Best Of The Left - The Best Of Progressive And Liberal Talk

Air Date 4/26/2025 For those of us who knew that Trump was lawless and deeply racist in his desire for mass deportations of brown people, we're getting exactly what we expected. For others, at least the lawlessness is coming as a bit of a surprise, and yet, here we are. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS KP 1: Mr. Abrego Garcia - Main Justice - Air Date 4-15-25 KP 2: Dara Lind on Criminalizing Immigrants - CounterSpin - Air Date 4-11-25 KP 3: Are Trump Administration Officials in Criminal Contempt - Strict Scrutiny - Air Date 4-21-25 KP 4: Bukele Goes To Washington w. Roberto Lovato - The Majority Report - Air Date 4-20-25 KP 5: What a photojournalist saw as Venezuelan migrants arrived in El Salvador - 60 Minutes - A

Air Date 4/22/2025 George W. Bush proposed privatizing Social Security and didn't succeed. But, as with appointing Justices that would eventually overturn Roe V. Wade, groundwork was being laid as part of a multi-decade effort that would, they hoped, pay off in the future. So don't be surprised when they come for your earned benefits programs just as they came for the fundamental right to bodily autonomy. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS KP 1: What few people know about the program that saved America - Meg Jacobs - TED-Ed - Air Date 6-17-21 KP 2: Trump is coming for Social Security. And he has a new 'Big Lie' to justify it. - All In with Chris Hayes - Air Date 5-5-25 KP 3: What DOGE could mean for Medicare and Medicaid? - Consider This - Air Date 2-10-25 KP 4: Food banks feel the pain from higher prices and cuts to

Air Date 4/18/2025 Before the election, I heard interviews and statistics about Trump supporters responding to his stated desire to weaponize the government against his political enemies. Their response was that 1) they didn't want him to do that and 2) didn't think he would.  Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS KP 1: Free Mahmoud Khalil with Ben Wizner and Baher Azmy - At Liberty - Air Date 3-26-25 KP 2: News Brief Dem Leaders, 'Free Speech' Warriors Mostly Shrug as Trump Disappears Political Dissidents - Citations Needed - Air Date 4-2-25 KP 3: Trump's Revenge - The Majority Report - Air Date 4-1-25 KP 4: Trump Pauses Tariffs, Businesses Welcome Relief, Trump Targets Former Officials - Up First - Air Date 4-10-25 KP 5: Mahmoud Khalil and a New Red Scare. Plus, Press Freedom Under Threat. - On The Media - Air Date 3-1

Air Date 4/14/2025 Everything, it turns out, is a double-edged sword. Democracy and freedom are great but it also contains the keys to its own destruction. Love is pretty good but it turns out that only love can break your heart. And technology, which has freed people from countless hours of menial labor also has the power to subsume our economy, our politics, and much of our everyday lives. It may even be said to have supplanted capitalism itself. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! ACTIVISM ROUNDUP KEY POINTS KP 1: The Broligarchy Pt 2: Is this Techno-Fascism? Part 1 - Close All Tabs - Air Date 4-2-25 KP 2: Capitalism Has Mutated Into Something Worse with Yanis Varoufakis - Factually! with Adam Conover - Air Date 2-7-24 KP 3: How Technofacism is Rooted in Silicon Valley / Becca Lewis Part 1 - This Is Hell! - Air Date 2-11-25 KP 4:

Original Air Date: 3/5/2019 From 2019: Today we take a look at how the illiberalism of the Israeli government has alienated the vast majority of democratic nations and individuals who support human rights, leaving the country with some of the most far-right, fascist, white-supremacist, anti-Semitic people in the world as their only remaining allies. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Join our Discord community! Show Notes Ch. 1: Peter Beinart on anti-Semitism in America and illiberalism in Israel - The Ezra Klein Show - Air Date 11-28-18 Ch. 2: Inequality and the Fight Against Anti-Semitism Q&A with Paul Jay (2/5) - @TheRealNews - Air Date 11-1-18 Ch. 3: Advocates: Israel’s Jewish Nation-State Law Constitutionally Enshrines Racism Against Palestinians - @DemocracyN

Air Date 4/5/2025 Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past. And with Trump in place, the Christian Nationalists are looking to rewrite history to their liking in order to create the dystopian future they desire. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS KP 1: Donald Trump is Rewriting the Past. Plus, the Christian Groups Vying for Political Power - On The Media - Air Date 2-17-25 KP 2: Trumps Vision for America I Am God - The Intercept Briefing - Air Date 3-7-25 KP 3: How to Stand Up to Project 2025 and Save Public Education - Assembly Required - Air Date 12-12-24 KP 4: How School Integration Failed Black Students w Noliwe Rooks - This Is Hell! - Air Date 3-19-25 KP 5: Trump C

