Air Date: 9–3-25

Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:

• Ch. 1 - The surprising origins of Gerrymandering

• Ch. 2 - The options we have to improve congressional representation for everyone in the country

• Ch. 3 - Democratic states response to Republican gerrymandering threats

• Ch. 4 - The argument for DC statehood and the people to blame for why it hasn’t happened yet

• Ch. 5 - How to end homelessness and what you can do to help those being targeted in DC

• SOLVED! BACKSTAGE: Beyond the Algorithm: The only correct opinion about the Cracker Barrel rebrand

YouTube (This episode drops on YouTube on Friday - please share!)

Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e

REFERENCES:

Elbridge Gerry and the Original Gerrymander - The Gilder Lehrman Institute

Drawing the Line (“Ratf**cked”: The Innfluence of Redistricting) - The New Yorker (2016)

History of Single Member Districts for Congress: Seeking Fair Representation Before PR - FairVote

Gavin Newsom’s Retaliatory Redistricting Plan Is Good, Actually - The New Republic

How Democrats Should Actually Respond to Republicans’ Attempts to Rig Voting Maps - Slate

How Moderate Senate Democrats Enabled Trump’s D.C. Takeover - The American Prospect

Trump’s Homelessness Crackdown Has Been Tried Before. It Didn’t Work. - Mother Jones

MEMBERS

The New Cracker Barrel Logo Sucks And So Does The Mess Around It - Kotaku

EXTRAS

Congress literally doesn’t care what you think (aka: Corruption is Legal in America) (Represent.US, 2016)

Is illegal immigration really a democratic plot to sway congressional apportionment?

Americans worry democracy in danger amid gerrymandering fights, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds

Air Date: 6–20-2023

Today, we take a look at the story of how neoliberalism was born, how corporations were organized to help push it into the mainstream, and how the courts were reshaped to permanently tilt the rules in favor of corporate power.

Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

Full Show Notes

Check out our new show, SOLVED! on YouTube!

BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!)

Join our Discord community!

SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: Chile, Neoliberalism and the CIA - AJ+ - Air Date 11-29-19

Ch. 2: The Powell Memo. Corporate America's Call to Arms. - Unf*cking The Republic - Air Date 2-9-23

Ch. 3: How the Corporate Takeover of American Politics Began - Robert Reich - Air Date 12-13-22

Ch. 4: Greed Is Rotting America From The Inside Out - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 7-29-22

Ch. 5: Economic False Prophets Part 1 - Ralph Nader Radio Hour - Air Date 6-10-23

Ch. 6: What has Greed Cost America - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 10-28-14

Ch. 7: Economic False Prophets Part 2 - Ralph Nader Radio Hour - Air Date 6-10-23

Ch. 8: Wall Street's ESG Scam EXPLAINED - Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar - Air Date 6-16-22

Ch. 9: Anti-Capitalist Investing Is... Absurd — Jen Pan - Jacobin - Air Date 6-11-22

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere!

Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X

Air Date 9/1/2025

The way people consume almost every variety of media, entertainment, and art is different now than it was only 10-15 years ago. That means that the way protest music, revolutionary art, and even mass market productions and performances are going to be different, feel different, and likely find you in different ways than in the past. But the drive to create never dies and art will always be part of the resistance to oppression.

Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

Full Show Notes

Check out our new show, SOLVED! on YouTube!

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

(00:49:08) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the strength of diversity that comes through in art

DEEPER DIVES

(00:56:08) SECTION A: CULTURE

(01:29:28) SECTION B: ART

(02:20:20) SECTION C: MUSIC

(02:46:54) SECTION D: ANDOR

SHOW IMAGE CREDITS

Description: Photo of street art depicting a stenciled version of Putin and Trump kissing a la the art on the Berlin Wall satirically depicting the “fraternal kiss” between the leaders of the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic.

Credit: “Hamburg 2020” by Ittmust | CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Slightly cropped

Air Date: 8–28-25

Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:

• Ch. 1 - How scientific empires fall
• Ch. 2 - How fascists of the past have destroyed their country’s scientific progress in fear of inconvenient truths
• Ch. 3 - How other countries are taking the opportunity to poach American scientists
• Ch. 4 - Living in a society that is shifting away from believing in evidence based science
• Ch. 5 - The 1938 pro-science manifesto that defended democracy against fascism
• BACKSTAGE: Beyond the Algorithm - Trump’s eugenicist mindset and what we didn’t have time for from our main articles

FOLLOW US ON:

Bluesky

Mastadon

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube (This episode drops on YouTube on Friday - please share!)

Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e

REFERENCES:

AOL Dial-Up Ending Reminds Us That All Empires Collapse Eventually - Kotaku

Every Scientific Empire Comes to an End - The Atlantic

What’s Behind the Rejection of Science? - American Laboratory

Attacks on the U.S. Innovation Ecosystem Are an Attack on a Wellspring of American Prosperity - American Progress

The World Is Wooing U.S. Researchers Shunned by Trump - NY Times

Science Caught in a Rip Tide: How Authoritarianism Sweeps Away Evidence-Based Policy - USC.org

This 1938 pro-science manifesto defended democracy against fascism - Big Think

MEMBERS ONLY

Attacks on the U.S. Innovation Ecosystem Are an Attack on a Wellspring of American Prosperity - American Progress

TAKE ACTION:

One Million Rising Trainings

In a blue state? Help stop ICE overreach

Use the 5 Calls app for scripts and to reach all your elected officials

Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121

Find your Indivisible group - or start one

Write to the DNC

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

Air Date 8/24/2025

The nature of politics and public policy is that there's always a need to balance opposing interests. Almost nowhere is there a more intractable set of opposing interests than in the attempt to protect children from harmful content on the internet while maintaining free access to adults, particularly because people wildly disagree about what qualifies as harmful and what degree of privacy invasion is an acceptable tradeoff.

Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

Full Show Notes

Check out our new show, SOLVED! on YouTube!

BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!)

Join our Discord community!

KEY POINTS

KP 1: Age Verification Will Kill Free Speech Online - Taylor Lorenz - Air Date 6-6-25

KP 2: Can the UK Child-proof the Internet? - Front Burner - Air Date 7-31-25

KP 3: Social Media Is Making Us Self-Censor - The Bitchuation Room (with Francesca Fiorentini) - Air Date 8-14-25

KP 4: Republicans Want to Redefine 'Obscenity' - Here's Why That Should TERRIFY You - What A Day - Air Day 5-17-25

KP 5: Meet the Creepy Pro-Trump Billionaire Profiting Off of Internet Censorship - The Humanist Report - Air Date 8-7-25

KP 6: Freedom to Connect: Aaron Swartz (1986-2013) on Victory To Save Open Internet, Fight Online Censors - Democracy Now! - Air Date 1-14-13

(00:46:37) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the need to demand serious arguments about serious issues

DEEPER DIVES

(00:52:04) SECTION A: AGE VERIFICATION

(01:19:18) SECTION B: SAVE THE CHILDREN

(01:45:50) SECTION C: CENSORSHIP

(02:20:34) SECTION D: ANTI-PORN AGENDA

SHOW IMAGE CREDITS

Description: Photo of a stack of protest signs that say “Fight for your digital rights!”

Credit: “Netzpolitik Demonstration for press freedom in Berlin” by Sebaso, Wikimedia Commons | License: CC BY-SA 4.0 | Changes: Cropped

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

Air Date: 8–19-25

Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:

• Ch.1 - The Trump administration’s unprecedented attempts to get your data from the states
• Ch. 2 - Why Trump’s new private health tracking system is a wolf in sheep’s clothing
• Ch. 3 - How HIV patients suffering in the 80s, 90s and early 00s from constant health data breaches is a hint of what could come
• Ch. 4 - Why a new UK law trying to protect children from seeing terrible things online is doing more harm than good
• Ch. 5 - Tips on keeping your digital privacy intact as best as you can in this data hungry world
• BACKSTAGE: Beyond the Algorithm (Members Only): How an activist organization used debanking to make video game companies censor their content, where that tactic might lead, and more.
• A funny thing happened on the way to recording… (blooper)

FOLLOW US ON:

Bluesky

Mastadon

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube (This episode drops on YouTube on Friday - please share!)

Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e

REFERENCES:

States Have More Data About You Than the Feds Do. Trump Wants to See It. - NY Times

Trump Announces Plan to Launch Private Health Tracking System With Big Tech Firms - Time

HIV & Civil Rights: A Report from the Frontlines of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic - ACLU

Blocking Access to Harmful Content Will Not Protect Children Online, No Matter How Many Times UK Politicians Say So - EFF

'A disaster waiting to happen' — Cybersecurity experts react to UK age verification law - Toms Guide

UK Age Verification Laws: How to Comply & Stay Safe in 2025 - WizCase

MEMBERS ONLY

Steam and Itch.io Are Pulling ‘Porn’ Games. Critics Say It’s a Slippery Slope to More Censorship - Wired

EXTRAS

SOLVED! #7 - The Deficiency of Efficiency: Why govt is inefficient BY DESIGN, & more - SOLVED! (Recorded April 2025)

All 2025 Health Information Data Breaches (Source: HHS.gov)

2025 Data Breach (Account info for Apple, Facebook, Google, GitHub, Telegram, and government platforms)

TAKE ACTION:

One Million Rising Trainings

In a blue state? Help stop ICE overreach

Use the 5 Calls app for scripts and to reach all your elected officials

Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121