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
- 75 minutes
- Episodes
- 579
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
#1700 Dehumanizing Trans People is Always the First Step for Fascists
Air Date 3/28/2025
You might not be trans yourself but that's just like how coal miners aren't canaries because when they saw that the canaries were under threat, they knew the danger was all around …
#1479 Torturing Children and Families in the Name of Protecting Them (Trans Rights Throwback)
Original Air Date: 3/29/2022
Today we take a look at the current iteration of the cynical culture wars being waged by conservative Republicans against LGBTQ kids for political gain. The current wave …
SOLVED! #3 - Common Sense Is Not So Common
Air Date: 3–24-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- Our new game Satire Showdown
- The authoritarian takeover of the term common sense
- How Americans actually feel about DEI initiatives
…
#1699 A Government Of the People, By the People, and Weaponized Against the People
Air Date 3/21/2025
If you've been paying attention, the weaponization of the government against Trump's political and ideological enemies is exactly what you would have seen coming and now it's here.
…
Bonus Edition #341 - SOLVED! Like a Flame in the Night
Air Date: 3–19-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- A special little ditty Jay put together
- The legitimate problems that helped birth the damaging MAHA movement
- Sherrod Brown’s OpEd o…
#1698 Resistance is Not Futile: Support the collective revolt against Trumpism (Special Podcasthon!)
Air Date 3/18/2025
In this special Podcasthon episode, we're joining thousands of podcasts around the world in taking the opportunity this week to support a cause or organization that we believe in. …
#1697 The Trump World Order: Are we the Baddies?
Air Date 3/15/2025
It always bears repeating that the progressive perspective on the state of the world is not that everything was going just fine before Trump showed up but there's a world of differ…
#1696 Monthly Mix: Ethnic Cleansing Gaza, Mass Deportations, Deconstructing the State, Trump's Corruption
Air Date 3/12/2025
The (Approximately) Monthly Mix is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month we look at the future for Gaza, Trump's plans for mass deportatio…
Bonus Edition #340 - SOLVED! Prophetic Voices from the Past and Hope for the Future
Air Date: 3–9-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- The Founding Fathers’ prophetic concerns that we don’t ever talk about
- FDR VP Harry Wallace’s op-ed on American fascism from 1944
- Ph…
#1695 Trump's Corruption As A Matter Of Course and a Strategy to Hold Power
Air Date 3/7/2025
Corruption, for those who indulge, isn't just a perk of power, it can also be a method of maintaining it. Trump is not bothering to hide the corruption he's working to facilitate or…
#1694 Unhealthy Discourse: RFK Jr. and the Anti-Science Movement Endangering Global Health
Air Date 3/4/2025
An old proverb says that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and we're all about to see how dangerous as know-nothings and science skeptics take over the government agencies sta…
Bonus Edition #339 - SOLVED! The Power of Entrepreneurial Spirit Compels You!
Air Date: 3-2-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- How “entrepreneurialism” has gained unearned adoration and disempowered labor organizing
- The 100-year-old “New Thought” era and how it…
#1496 Home Is Where The Hardship Is (Housing Crisis Throwback)
Original Air Date: 615/2022
The many reasons why we are experiencing a housing crisis in the US and beyond but it mostly comes down to treating housing as a commodity to be profited from rather than …
#1693 Empowering Ethnostates: Ethnically cleansing Gaza and Trump's South Africa fixation
Air Date 2/25/2025
Racism is at the core of most of what Trump believes so it should be no surprise when he aligns himself and the country with explicitly supremacist projects like the perceived Jewi…
Bonus Edition #338 - SOLVED! Friends, Enemies, and Blood Chutes
Air Date: 2-23-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- The heavy influence of a Nazi political theorist (propagandist) on the MAGA movement
- How our disagreements on baseline reality lead u…
#1692 Ethnically Cleansing America: Trump's racist whirlwind of deportation and criminalization of immigration
Air Date 2/21/2025
There is nothing other than racism at the heart of Trump's immigration policy. He wants to deport as many brown people as possible, stop as many immigrants and refugees as possible…
#1691 Democracy Emergency, Constitutional Crisis, Democratic Backsliding, Failing Guardrails
Air Date 2/18/2025
Democracies slide into dictatorship in two ways, first slowly and then all of a sudden. We have been sliding in this direction for at least as long as I have been paying attention …
Bonus Edition #337 - SOLVED! Bullying the Biggest Losers
Air Date: 2-16-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- Why we may be forced to bring back bullying
- The impact of algorithms and what we can do about it
- Democrats and the meaning of 'the …
#943 No human being is illegal (Throwback)
Original Air Date: 8/4/2015
The dysfunctional state of the US immigration system and the political fight brewing over what to do about it
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#1690 Oligarchy Unmasked: Why Billionaires Hate Democracy and How They're Dismantling It
Air Date 2/11/2025
The very rich, as has been noted before, are not on the side of regular people. And even if you think that the federal government needs a major reboot, no one but the ultra-wealthy…