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

MEMBERSHIP, Gift Memberships and Donations! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) MERCHANDISE! REFER-O-MATIC! Sign up, share widely, get rewards. It's that easy! Want to advertise/sponsor the show? Details -> advertisecast.com/BestoftheLeft Air Date 1/5/2021 Today we take a look at the often-overlooked decade of Reconstruction in the wake of the Civil War. After hundreds of years of slavery, Reconstruction was a brief moment of relative democracy and equality before the white power structure reasserted itself and instated the policies that would be known as "Jim Crow Laws" which would last another 80 years.  Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Transcript SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: The Second Revolution Part 1 - Scene on Radio - Air Date 2-19-20 After the Civil War, a surprising coalition tried to remake the United States into a real multiracial democracy for the first time. Reconstruction, as the effort was called, brought dramatic change to America. For a while.

MEMBERSHIP and Gift Memberships! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) MERCHANDISE! REFER-O-MATIC! Sign up, share widely, get rewards. It's that easy! Air Date 6/29/2020 Today we take a look deeper at the concept of "I can't breathe," going beyond the literal utterances by victims of police brutality and COVID-19 sufferers to the metaphorical epidemic of exhaustion, burnout, depression and disaffection in the US and around the world. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Black Lives Matter Protests, "Outside Agitators," and the Coronavirus - DOOMED with Matt Binder - Air Date 5-30-20 Matt Binder discusses the Black Lives Matter protests, the police killing of George Floyd, the media's narrative on the protests, riots, and looting, the "outside agitator" trope, and the looming cloud of the coronavirus pandemic. Ch. 2: Structural robbery, mass resistance with William C. Anderson Part 2 - This Is Hell! - Air Date 6-4-20 Writer William C. Ander

Air Date 2/20/2020 Today we take a look at the relationship between fear, anger and how to deal with the structural forces of harm in our society. To help us, we examine two of the greatest thinkers of the past 65 years, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mister Rogers, and go beyond the nonviolence of King and interrogate Mr. Roger's insistence on liking everyone just the way they are. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  MEMBERSHIP ON PATREON (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: W. Kamau Bell on coming face to face with white supremacists - Finding Fred - Air Date 11-26-19 Empathy can be found when you understand what circumstances people came from Ch. 2: Author Christian Picciolini on how white nationalists recruit and radicalize online - Democracy Now! - Air Date 3-18-19 Reformed neo-Nazi and author Christian Picciolini explains how white nationalists target vulnerable online communities Ch. 3: The dubious luxury of anger - Progressive Faith

MEMBERSHIP, Gift Memberships and Donations! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) MERCHANDISE! REFER-O-MATIC! Sign up, share widely, get rewards. It's that easy! Air Date 11/20/2019 Today we take a look at several topics that, at first glance, may seem to be unrelated but that I think are all tied together with a thread that runs through all of them and points the way toward The Great Transition we are currently in the middle of. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: How NeoLiberalism Happened with George Monbiot Part 1 - Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer - Air Date 10-8-19 Nick and his guests discuss the history, the cultural and economic impact of neoliberalism. Ch. 2: Too Hot For School with Jane McAlevey - On the Media - Air Date 9-20-19 The climate protests and collective action of today mirror the same crises and protests of the FDR era. Ch. 3: How NeoLiberalism Happened with George Monbiot Part 2 - Pitchfork Economics with Nick

MEMBERSHIP, Gift Memberships and Donations! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) MERCHANDISE! REFER-O-MATIC! Sign up, share widely, get rewards. It's that easy! Air Date 12/22/2020 Today we take a look at the origins of the War on Christmas™ and the Christian Persecution Complex™ more broadly but with a particular focus on how that sense of persecution has been funneled and focused into support for Republican politicians. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Transcript EPISODE SPONSOR: Physical Attraction Podcast Want to advertise/sponsor the show? Details -> advertisecast.com/BestoftheLeft SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: The Myth of the Christian Nation - Straight White American Jesus - Air Date 10-17-19 Dan speaks with author and constitutional lawyer Andrew Seidel. They discuss his new book, "The Founding Myth," and dissect the idea that the USA is a Christian nation. Ch. 2: The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American (with Andrew Seidel) - The Thin