Air Date 4/2/2025 Love them or loathe them, the Democratic Party is the political institution available to the left to structurally take on Trumpism but we need a whole lot of new energy and new commitments to the fight to turn them into an opposition worthy of the moment we face. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript New Format Notes Code BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS KP 1: 'Now is the time to break glass’: Chris Hayes reacts to Schumer interview 'Now is the time to break glass’: Chris Hayes reacts to Schumer interview - All In with Chris Hayes - Air Date 3-19-25 KP 2: Why Are Some Democrats Trying To Be Republicans？- Kat Abughazaleh - Air Date 3-3-25 KP 3: WATCH: Crowd ROARS As AOC Lays Out Fighting Strategy For Democratic Party - The Majority Rep

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 them. Fascists always start with those who are the easiest to dehumanize but they never stop there. ANNOUNCEMENT: Watch, like, subscribe & comment on our newly-launched YouTube show, SOLVED! Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! Activism Roundup KEY POINTS KP 1: The Threat of Project 2025 on LGBTQ+ Rights - The Blueprint with Jen Psaki - Air Date 9-16-24 KP 2: The fight to protect LGBTQ+ rights from Trump - Politics Weekly America - Air Date 1-31-25 KP 3: Ezra Young on Trans Rights Law, Anne Sosin on RFK Jr. and Rural Health - CounterSpin - Air Date 2-7-25 KP 4: The Rights About-Turn on Parental Rights - Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick

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 of anti-trans and anti-gay legislation sprouting across the country is not about protecting kids and is absolutely nothing new. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Join our Discord community! SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Protecting Women and Children Is a Shield for Transphobia - At Liberty - Air Date 3-17-22 Ch. 2: Andy Marra on Trans Youth Rights - CounterSpin - Air Date 3-4-22 Ch. 3: The Anti-Trans Agenda (w/ Gillian Branstetter) - Know Your Enemy - Air Date 3-20-22 Ch. 4: Chase Strangio on the GOPs Push in Florida, Texas, Idaho to Eradicate Trans Youth & Trans

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 - The right’s turn on Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett - A deep dive on the theory of a multiracial Right and how Democrats should respond   FOLLOW US ON: Bluesky Mastadon Instagram Facebook YouTube Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e   REFERENCES: How populist leaders like Trump use ‘common sense’ as an ideological weapon to undermine facts  - The Conversation The Age of Anti-Woke Overreach - The Atlantic ‘She is evil’: Amy Coney Barrett under attack by right wing after USAid ruling - The Guardian Trump and the Rise of the Multiracial Right - In These Times   “Common Sense” - Concepts: Human Intelligence. Song: Artificial Intelligence. Based on SOLVED! Ep. #342: Common Sense Is Not So Common (March 25th)   Find your Indivisible group - or start one Capitol

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. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS KP 1: Special - The Arrest of Mahmoud Khalil w/ Spencer Ackerman - American Prestige - Air Date 3-12-25 KP 2: Trump Invokes Wartime Alien Enemies Act, Then Ignores Judicial Order to Turn Around Deportation Flights - Democracy Now! - Air Date 3-17-25 KP 3: Are Non-Violent Protestors Now Labeled "Terrorists?" - Thom Hartmann - Air Date 6-20-13 KP 4: John Harwood on Trump's attack on free speech: ‘Everyone in civil society needs to stand up' - Velshi - Air Date 3-6-24 KP 5: Trump Hates S

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 on how the Democrats lost their way - What Jay learned from India’s railway engineers - An interview with Ro Khanna that sparked some hope   FOLLOW US ON: Bluesky Mastadon Instagram Facebook YouTube Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e   REFERENCES: “Like a Flame in the Night” - Based on SOLVED! Ep. #340: Prophetic Voices from the Past and Hope for the Future (March 9th) Health Paranoia and the Politics of MAHA Democrats Must Become the Workers’ Party Again Ro Khanna Is Doing More Than Voting 'No'   Find your Indivisible group - or start one Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 Use the 5 Calls app for scripts and to reach all your elected officials   Join our Discord Server Reach us via Signal: Bestoftheleft.01   Leave a message at 202-999-3991   Produced by: Jay! Tomlin

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. In this time of fighting fascism, Best of the Left has chosen to support Indivisible, the grassroots organizing team that's working to resist Trumpism and pressure Democrats to do the same. Follow the link in the description of this episode to make a donation but also take a moment to find and join your local Indivisible chapter to stay engaged. SUPPORT INDIVISIBLE WITH A DONATION AND SIGN UP WITH YOUR LOCAL CHAPTER! Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! Activism Roundup KEY POINTS KP 1: Bernie Response Does Huge Numbers｜One Democrat Defies Trump - The Rational National - Air Date 3-5-25 KP 2: How to Rebuild the Left as the Far Right Floods

