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 #280 Tracking people and animals in order to save them and ourselves
Air Date: 11-17-23 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Erin and Deon discuss: - The internet culture of putting people on blast, - a reexamination of kids who want their parents to track their movements, - trying t…
#1593 Beyond Neoliberalism: Dreaming a new economic system into being
Air Date 11/14/2023
The Supreme Court turned the table on average, working people back in the 70s when they empowered wealthy individuals and corporations to have an outsized role in our politics. No…
#1592 Israel and Palestine are less complicated than you think: Standing for international law while condemning crimes against humanity, war crimes, antisemitism, and apartheid.
Air Date 11/10/2023
Violence and oppression are destructive and corrosive to both the victim and perpetrator and this goes a long way toward explaining many of the dynamics at play in the holy land b…
#1591 Broken News: Understanding traditional media and social media reporting on the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza
Air Date 11/6/2023
Media literacy is a basic requirement for understanding the war in Gaza, as propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation are being distributed for both ideological and financial …
#TBT #1510 Avoiding Accountability: How the powerful in the US have almost always been allowed to skate by (Throwback)
Original Air Date: 8/31/2022
Today, as the news of Trump's various trials continues to drop out, we take a look back at this episode covering the long and illustrious history of powerful people avoid…
#TBT #1507 Installing Loyalists: The Multi-Pronged Destruction of Our Democracy Already in Progress (Throwback)
Original Air Date: 8/16/2022
Today, we take a look at the strategies underway to systematically dismantle democracy in the United States including installing Big-Lie™ believers in elected and poll-wo…
#1590 Red Caesar and Project 2025: A fascist fever dream being given a vaguely respectable coat of paint by the Claremont Institute and the Heritage Foundation paving the way for an unconstrained, lawless, authoritarian Republican president
Air Date 10/23/2023
The people who want to pull the country in directions that are only supported by a small minority of the population have to develop very intricate plans to have any hope of succee…
Bonus Sample #279 Complainers gonna complain, creepers gonna creep
Air Date: 10-21-23
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Erin and Deon discuss:
- the complainers at The Atlantic
- why a mindful workforce is an oxymoron
- the myriad problems with creeping on people
- how Taylor Sw…
#1589 War in the Holy Land: Context Behind the Atrocities, Crimes Against Humanity, and the Possible Escalation That Will be Detrimental to All Sides in the Wake of the Hamas Attack Israel is Calling Their "9-11"
Air Date 10/17/2023
There is absolutely no understanding of the conflict in Israel and Gaza without deep context, history, and human psychology. Those who attempt to find moral clarity through simpli…
#1588 The Shutdown That Wasn't And The Chaos That Is: The far-right of the GOP has been intent on not governing for a long time and eating their own, like McCarthy most recently, is their go-to maneuver.
Air Date 10/13/2023
Understanding the historical context of the civil war within the GOP as they have just fought their way out of being able to govern at all with an empty Speakership in the house t…
#TBT #1545 Agents of Chaos: The New Congress (Throwback)
Original Air Date: 2/22/2023
Today, we take a look at some of the work of the chaotic wrecking crew that is the GOP of the 118th Congress including their plan to hold the world economy hostage and we…
#1587 What Conservatives Think of When They Think of the Children: Child Labor, Child Brides, Child Mothers, Childhood Poverty, Child Indoctrination
Air Date 10/7/2023
Spanning the gamut of terrible policy choices and their impacts on children, we look today at the perverse reality at odds with conservatives' claim to be standing up for "family v…
#1586 Cop City is the Backlash to the Backlash Against Police Brutality and Murder, the Atlanta Community is Fighting Back and Creating a Blueprint for Change in the Process
Air Date 10/3/2023
The Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta is the current tip of the spear of the police accountability movement but the instinct of elected officials to lean into building more and big…
Bonus Edition #278 Obfuscating Reality Through Layers of Fantasy
Air Date: 9-29-23
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Erin and Deon discuss:
- The economics of witch trials
- The creation of content for capital
- Layers and layers of bullshit obscure reality
- Post script: visi…
#1585 Workers Rights Ascendent Amid Writers and Actors Strikes in Hollywood and the UAW Strikes Against the Big 3 US Automakers all While the Sociopathic Reality of Capitalism is Laid Bare by CEOs Explain How Exploiting Workers is Intrinsic to the System
Air Date 9/26/2023
Rays of hope for the worker's struggle against unfettered, exploitative capitalism are coming from multiple angles as strikes from creatives in Hollywood and autoworkers in Detroit…
#1584 Israel's Political Upheaval, Supreme Court Power Struggle, US Support, and the Normalization of Apartheid
Air Date 9/24/2023
Israel's politics have been upended by the return of Netanyahu as Prime Minister, put in office with the help of extremely far-right factions who have now pushed through reforms to…
#TBT #1360 Redefine, Unburden and #DefundThePolice: With Copy City renewing debate over policing, we look back at the counterargument (Throwback)
Original Air Date: 8/8/2020
Today we take a look at the concept of defunding the police; what it means, what it doesn't and what the goals of the movement are.
Be part of the show! Leave us a messag…
#1583 Alluring Conspiracy Culture vs Capitalism: The Driving Forces that are Attracting People into Conspiratorial Thinking About Trump, COVID, Economics, Military Affairs and More.
Air Date 9/18/2023
Exploring the captivating world of conspiracy theories! We are all wired to believe misinformation to some degree, but not all to the same degree. With help from Naomi Klein, and o…
#TBT #1190 Island Recovering From Disaster: Hurricane Maria laid bare the colonialism and capitalism in Puerto Rico (Throwback)
Original Air Date: 6/15/2018
The high toll Puerto Rico is paying, in both money and lives, for the triple disasters of colonialism, Hurricane Maria and disaster capitalism
Be part of the show! Leave …
#1582 Maui Fire Sale: Hawaiian Colonization, Disaster Capitalism, and the Climate Crisis Fueling Wildfires and Housing Insecurity in Native Hawaiian Communities on Maui and Beyond
Air Date 9/13/2023
This eye-opening episode will explore the complex web of colonialism, disaster capitalism, and climate change is ravaging Native Hawaiian communities. We explore how corporations a…