3/2024
We attempt to understand as many of the interlocking elements as possible in the current Middle East conflicts sparked most prominently by the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
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Bonus Sample #288 Make the Children Cry in Order to Save Them
Air Date: 1-28-23 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - Boardgames Ritual - Making kids cry buy taking their phones away at school - Making kids sad by never buying them phones in the first p…
#1606 Biden's Barriers and Boons to Reelection
Air Date 1/26/2024 In an election year where, more than ever before, democracy itself is on the ballot, there is less democracy happening in the lead-up to the election than at any time in recent mem…
#1605 Our Prison System is a Demonstrable Failure
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 incarc…
#1529 Monopolies Run By Morons (Repost)
Original Air Date 12/3/2022
Today, we take a look at the mega-companies that touch all of our lives and the monopolistic practices that have been developed to keep power and wealth concentrated with …
#1604 The Border Crisis is Manufactured for Political Opportunity
Air Date 1/17/2024
It is evident that the immigration debate is more about acquiring raw power than about immigration as demands from the Republican Party change along with whatever strategies they f…