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 difference between the leftist desire to improve things and Trump's bull-in-a-china-shop foreign and economic policies. Allow us to list the ways. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS 1: Project 2025 Foreign Policy America Last - The Tristan Snell Show - Air Date 8-15-25 2: March 6, 2025 Full Show - Democracy Now! - Air Date 3-6-25 3: Trump's Foreign Policy - It Could Happen Here - 11-14-24 4: Ukraine's Fight for Self-Determination w/ Howie Hawkins - Jacobin Radio - Air Date 3-3-25 5: Russia, Ukraine, US The Global Chessboard - WhoWhatWhy's Podcasts - Air Date 3-4-25 6: After restarting aid to Ukraine, U.S. will present ceasefire prop

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 deportations, the decline of the US on the international stage, the wrecking crew dismantling the federal government, RFK Jr. and the threat to public health, and Trump's endemic corruption. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! PART 1: ETHNIC CLEANSING AT HOME AND ABROAD #1687 Respite: Ceasefire in Gaza and the Legacy of Imperial Folly in the Middle East 1: Gaza Ceasefire Explained Reading Between The Lines Part 2 - The Socialist Program - Air Date 1-16-25 2: On the Situation in Syria and its Implications for the Region - Revolutionary Left Radio - Air Date 1-6-25 3: Egypt, Jordan Reject Trump Plan to Clean Out Gaza; Palestinians Return to N. Gaza

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 - Philosopher Richard Rorty’s chilling predictions from 1998 - A few reasons - with caveats - why U.S. Democracy might make it through Trump 2.0 - Some hope and advice from a country that recently defeated their authoritarian regime   BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Hear the Full Show, Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!)   FOLLOW US ON: Bluesky Mastadon Instagram Facebook YouTube Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e   REFERENCES: Benjamin Franklin to the Federal Convention The Other Fear of the Founders - The Atlantic Vice President Henry A. Wallace on ‘The Danger of American Fascism’ in 1944 - Brewminate An eerie prophecy of Trump’s second term - Vox Three reasons why American democracy will likely withstand Trump - Vox Poland just showed the world how democracy wins   Find

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 how it's geared toward supporting his desire for unchecked power. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS KP 1: President Trump's Second Administration and Project 2025 - Trump's Terms - Air Date 2-11-25 KP 2: The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau was protecting you from corporate greed. It's gone now. - The Real News Network - Air Date 2-18-25 KP 3: The Gangster Presidency - Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick - Air Date 2-15-25 KP 4: Trump's Theory of Power - Brennan Center for Justice - Air Date 2-5-25 KP 5: See Trump's blatant

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 staffed by doctors and scientists with the goal of keeping the population healthy. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS KP 1: U.S. health agencies hit with mass layoffs by Trump administration - Way Too Early with Ali Vitali - Air Date 2-18-25 KP 2: Department of Health and Holy Sh*t: RFK Jr.’s MAHA Movement and What It Means for America Part 1 - Inside the Hive - Air Date 2-5-25 KP 3: Psychiatric Struggle w/ Danielle Carr - The Dig - Air Date 2-17-25 KP 4: MAHA Forever - The Dream - Air Date 2-16-25 KP 5: Republicans are P

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 critic Theodore Roszak’s accurate predictions about the dark turn of tech and work - What Democrats should learn from Steve Bannon’s approach to Musk   FOLLOW US ON: Bluesky Mastadon Instagram Facebook YouTube Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e   REFERENCES: The Cult of the Entrepreneur - The New Republic The Social Critic Who Predicted Big Tech’s Dark Turn - The Nation What Anti-Musk Democrats Can Learn From Steven Bannon - NY Magazine   Find your Indivisible group - or start one Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 5 Calls app   Join our Discord Server Reach us via Signal: Bestoftheleft.01 Leave a message at 202-999-3991   Produced by: Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Contact me direc

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 human right. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes | Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Join our Discord community! SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: The Housing Market - If You Don't Know, Now You Know - The Daily Show - Air Date 12-8-21 Ch. 2: How Foreign Companies Are Raising Housing Prices - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 12-27-21 Ch. 3: John and Ana React to Bonkers Housing Story - The Damage Report - Air Date 3-12-22 Ch. 4: How Socialists Solved The Housing Crisis - The Gravel Institute - Air Date 1-29-21 Ch. 5: Is the Housing Bubble About to Burst