Listen to Best of the Left Podcast Episodes

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 shaped our current culture of work - The social…

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 a basic human need or, if you're feeling radical, a basic…

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 Jewish superiority over Palestinians and the assumed "reverse…

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 us to devastatingly different conclusions - What many Trump…

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 unless they're White people from South Africa or the nearly…

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 to politics and we're finally at the moment where that slow…

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 medium is the message' - The unbelievable stupidity of…

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 Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes…

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 are going to be happy with what they build in the aftermath…

Air Date: 2-10-25 Today, Jay! and Amanda (Deon and Erin were sick) discuss: - Why you should be using an RSS reader  - The danger of Mystification as humans try to cope - Musk and Trump's flagrant law breaking - What Dems and you can do, with some tips from…

Air Date 2/7/2025 Trump came in with a plan to subdue the media and large swaths of the media came in with a plan to acquiesce. But it's important to understand why because it's not a conspiracy or people wanting to do harm, it's structural to the system. Be…

Air Date 2/4/2025 The era of unquestioned US hegemony is undoubtedly on the decline but the future is much more complicated and uncertain than the straightforward idea of China rising to take our place that we've been told. Though Trump is not the cause of US…

Air Date: 2-2-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: - How the resistance is transforming, not over - What actually worked when resisting Trump's first term - A curation of good advice on being effective and staying sane this time around FOLLOW US…

Air Date 1/31/2025 The genocide and subsequent ceasefire in Gaza is only the latest horrifying consequence of botched military misadventures in the Middle East and if the history of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay prisons can…

Air Date 1/28/2025 The existence of out-of-control wildfires in Los Angeles amid the rising climate crisis is not confusing or strange. How to deal with such an emergency during our ongoing political and information crisis is a completely different story. Be…

Air Date: 1-26-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: - The mindset of collaborators - Why many people turn inward and drop out - at their own risk - under authoritarianism - The nature of true dissidents and what we can learn from them FOLLOW US…

Original Air Date: 3/7/2017 Today we look at the dangerous myths of individualism and the American Dream™, some of their origins and some of their consequences Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com…

Air Date 1/21/2025 Decades ago, the conscious decision was made to exacerbate inequality for the sake of economic growth that would supposedly lift all boats. What probably wasn't understood at the time is that the logical conclusion of that choice would be to…

Air Date: 1-20-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: - Our new show name! - Getting over hurdles to find and form local community as a form of resistance and preparation - The study groups teachers are forming to teach and learn real history - How…

Air Date 1/18/2025 We are looking back on Jimmy Carter's life and legacy as a lens through which to more clearly see and understand the current state of our politics, our incoming president, the Middle East, the climate, and more. Be part of the show! Leave us…

Air Date 1/15/2025 Elon Musk is leading the way for his class of tech broligarchs anxious to take over the MAGA movement and shape it to their own ends of deregulation, tax cuts, and lucrative government contracts. The disappointment that is inevitable for the…

Air Date: 1/11/2025 Today, we look back to the warnings we gave ourselves at the beginning of the first Trump administration. In 2017 there was concern about corruption and his business dealings, ethics around his nominees, and the inability of the media to…

Air Date 1/8/2025 Trump's first term was marked by all of the friendships he built with some of the world's worst, most oppressive leaders. His second term is getting an early start as he has begun making threats toward traditional allies and friends including…

Air Date: 1-6-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: - Why people love villains - How plutocracy kills - Why the path forward is through membership organizations FOLLOW US ON: BlueskyMastadonInstagramFacebookYouTube Nostr public key:…

Air Date 1/4/2025 The murder of a health insurance CEO being met with widespread approval and the risk of going backward on life-saving vaccines pretty much sums up the current state of our approach to health care in this country. Be part of the show! Leave us…

Original Air Date: 4/19/2023 Today, we take a look at the history and present of the interconnected movements to privatize education and dismantle democracy. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full…

Air Date 12/28/2024 Decades of dictatorial rule in Syria have come to an end, leading to something else to be determined. Israel sprang into action taking control of Syrian land on their border. And no one seems to care what the US thinks of all this, which is…

Original Air Date: 6/13/2023 Today, we take a look at the struggle to act ethically, at least by our own measure if there's not a universally-agreed standard to compare with, relating to the purchase of both the necessities of life we all need as well as the…

LOOKING FOR HOLIDAY GIFTS? bestoftheleft.com/holiday Air Date: 12-23-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, and Deon (Erin was again missed) discuss: - The Realignment of the right-wing toward economic populism and government programs - The need for a different kind of…

Air Date 12/20/2024 There's no denying that things are about to get bad, Trump and company have had years to prepare  for their next turn in office, but those preparing to resist also have the benefit of past experience resulting in a response to Trumpism…