🎙️ Expertly curated podcast of progressive politics, news & culture produced by leftist humans, not algorithms or A.I. Est. 2006.
(Est. 2006): www.bestoftheleft.com/listen
▶️ And now presenting SOLVED! on YouTube: www.youtube.com/ An award-winning, expertly-curated podcast of progressive politics and culture. Diving deeply on a wide range of topics, we draw from more than 150 sources of progressive news and commentary. This page is moderated by Best of the Left Communications Director, Amanda Hoffman. Comment p
olicy: the goal is to contribute to our cultural discourse by promoting the constructive discussion of a wide range of issues. You need not agree with us or each other to participate. You are expected to be respectful and contribute to the thread on which you post. Spamming, trolling, slander, ridicule, non sequiturs, blatant talking points and monopolizing the feed in order to derail the conversation will result in hidden comments and, if necessary, banning from the page. (Note: editing content does not indicate an infringement on your First Amendment rights as no one at BOTL -- to our knowledge -- is an agent of the government.)
19/11/2025
NEW SOLVED! OUT NOW! Check out Ep. #27: "Watch what you say! How Weaponized Language Changes Our Reality" in which the team discusses how language, and its evolution and weaponization, impacts both personal and society-wide perspectives, while supporting the systems that have helped bring us to the brink of fascism. Oh, and we'll point the way forward!
⭐ SOLVED! is brought to you by the podcast team. Get Best of the Left, expertly curating the best of progressive politics, news, and culture (via humans, not A.I. or algorithms) since 2006, wherever you get your podcasts, or at https://www.bestoftheleft.com/listen
💙 Become a member to get ad-free shows, and to get the audio version of SOLVED! a week earlier than the YouTube community at https://www.bestoftheleft.com/support
14/11/2025
NEW SOLVED! premiering now! Check out Ep. #27 - “Watch what you say! How Weaponized Language Changes Our Reality” where we discuss how language impacts both personal and society-wide perspectives, while supporting the systems that have helped bring us to the brink of fascism. Oh, and we'll point the way forward!
▶️WATCH & SUBSCRIBE:
Best of the Left Podcast Presents: SOLVED! Ep. #27 in which Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:00:00:00 The origins and evolution/weaponization of the phra...
11/11/2025
There's A LOT going on...need to catch up? The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming.
This month, we examine how power is being quietly consolidated across institutions, how propaganda and AI are reshaping our sense of reality, and how division and fear are fueling both domestic repression and global aggression. From the Supreme Court to state media manipulation, from dismantled voting rights to foreign influence campaigns, we trace the machinery of authoritarian control—and spotlight the journalists, educators, and activists still pushing back to keep truth and democracy alive.
💙 Support the show & get AD-FREE main shows, and an early and extended audio version of our original commentary YouTube show SOLVED!, when you become a Member (monthly, annual, or gift!): bestoftheleft.com/support
11/11/2025
#1750: "America's Backyard" - The War on Terror Meets the War on Drugs"
The United States claiming a divine (and imperialist) right to tamper in the politics of South American countries is nothing new. As is so often the case with Trump, the biggest difference is that he’s doing proudly and in the open what used to be done only shamefully and in secret.
🎙 EDITOR’S NOTE: On the long history of messing with Latin America
💙 Support the show & get AD-FREE main shows and an early and extended audio version of our original commentary show SOLVED! (https://www.youtube.com/), when you become a Member (monthly, annual, or gift!): bestoftheleft.com/support
Image Description: Image of a topographical globe of the Earth, only showing North America and South America. | Credit: “Globe-world-earth-planet” by quimono, Pixabay | Pixabay license
09/11/2025
09/11/2025
Howard Zinn’s powerful words remind us that every human deserves the essentials for a dignified life—food, water, shelter, and clean air. These are not privileges but rights that should be available to all, regardless of their status. Instead of questioning who deserves what, we should ensure these basic needs are met for everyone. 🌍💖
08/11/2025
#1749: "Democracy: In Theory, In Practice, and Under Threat"
Elections are always coming up, some sooner than others, so we thought we would take a look at the state of our democracy and what we must do to maintain it in the face of the greatest direct assault on our institutions we've seen in our 250-year history.
🎙 EDITOR’S NOTE: On the willingness to sound the alarm
💙 Support the show & get AD-FREE main shows and an early and extended audio version of our original commentary show SOLVED! (https://www.youtube.com/), when you become a Member (monthly, annual, or gift!): bestoftheleft.com/support
Image Description: Close up photo of a “I voted early!” sticker from the City of New York Board of Elections | Credit: “I voted early!“ by Eden, Janine and Jim | CC BY 4.0 | Changes: Heavily cropped, slight increased saturation and decreased contrast
08/11/2025
#1748: "Patriotism in Peril: Democracy, the Military, and the Fight Over What America Means"
A lot of people on the left aren't feeling the love for their country right now and that's understandable, but we have some thoughts on more productive ways to channel those conflicting feelings toward a country that is currently falling far short of living up to its founding ideals.
