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 #320 Calculated Misery
Air Date: 9-19-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - the fallout from the debate, Trump's lies, and how his incoherence is being sanitized - The inadequacy of workplace protections, even i…
#1656 How Far He Will Go: Election lies, intimidation, interference, insurrection
Air Date 9/17/2024
It's not just the threat of the electoral college handing the presidency to the loser of the popular vote, nor the specter of a repeat of a January 6th-like event hanging over the …
#1655 A Pivotal Moment for Big Tech, Both Old and New: Google Search, the A.I. Boom, Antitrust, and Regulation
Air Date 9/13/2024
We've been living through the modern equivalent of the oil boom, back when poking a hole in the ground would make one of the world's most valuable substances, upon which entire eco…
#1654 Demographics of Democracy: Decoding cohorts of voters that will decide the election (Updated)
Air Date 9/10/2024
It's said that we live in a melting pot here in the United States. Perhaps it's more of a salad bar, who knows? In any case, there are a lot of people coming from a lot of differen…
Bonus Sample #319 If you can't stand the heat, someone will profit from your misery
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Air Date: 9-8-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - labor unions fighting for time off when it's too hot…
#1653 Money-N-Politics: SuperPACS, Crypto, Billionaires, and Public Funding of Elections
Air Date 9/6/2024
We're living in the world that dark money in politics and Citizen's United built. But since that Supreme Court ruling in 2010, we've invented cryptocurrency that promises to be a br…
#1219 How the GOP became the most destructive force in the world (Throwback)
Original Air Date: 10/16/2018
Today we take a look at the distant and recent history of conservatism in America and beyond and follow the steps that have led to their rejection of science at a moment…
Bonus Sample #318 Staring Unblinkingly Into the Future
Air Date: 9-1-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - The ever-stranger headlines about RFK Jr. ...and dead animals - The political philosophies and missteps behind unipolar, bipolar or mult…
#1652 Denial, Delusion, and Devastation: Israeli genocide made possible by a nurtured ignorance and deft dehumanization
Air Date 8/30/2024
Israel's assault on Gaza is fueled by pain, rage, trauma... a desire for safety, a desire for revenge, the hope for the safe return of hostages. It's a complicated mix of all of th…
#1651 The Politics of Migration in the Age of Insecurity: From the UK riots to GOP fear-mongering
Air Date 8/27/2024
People feel lots of ways about immigration. Sometimes it's fear of the other, other times it's not about the people but just dismay over a broken system. The validity of these conc…
#1650 The Vibes Election Explained: Harris is up, Trump is down and Gaza will not be forgotten
Air Date 8/23/2024
The vibes of this election are nothing anyone could have predicted a month ago. And yet, some of the details have played out as though by a script. Democrats drink hope like ambros…
#1579 Positive masculinity is a process that is underway (Throwback)
Original Air Date: 8/23/2023
For decades, we have rightly been focused on dialing back endemic misogyny and poking holes in the patriarchy in the hopes of a new normal of gender relations emerging th…
Bonus Sample #317 Don't Forget the Philosophers (AI in our politics, art, and humanity)
Air Date: 8-19-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - How we likely all have COVID and can't believe we did a Bonus Show - The bizarre ways AI is already part of our political systems - Str…
#1649 Race in America and the Moral Clarity of James Baldwin
Air Date 8/17/2024
James Baldwin's 100th birthday passed by recently and we're using the occasion to draw on his moral clarity and eloquence while we assess the state of race in America
Be part of th…
#1648 Power Grabs, Elections Optional: The threat of minority rule through election denialism
Air Date 8/13/2024
Spirits among Kamala Harris supporters, Democrats, and anyone opposing Trumpism are at an all-time high right now. That's both fortuitous and crucial to the upcoming election. By t…
Bonus Sample #316 How are you gonna fix that garden?!
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Air Date: 8-11-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: - Understanding the New Right - JD Vance's mangled met…
#1248 There you go again. Venezuela and America's addiction to imperialism (Throwback)
Original Air Date: 2/8/2019
Amid the ongoing fallout of a contested presidential election, we take a look back, briefly, at the last 100 years of Venezuelan history to understand how they went from o…
#1647 How to Eliminate Homelessness While Maintaining Our Humanity
Air Date 8/6/2024
After the recent Supreme Court ruling that allowed governments to constitutionally purge unhoused people from public spaces, we are getting an immediate lesson in the difference bet…
Bonus Sample #315 You Do You, You Weirdos
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Air Date: 8-4-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - The use of strategic ambiguity as a way to ensure ever…
#1646 The Kamalanomenon and the Inevitable Misogynoir Backlash of Racism and Sexism
Air Date 8/2/2024
The Kamala Harris presidential campaign has been on a wild ride since it unexpectedly began less than two weeks ago. Record fund raising, organic enthusiasm not seen since Obama, an…