MEMBERSHIP, Gift Memberships and Donations! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) MERCHANDISE! REFER-O-MATIC! Sign up, share widely, get rewards. It's that easy! Air Date 12/18/2020 Today we take a look at the abysmal response to the pandemic in the US, the unavoidable racial overtones inherent in that failed response, the lasting trauma the pandemic has inflicted and why nothing short of systemic change will suffice. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Transcript EPISODE SPONSORS: GROUND.NEWS/BEST Want to advertise/sponsor the show? Details -> advertisecast.com/BestoftheLeft SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: AOC Calls Out McConnell's B***S**T Stimulus Excuse - The Damage Report - Air Date 12-11-20 Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls out Mitch McConnell's BS excuse for holding the stimulus package from the American people. John Iadarola and Brett Erlich break it down on The Damage Report. Ch. 2: Chris Hayes: I'm Enraged Over America's 'Depraved' Covid Indifference - All

MEMBERSHIP and Gift Memberships! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) MERCHANDISE! REFER-O-MATIC! Sign up, share widely, get rewards. It's that easy!   Air Date 12/15/2020 Today we take a look at the current state of hyper-partisanship and its origins. The system seems broken because it is broken and it was never designed to work this way in the first place. And what about that bygone era of bipartisanship? It's likely that was a fluke and the result of one-party dominance in the New Deal era, it is not the norm throughout history. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Transcript EPISODE SPONSORS: GROUND.NEWS/BEST Want to advertise/sponsor the show? Details -> advertisecast.com/BestoftheLeft SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Changes in American Political Parties Part 1 - Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - Air Date 7-2-20 We explain why the Democratic and Republican political parties have the same names, but totally different attitudes and policies over the decades. Ch.

MEMBERSHIP and Gift Memberships! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) MERCHANDISE! REFER-O-MATIC! Sign up, share widely, get rewards. It's that easy!   Air Date 12/12/2020 Today we take a look at the prospects for Biden's foreign policy looking forward which seems to be mostly looking backward to an era of American over-confidence and self-ascribed "exceptionalism" that may never have been warranted, the fact of which becomes clearer with every passing year, something people living outside the US have known for decades. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Transcript EPISODE SPONSORS: GROUND.NEWS/BEST Want to advertise/sponsor the show? Details -> advertisecast.com/BestoftheLeft SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: State-Sanctioned Killers: As Trump Expedites Executions at Home, Biden Builds Team for Wars Abroad part 1 - Intercepted with Jeremy Scahill - Air Date 12-9-20 As Biden builds his Cabinet, his national security team is looking a lot like a replay of the Obama-Bid

Air Date 12/9/2020 Today we take a look in real-time at the construction of the world's newest Lost Cause narrative, the failed re-election of Donald Trump. This is not our country's first experience with Lost Causes and it's not, contrary to popular opinion, even our second connection to a Lost Cause narrative because we didn't invent the first one, we borrowed it from somewhere else and I will tell that story today. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Transcript MEMBERSHIP and Gift Memberships! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) REFER-O-MATIC! Click here--> bestoftheleft.com/refer Sign up, share widely, get rewards. It's that easy! EPISODE SPONSORS: GROUND.NEWS/BEST Want to advertise/sponsor the show? Details -> advertisecast.com/BestoftheLeft SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Jay's Opening Comments Ch. 2: Reading Harry Potter In Scots Ch. 3: Jay’s comments: the history of a Lost Cause Ch. 4: Sir Walter Scott, The Old South and The Lost Cause - Who Put The Klan Int

Today's short announcement explains the financial hit the show unexpectedly took recently and lays out all of the ways you can help us get through it, one of which will cost you no money at all.   Relevant links discussed: Membership/Gift Memberships (The lifeblood of the show!) New Merch Store! (Our first-ever merch availability!) Refer-O-Matic (Earn gifts for sharing the show!)   Thanks in advance for your support!          

