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
Bonus Sample #286 Looking to the Past to See Ourselves
Air Date: 1-15-23 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - why one of the last isolated tribes in the world desperately wants to stay that way - why we know that women also hunted, counter to wh…
#1603 Clarence Thomas and the Highest Court in the Land with the Lowest Standards of Ethics
Air Date 1/13/2024
The Supreme Court began to lose its legitimacy in the eyes of many when President Obama wasn't allowed to fill the open seat left by the death of Antonin Scalia but, in truth, the …
#1535 We Don't Do Accountability (Trump and GOP Crimes That Go Unpunished) (Repost)
Original Air Date 1/7/2023
Today, we take a look at the criminal charges against Donald Trump that the January 6th Committee has referred to the DOJ but examine them through the lens of past presiden…
Bonus Sample #285 The Christians and the Pagans
Air Date: 1-7-23 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - the little bit of Paganism that's in all of us - the Christian priests who want to reform the church through psychedelic mushrooms
REFER…
#1602 What Happens in Israel and Gaza Doesn't Stay in Israel and Gaza
Air Date 1/5/2024
As the war in Gaza drags on, accusations of genocide by Israel have been filed by South Africa at the International Court of Justice and we are reminded that the tactics and technol…
#1601 Christian Nationalism is not Christianity, it is Fascism
Air Date 1/2/2024
Trump's greatest impact has been to bring the fringes of the conservative movement into the center and, by strongly courting the Evangelical Christian vote, helped accelerate the Ch…
Bonus Sample #284 First they came for the Italian babies
Air Date: 12-31-23 Today, Jay!, Amanda, and Deon discuss: - how Italy is making it harder for same-sex partners to have children by making it harder for everyone to have children - how well-meaning a…
#1532 Accelerationism is the Brick on the Gas Pedal of the Runaway Car of Society (Repost)
Original Air Date 12/17/2022
Today, we take a look at the fringe philosophy of accelerationism that is having a bigger impact on society than you will likely have realized as it's been behind some of…
#1533 How Theocracies Begin and End (Rise of the Far-Right + Demanding Women's Rights in Iran) (Repost)
Original Air Date 12/24/2022
We compare the far-right religious extremists who are fighting to gain power in the US with the protests against the theocratic regime in Iran supporting women's rights i…
#1600 Housing Cannot be a Fundamental Human Right and a Commodity at the Same Time
Air Date 12/23/2023
The housing crisis is at a worse point than at any time in recent history. Solutions are available and require political will to bring into reality but because the problem is now …
#1599 Taming the Beast: AI Regulation Before Human Relegation
Air Date 12/20/2023
AI needs to be regulated by governments even though politicians don't understand computers just as the government regulates the manufacture and operation of aircraft even though y…
Bonus Sample #283 Meaningless rituals are useful but self-driving cars are more questionable
Air Date: 12-15-23 Today, Jay!, Amanda, and Deon discuss: - why humans need rituals for mental health and community - what happens when corporations try to adopt rituals - what happens when squishy-b…
#1598 Kiss of Death: Henry Kissinger's Bloody Legacy of Indifference
Air Date 12/12/2023
Henry Kissinger, it turns out, was actually a pretty good representative of the United States, the foreign policy actions we took, and the reasonings we gave for them over the pas…
Bonus Samples #281 and 282 No one likes how this is going | Not Worth It
WINTER SALE! 20% Off Memberships (including Gifts) in December!
Original Air Dates 12-3-23 and 12-10-23
We discuss in episode #281:
- the impacts of a stratified wealth disparity - the anti-social ha…
#1597 The rise of fascism around the world driven by economic insecurity
Air Date 12/8/2023
Neoliberalism has created a lot of economic suffering and insecurity in addition to weakened social ties over the past few decades. And now, in what may be the most devastating res…
#1596 Building a positive future by first envisioning it and then designing it
Air Date 12/5/2023
It's important to focus on positive visions and not only get stuck in doom cycles of complaining about what's going wrong. So, we're looking at a variety of positive visions includ…
#1519 International Fascist Movement on the Move (Throwback)
Original Air Date: 10/8/2022
Today, we take a look at the recent elections in Italy, Brazil and Sweden where far-right parties are either taking power or looking to maintain it as well as the paralle…
#1595 Pushing for Medicare For All in the Laboratories of Democracy
Air Date 11/29/2023
The movement for universal health care is still underway, though it rarely gets recognized in mainstream discourse. The death of Medicare For All (M4A) activist Ady Barkan is an o…
#1594 Testing New Climate Solutions: Geothermal and Geo-Engineering
Air Date 11/26/2023
As the hottest year in 125,000 years or so begins to come to a close, we turn to two projects still in their infancy that have big plans to decarbonize our electricity generation …
#1518 Ronald Reagan, It Turns Out, Was Bad (Repost)
Original Air Date 10-5-2022
Today, we take a look at the life and legacy of President Ronald Reagan, the last transformational U.S. president who's regime we are still living in. Between his neoliber…