Air Date 12/14/2025

The sad ease with which we manage to ignore some atrocities, even while paying much attention to others, has to do with how visible or invisible to us the systems are that are propping up those events. Nothing happens in a vacuum and in our world, if you're willing to dig deep enough, you'll always find how we're all connected - across both time and geography.

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: Will the International Community Act Preschool Massacre & Large Piles of Bodies in Sudan Part 1 - Democracy Now! - Air Date 12-10-25

KP 2: Sudan Civil War the Terrifying Escape From El Fasher - Global News Podcast - Air Date 12-1-25

KP 3: Can Trump Help Sudan Part 1 - Today, Explained - Air Date 11-19-25

KP 4: The War In Sudan with Khalid Medani Part 1- American Prestige - Air Date 5-10-24

KP 5: South Sudans Failed Peace Deal with Joshua Craze Part 1 - American Prestige - Air Date 5-27-25

KP 6: Decolonise Sudan - The Sages Cabin - Herbs & Liberation - Air Date 11-6-25

(00:45:33) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the past 20 years of politics

DEEPER DIVES

(00:50:08) SECTION A: VIOLENCE NOW

(01:12:13) SECTION B: HISTORICAL ROOTS

(01:51:58) SECTION C: OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE

(02:12:01) SECTION D: RESOLUTION AND SOLIDARITY

HOW IMAGE CREDITS

Description: Photo of Sudanese refugee women, one with her baby, standing in line for food aid in Chad carrying bags, and boxes.

Credit: "24 January 2025, Adre, Chad. Sudanese refugees who have fled the conflict in Sudan register for food aid in neighbouring Chad." by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (UK), Flickr | CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere!

Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X

Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft

Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

Air Date: 12-10-25

Today, Jay!, Amanda, and Deon (Erin was out this week) discuss:

• Ch. 1 - Generational humor, and analysis of Gen Z's absurdist humor and the impact it's having

• Ch. 2 - The unexpected social side effects of NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's campaign on Gen Z volunteers

• Ch. 3 - The "App"stinence Movement helping people get off of social media

• Ch. 4 - How the peak Millennial humor mobile game "Sword and Sworcery" has evolved with the times

• SOLVED! Backstage: Behind the Algorithm: Elon Musk's "Grokapedia" reminding us of the "Conservapedia" of 2010s punchlines, and the co-opting of Gen Z meme humor by right wing extremists to normalize hate.

REFERENCES

Gen Z Humour: What's so funny about something so unfunny? - Hayden Lim Khai Eun via Medium

Inside 'Gen Z humor,' the layered and absurdist internet jokes millennials are struggling to keep up with - Business Insider

A crash course in Gen Z humor - Pion

We Laughed Into The Void—And It Laughed Back: Understanding Gen Z Humor - Berkeley Political Review

A Little-Noted Element Propelled Mamdani's Rise: Gen Z Loneliness - The New York Times

A mass exit from social media - Mashable

Should you practice Appstinence? Gen Z and Gen Alpha are embracing this Harvard student movement - Fast Company

7 Reasons to Think Social Media Has Peaked The platforms have serious problems. - New York Magazine

The Mysteries Of Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP - Waltorious Writes About Games

Social media is dead – here's what comes next - New Scientist

EXTRAS

NOT SPONSORS/AFFILIATES

Appstinence

Brick - Device to help you manage phone use

Freedom - App to help you manage device use

How to make your smartphone into a dumb phone - (Modern Dumbphone)

Air Date 12/14/2025

Albert Einstein said, "Life is just like a game, first you have to learn rules of the game, and then play it better then any one else." (Or just get some insider knowledge about which team is paid off to lose and bet on the game rather than playing it, am I right?) Now, while it's well known that sports gambling has great potential to corrupt the game, I'm sure being able to bet on literally anything in life all the time right from your phone with billionaires funding persuasion campaigns to convince you to do it will probably work out fine.

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: America Is Losing Big on Sports Betting Part 1 - The Gray Area with Sean Illing - Air Date 8-11-25

KP 2: The Nuzzi-Lizza Show & CNN's Prediction Play - The Powers That Be: Daily - Air Date 12-5-25

KP 3: Welcome to the Casino Economy - On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti - Air Date 11-13-25

KP 4: Is the Sports Betting Industry a Huge Mistake? - Good Work - Air Date 2-9-24

KP 5: Why The New Gambling Epidemic Should Terrify You - GEN - Air Date 11-8-25

(00:46:01) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On Best of the Left turning 20!