Air Date 12/5/2020 Today we take a look at what's behind Trump and his autocratic instincts. The enablers, the supporters and the long lineage of authoritarianism. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Transcript MEMBERSHIP and Gift Memberships! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) EPISODE SPONSORS: GROUND.NEWS/BEST Want to advertise/sponsor the show? Details -> advertisecast.com/BestoftheLeft SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: The crisis isn’t Trump. It’s the Republican Party - The Ezra Klein Show - Air Date 11-11-20 If the past week — and past four years — have proven anything, it’s that we are not as different as we believed. No longer is the question, "Can it happen here?" It’s happening already. Ch. 2: Is Democracy in Danger? Legal Experts Dahlia Lithwick and Ian Bassin On Trump, Barr and The Abuse of the Criminal Justice System - The Al Franken Podcast - Air Date 2-23-20 Dahlia Lithwick of Slate and Ian Bassin of Protect Democracy discuss Trump's sickening lurch tow

Air Date 12/2/2020 Today we take a look at some of the highlights of how the 2020 election was won, the people doing the work and what's still at stake. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Transcript MEMBERSHIP and Gift Memberships! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) EPISODE SPONSORS: GROUND.NEWS/BEST | MACKWELDON.COM/BEST Want to advertise/sponsor the show? Details -> advertisecast.com/BestoftheLeft SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Juan González The Media Has It Wrong. Record Latinx Turnout Helped Biden. White Voters Failed Dems - Democracy Now! - Air Date 11-5-20 Juan González says "a false narrative" is taking root that Latinx voters were primarily to blame for the weak Democratic result. "The main story is that people of color, especially Latinos, flocked to the polls in numbers that far exceeded expectations. Ch. 2: The Myth Of The 'Latino Vote' - Latino USA - Air Date 11-13-20 President Trump won Florida, including nearly half of all Latinx-identifying voters

Air Date 5/3/2019 Today we take a look at several topics that, at first glance, may seem to be unrelated but that I think are all tied together with a thread that runs through all of them and points the way toward The Great Transition we are currently in the middle of. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content: Support our show on Patreon! SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Henry Giroux: Trump is the endpoint on cruelty and isolation in American politics - @thisishellradio - Air Date 4-15-17 Cultural critic Henry Giroux examines the slow, steady rise of cruelty in American culture - as the logic of neoliberalism strips our politics of anything besides self-regard, and the right capitalizes on the anger caused by its own policies Ch. 2: Johann Hari To Treat Depression, Provide Meaningful Work, Housing & a Basic Income, Not Just Drugs - @DemocracyNow - Air Date 02-02-18 An extended conversation with Johann Hari, author of a controversial ne

Air Date 11/23/2019 Today we take a look at just a few forms the decolonization movement is taking from finance to cartography to the internet and beyond. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  MEMBERSHIP ON PATREON (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Decolonizing Wealth Through Indigenous Leadership - @theLFshow w @GRITlaura Flanders - Air Date 7-25-18 Laura speaks to Edgar Villanueva, about being one of the very few indigenous people working in grant-making, and ask what he thinks Native American traditions have to teach philanthropy. His latest book is "Decolonizing Wealth" Ch. 2: Decolonizing philanthropy - Native America Calling - Air Date 12-13-18 Edgar Villanueva, author of “Decolonizing Wealth,” questions the wisdom of accepting funds from philanthropic endeavors built by corporate giants whose business is in direct conflict with Native sovereignty and sustainability. Ch. 3: Decolonize the Internet - Tiny Spark - Air Date 3-8-19 T

Air Date 11/20/2020 Today we take a look at the results of the elections beyond the presidency and find that progressive policies did well which should be a lesson to Democrats currently looking to find their bearings and choose a direction. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Transcript BECOME A MEMBER! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) EPISODE SPONSORS: GROUND.NEWS/BEST IF YOU’RE GOING TO SHOP AMAZON: Amazon USA | Amazon CA | Amazon UK SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Finding hope in America’s progressive core - Jim Hightower's Radio Lowdown - Air Date 11-12-20 The hope that resides in these progressive policy positions is the prospect that a truly great American majority might yet be forged – not around some mega-politician – but around our people’s basic values of fairness and justice for all. Ch. 2: Mike Davis: Biden's Big Mistake - Start Making Sense - Air Date 11-11-20 Mike Davis on the Trump voters: Latinos in south Texas and white workers in the rust belt—a