🎙 EDITOR’S NOTE: On how the Left embraces the contradictions of the US
💙 Support the show & get AD-FREE main shows and an early and extended audio version of our original commentary show SOLVED! (https://www.youtube.com/), when you become a Member (monthly, annual, or gift!): bestoftheleft.com/support
Image Description: Composite image of the Declaration of Independence with three question marks on top filled with the image of the American flag. | Credit: Internal composite design. Images via Pixabay. | Pixabay License
07/11/2025
#1747: "Racism in the United States, it turns out, is a problem"
As we were looking for episode topics, I came across an article making the case that racism is a real problem in the country and that there were lots of recent examples that proved the point. And I was like, "Racism? In the US?! In Trump's Republican Party?? That doesn't sound like the country I've heard of." (sarcasm) But then we looked into it, and it turns out racism is everywhere and also quite bad. (true)
🎙 EDITOR’S NOTE: On how you CANNOT purchase your happiness with the misery of others
💙 Support the show & get AD-FREE main shows and an early and extended audio version of our original commentary show SOLVED! (https://www.youtube.com/), when you become a Member (monthly, annual, or gift!): bestoftheleft.com/support
Image Description: 1970s poster that says “Racism Chains Both” with an image of a black person’s hand and a white person’s hand both in connected shackles. | Credit: “Racism chains both Hugo Gellert artist” via Library of Congress Public Domain Archive
07/11/2025
#1746: "What an actual attack on free speech looks like"
Trump's attacks on free speech, particularly with the use of the Federal Communications Commission, go far beyond the Jimmy Kimmel story. We're in the middle of an all-out assault on freedom of speech, a free and unbiased press, and freedom of association.
💙 Support the show & get AD-FREE main shows and an early and extended audio version of our original commentary show SOLVED! (https://www.youtube.com/), when you become a Member (monthly, annual, or gift!): bestoftheleft.com/support
Image Description: Black and white version of the official portrait of FCC Chair Brendan Carr with the list of words banned by the Trump administration in red over his face. | Credit: Internal composite design. | Carr official portrait via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
07/11/2025
#1745: "Fake New World: The Age of AI Slop, AI Education, and AI Fascism"
Robber Barons™ of The Gilded Age™ told themselves stories about how they were ushering in progress for all which is why, they argued, they shouldn't be constrained by things like safety regulations or worker unions - impoverishing millions while injuring and killing thousands in the process. It took a stock market crash, the Great Depression, WWII, and the New Deal to finally wrench the power away and redistribute it for the sake of building a middle class that could work in relative safety in the US. Today's Robber Barrons™, ushering in techno-feudalism under the banner of AI-For-All, are no different but with even higher stakes in the balance.
🎙 EDITOR’S NOTE: On the pattern of capitalism's social costs
💙 Support the show & get AD-FREE main shows and an early and extended audio version of our original commentary show SOLVED! (https://www.youtube.com/), when you become a Member (monthly, annual, or gift!): bestoftheleft.com/support
Image Description: Ai-generated image of robot hands holding up a small globe against a desolate desert background. | Credit: “ai-generated-robot-earth” via geralt, Pixabay | Pixabay License
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For over 14 years and more than 1,300 editions, the multi-award winning Best of the Left Podcast has aggregated and amplified the best of the truly liberal and independent media. The show is a beautifully executed blend of political news, commentary, occasional comedy, and activism opportunities, with carefully selected music to pull it all together.
Each edition offers a deep and thoughtful dive into political themes around topics related to social justice, economics, human rights, the justice system, foreign policy, political corruption, culture shifts, environmental justice, and more, delivering a variety of stories and perspectives from an array of sources. The host, Jay Tomlinson, engages in an on-going conversation with listeners at the end of the show through a voicemail line, providing a chance for further reflection, respectful dialogue and debate with multiple ideologies represented. The curated activism segments give listeners a chance to positively direct their frustrations about the issues discussed, encouraging them to make a difference and resist apathy by engaging in and changing our political system and communities for the better. Listeners can share the clips from the show, browse recent activism opportunities, and more at BestoftheLeft.com.
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Comment policy: The goal is to contribute to our cultural discourse by promoting the constructive discussion of a wide range of issues. You need not agree with us or each other to participate. You are expected to be respectful and contribute to the thread on which you post. We have a rule on the show, and by extension on our page, that counterpoints must be preceded by evidence that you understand what you're arguing against. Spamming, trolling, slander, ridicule, non sequiturs, blatant talking points and monopolizing the feed in order to derail the conversation will result in hidden comments and, if necessary, banning from the page.
(Note: Editing content does not indicate an infringement on your First Amendment rights as no one at BOTL -- to our knowledge -- is an agent of the government.)