DEEPER DIVES

(00:49:22) SECTION A: GAMBLING ON EVERYTHING

(01:30:27) SECTION B: THE UBIQUITY OF SPORTS BETTING

(01:56:28) SECTION C: SPORTS BETTING IS BAD FOR SPORTS

02:34:14) SECTION D: GAMIFYING LIFE

SHOW IMAGE CREDITS

Description: Photo of a man staring up at multiple screens showing sports betting updates, along with a live football and hockey game, above the betting counter in a Las Vegas casino.

Credit: "Sports Betting at a Las Vegas Casino" by Baishampayan Ghose, Flickr | CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere!

Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X

Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft

Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

Air Date 12/10/2025

Dick Cheney used to be thought of as Darth Vader but did he have an end-of-life conversion back to the light side of the force? No, he was bad all along and only thought Trump was worse.

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

KP 1: Dick Cheney Invades Hell - Colonial Outcasts - Air Date 11-4-25

KP 2: Weapons of Mass Distraction with Chris Toensing - This Is Hell! - Air Date - 3-23-23

KP 3: Obama Admin: Torture Not Illegal, Just A "Disagreement" - The Young Turks - Aired 3-27-10

KP 4: Living and Reliving the U.S. Invasion of Iraq with Rasha Al Aqeedi - This Is Hell! - Air Date 4-10-23

KP 5: Shock Corridor with Naomi Klein - Blowback - Air Date 8-19-20

KP 6: Never Forget: Lessons of the Post-9/11 Warpath - Empire Files - Air Date 10-1-21

(00:48:24) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the legacies of Dick Cheney and Darth Vader

DEEPER DIVES

(01:00:59) SECTION A: LEGACY

(01:54:23) SECTION B: IRAQ

(02:11:15) SECTION C: USING 9/11 FOR POWER & PROFIT

(02:31:51) SECTION D: NO ACCOUNTABILITY

SHOW IMAGE CREDITS

Description: Sidewalk graffiti stencil of Dick Cheney's face and the word "Terrorist" underneath

Credit: "Terrorist" by David Drexler, Flickr | CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Slightly cropped

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere!

Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X

Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft

Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

Re-Air Date: 12–2-25

Unless you were a member in May of 2024, this episode of SOLVED! will be brand new to you! If you were a member back then, THANK YOU and this one is worth a re-listen. We're slowing down production for a little bit to reorganize our production processes, so enjoy this episode from our archives (and B.Y: before YouTube) where Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss:

Ch. 1 - How supply and demand economics is not about "distribution of goods with the greatest efficiency" and is instead about nothing more than predatory greed

Ch. 2 - How what we value as humans goes far beyond the price of commodities

Ch. 3 - More examples of "enshitification" as companies reach inside our homes to control things we already bought

Ch. 4 - How companies are restricting functionality to extract even more from us

FOLLOW US ON:

YouTube (This full episode premieres on YouTube on Friday - please share!)

Bluesky

Instagram

Facebook

Mastadon

REFERENCES:

WELCOME TO PRICING HELL - The Atlantic

The Gap Between the Price You See and What You Pay Is Getting Worse - The Wall Street Journal

Welcome to the Golden Age of User Hostility - The Atlantic

My Printer Is Extorting Me - The Atlantic

Bought a Model Y? Tesla may charge you to use the battery's full range - Yahoo! Finance

Corporate America Knows We're Miserable. Is a Toilet Bomb the Answer? - The Wall Street Journal

EXTRAS:

00:12:53 "Not everything that counts can be counted" by Billy Bragg

00:42:41 Best of the Left Ep. #1629 - "Hitting Where it Hurts in Our Era of Negative Partisanship: Messaging left-wing politics amid cultish politics" (Air Date: May 2024)

00:48:44 Best of the Left Ep. #1628 - "New Era of Antitrust for a New Era of Capitalism, Mega-Corporations and Big Tech" (Air Date: May 2024)

Join our Discord Server

Reach us via Signal:

Bestoftheleft.01

Leave a message at 202-999-3991

Produced by:

Jay! Tomlinson

Thanks for listening!

Original Air Date: 1-23-2024

The recent discovery of hundreds of bodies buried behind a jail in unmarked graves sparks a renewed discussion about the futility and counter-productiveness of our system of incarceration and the context of our history that has brought us to this point.