Air Date 11/17/2020 Today we take a look at the Republican Party and that which is hath wrought. The deeply racist and conspiratorial constituency has been part of the party for decades but it wasn't always the dominant strain. Today it clearly is and in an age of hyper-polarization and with enthusiastic stoking from Trump, that branch of the party is perfectly primed to splinter from shared reality completely in a spectacular, violent way. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Transcript BECOME A MEMBER! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) EPISODE SPONSORS: GROUND.NEWS/BEST | MackWeldon.com/Best IF YOU’RE GOING TO SHOP AMAZON: Amazon USA | Amazon CA | Amazon UK SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: A devastating indictment of the Republican Party - The Ezra Klein Show - Air Date 10-10-20 The problem, Stuart Stevens believes, is not that the GOP became something it wasn’t; it’s that many of those within it — including him — failed to see what it actually was. Ch. 2: Is Trump

Air Date: 11–13-2020 Direct Download  Transcript Today we take a look at the slow-motion coup that we've known was coming since 2016. The baseless lawsuits, the absurd claims and the perpetual grift. Always the grift. BECOME A MEMBER! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) EPISODE SPONSORS: GROUND.NEWS/BEST IF YOU’RE GOING TO SHOP AMAZON: Amazon USA | Amazon CA | Amazon UK SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Coup Cosplay: Chris Hayes On Trump, GOP Trying To Pretend Biden Didn’t Win - All In with Chris Hayes - Air Date 11-10-20 Chris Hayes on Trump and the GOP trying to pretend Biden didn’t win: "At a certain point, if you are just trollingly pretending to be engaged in a coup, when do you cross over to actually trying for a coup?". Ch. 2: Suppressing The Vote Didn't Work For Trump. Will Throwing Out Ballots? - Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 11-9-20 Richard Hasen, professor of law and political science at the University of California, talks about the current Trump campaign challenges to the vote counting -- and why he's not exp

Air Date 11/10/2020 Today we take a look at the long and shifting history of the myth of democracy in America. We've never had it since the beginning but the reasons have shifted, ebbed and flowed over time. Now, in the midst of an attempted slow-motion coup, we look back at this most central American myth. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Transcript BECOME A MEMBER! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) EPISODE SPONSORS: GROUND.NEWS/BEST  |  System Check Podcast IF YOU’RE GOING TO SHOP AMAZON: Amazon USA | Amazon CA | Amazon UK SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: "Let the People Pick the President" The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College - Democracy Now! - Air Date 10-30-20 Two of the last three presidents — George W. Bush and Donald Trump — came to office after losing the popular vote. "The Framers who met at the Constitutional Convention really had no idea what they were doing when they established how to pick a president" Ch. 2: The Second Revolution - Scene O

Air Date 11/6/2020 Today, Amanda and I process the election, explain hyper-polarization, and why Black women are saving the country again. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Transcript   VoicedMail™: Examining and understanding the 2020 election results - Jonathan Leave a message at 202-999-3991 Produced by: Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Check out the BotL iOS/Android App in the App Stores! Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Review the show on iTunes!

Air Date 11/2/2020 Today we brace for the election, consider what may come after it and prepare for the role we may need to play in the coming weeks. Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Transcript BECOME A MEMBER! (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) EPISODE SPONSORS: Get System Check from The Nation Magazine wherever you get your podcasts! IF YOU’RE GOING TO SHOP AMAZON: Amazon USA | Amazon CA | Amazon UK SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: What if a US presidential candidate refuses to concede after an election? - TED - Air Date 10-26-20 Van Jones explains why concession speech is one of the most important safeguards for democracy, exposes legal loopholes that could enable a candidate to grab power even if they lose the popular vote and the electoral college -- and what citizens can do! Ch. 2: The American Contest - Law, justice, and the courts: Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick - Air Date 10-24-20 Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Heather Cox Richardson for a big-picture conversa