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: Families in disbelief after hundreds of bodies found buried behind Mississippi jail - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 1-10-24

Ch. 2: The Most Infamous Jail in America - Olurinatti - Air Date 3-29-23

Ch. 3: Behind the News: The State of the Carceral State w/ Wanda Bertram - Jacobin Radio - Air Date 3-20-23

Ch. 4: Angela Davis on the argument for police and prison abolition | UpFront - Al Jazeera English - Air Date 12-17-21

Ch. 5: The Part of History You've Always Skipped | Neoslavery - Knowing Better - Air Date 4-4-22

Ch. 6: Penitence for the privileged - Beyond Prisons - Air Date 7

Ch. 7: Debunking "Norwegian Prison Reform" As Propaganda with Oakland Abolition and Solidarity - Millennials Are Killing Capitalism - Air Date 3-28-23

EDUCATE YOURSELF & SHARE

8 Ways You Can Advocate for Justice Reform in 2024 (Vera)

Prison and Jail Reform (Brennan Center for Justice)

Criminal Justice Reform (Equal Justice Initiative)

Cutting Jail and Prison Populations (Brennan Center for Justice)

SHOW IMAGE

Description: Photograph of the outside of Coyote Ridge Corrections Center. Barbed wire lines the fences of the entrance in front of the dark gray cement building with tinted windows.

Credit: "A sagebrush sea change from behind barbed wire" by U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Cropped

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

Air Date 12/2/2025

If you need more evidence for just how far from rationality our politics have slid in recent decades, Zorhan Mamdani is seen by many as a radical for mostly just saying that people should be able to afford to buy the things they need to live.

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: Affordability & Trump: Here's How Democrats Won Big Across The Country In 2025 Elections - Forbes Breaking News - Air Date 11-6-25

KP 2: How Trump's 2024 Coalition Is Already Falling Apart - TLDR News Global - Air Date 11-12-25

KP 3: Democrats Snatch Defeat From the Jaws of Victory (again) - The Rachel Maddow Show - Air Date 11-11-25

KP 4: Trump's Affordability Tailspin: 50-Year Mortgages, Tariff Checks & Maybe Socialism - The Daily Show and Josh Johnson - Air Date 11-11-25

KP 5: Kurt Andersen & Josh Turek - Fast Politics with Molly Jong-Fast - Air Date 9-9-25

KP 6: Can Zohran's NYC Win Spark a New Era for Democratic Socialism? - UNFTR Media - Air Date 11-6-25

(00:49:49) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the path forward for the Left: Targeted Universalism

DEEPER DIVES

(01:07:50) SECTION A: AFFORDABILITY

(01:43:42) SECTION C: DEMS CAVE

(02:24:44) SECTION D: SYSTEMIC RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

SHOW IMAGE CREDITS

Description: A vibrantly colorful artistic rendering of Zohran Mamdani at a podium speaking into a microphone with his hand up. The edges appear to vibrate outwards.

Credit: "Zohran Mamdani" by Taymaz Valley, Flickr | CC BY 4.0 | Changes: Expanded background with layers and smudging

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere!

Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X

Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft

Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

Air Date: 11-25-25

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

• Ch. 1 - The extremists trying to create race-based neighborhoods all over the U.S.
• Ch. 2 - What we can learn from Ireland's history of sectarian violence
• Ch. 3 - How the Irish became white
• Ch. 4 - An inconvenient truth from Frederick Douglas (and some modern, mild misreadings)
• Ch. 5 - What you can do to fight back against white supremacists where you live
• BACKSTAGE! Beyond the Algorithm (Members Only!): Why some marginalized people cozy up to power

FOLLOW US ON:

YouTube (This full episode premieres on YouTube on Friday - please share!)

Bluesky

Instagram

Facebook

Mastadon

Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e

REFERENCES

Inside Return to the Land, a new group attempting to legalize segregation - SPLC

The reality of ethnic and sectarian divisions - Irish Post

Legacy of past hangs over anti-immigrant violence in Northern Ireland - Reuters

The Irish Had to Ask to Be White - Medium

The white man's happiness cannot be purchased by the black man's misery. - Elevate Society

The Destiny of Colored Americans - Teaching American History

"Missouri Is Next": Neo-Nazi Network Expanding Whites-Only Towns—Here's Where They're Looking - Kansas City Defender

TAKE ACTION:

No Kings Next Steps

Free DC Project: FOR ALLIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY

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