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.

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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

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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

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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)

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Produced by:

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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.

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Full Show Notes

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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Write to the DNC

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Original Air Date: 6–22-2020

Today we take a look at the history of racist policing which flows seamlessly into our present racist policing which itself flows into Trump's authoritarian glee at the opportunity to consolidate violent, racist power in response to protests against violent, racist power.

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Full Show Notes

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SHOW NOTES

• American Police - Throughline - Air Date 6-4-20
• From Slavery to George Floyd: The Racist History of U.S. Policing - Democracy Now - Air Date 6-10-20
• Protests Sweep Across the Globe - The Daily Show - Air Date 6-9-20
• The Truth: Police Are Lynching Black Americans! W/ Dr. Jhacova Williams, PhD - Thom Hartmann - Air Date 6-10-20
• Why Ta-Nehisi Coates Is Hopeful - The Ezra Klein Show - Air Date 6-4-20
• Unmasking The 'Outside Agitator' - Code Switch - Air Date 6-10-20
• "Looting" Concerns Distract From Bureaucratic Violence Toward Black People - Democracy Now - Air Date 6-6-20
• The Man Who Teaches Our Cops To Kill - Behind the Bastards - Air Date 6-1-20
• Protests Sweep Across America and Beyond - The Daily Show - Air Date 6-9-20
• Systemic Exhaustion - In The Thick - Air Date 6-10-20
• The Rebellion in Defense of Black Lives Is Rooted in U.S. History, so Too Is Trump's Authoritarian Rule Part 1 - Intercepted - Air Date 6-3-20
• Is This Trump's Reichstag Fire Moment? - Deconstructed with Mehdi Hasan - Air Date 6-4-20
• The Military Stands Up To Trump - On the Media - Air Date 6-18-20

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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Air Date 11/25/2025

We live in a world awash with baseless conspiracy theories but that doesn't mean there are no true conspiracies, as exemplified by Jeffrey Epstein. But it bears repeating, that we didn't need the exposure of a massive conspiracy to know that Donald Trump was a sexual predator because he said as much on tape before he was elected the first time in 2016.

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 [email protected]

Full Show Notes

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KEY POINTS

KP 1: Trump Welcomes Murderer to White House; Congress Votes to Release 'Epstein Files' - The BradCast - Air Date 11-18-25

KP 2: How Epstein Email Politics Shifted Over The Weekend Part 1 - Brian Lehrer A Daily Podcast - Air Date 11-17-25

KP 3: 1992 Tape Of Trump And Epstein - The Day That Was - MS Now - Air Date 7-18-19

KP 4: Epstein Emails: The Inbox Of The Rich & Heinous Part 1 - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 11-18-25

KP 5: 16 Women and Donald Trump • Trump's History of Sexual Assault - Brave New Films - Air Date 11-15-17

KP 6: Epstein's Arms Deal And Intelligence Connections With Israel W Murtaza Hussain Part 1 - The Majority Report - Air Date 11-18-25

KP 7: Jeffrey Epstein and the American Empire with Van Jackson Part 1 - The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer - Air Date 11-16-25

(00:50:50) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the conspiracy of wealth and power

DEEPER DIVES

(00:57:28) SECTION A: INBOX FALLOUT

(01:45:02) SECTION B: EPSTEIN WORLDWIDE

(02:18:32) SECTION C: PREDATOR-IN-CHIEF

SHOW IMAGE CREDITS

Description: Screen shot of a recently released email from Jeffery Epstein to Ghislaine Maxwell with a line highlighted that says "I want you to realize that the dog that hasn't barked is trump…[VICTIM] spent ours at my house with him,, he has never once been mentioned."

Credit: Internal composite design. Screen shot of email from files released by U.S. House Oversight Committee.

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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Re-Air Date: 11–18-25

Unless you were a member in December 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 - The political origins of SimCity and how capitalism warps our choices
• Ch. 2 - A new video game offering a very different vision of societal management
• Ch. 3 - Naomi Klein's insights on the Left's missteps responding to the Mirror World
• Ch. 4 - Applying cynicism and skepticism in moderation

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REFERENCES:

SimCity Isn't a Model of Reality. It's a Libertarian Toy Land - Wired

Build-a-Brrr - The Baffler

Naomi Klein on her doppelganger (and yours) - Vox

Be Like Claud Cockburn: Tell Truths to the Masses - Counter Punch

TAKE ACTION:

No Kings Next Steps

Free DC Project: FOR ALLIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY - Tell Congress to stand down the federal escalation

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

Contact me directly at [email protected]

Review the show on Apple Podcasts!

Air Date 11/21/2025

In an ethical political system, being willing to break the law in order to starve people amid a political dispute wouldn't be a source of greater leverage and power but it is in ours and the shutdown put the wildly different senses of ethics between the parties on full display.

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 [email protected]

Full Show Notes

Check out our new show, SOLVED! on YouTube!

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KEY POINTS

KP 1: Government Shutdown or General Strike How to Fight Trumps Agenda - The Socialist Program w Brian Becker - Air Date 11-12-25

KP 2: What Its Like Suing Trump in Court Over SNAP Funding - Boom! Lawyered - Air Date 11-13-25

KP 3: The History of SNAP How Food Stamps Feed America - The Politics of New America - Air Date 11-4-25

KP 4: MAGA Republican ERUPTS Over Major SNAP Consequences As Gross Tantrum Backfires - The Damage Report - Air Date 10-31-25

KP 5: Addressing Food Insecurity With Dignity - The Giving Garden - Air Date 9-3-25

KP 6: Senator Sanders Slams The Surrender Dems - What A Day - Air Date 11-11-25

KP 7: Pope Condemns Trump Hispanics Quit GOP More Illegal Airstrikes How SNAP Boosts The Economy - The David Feldman Show - Air Date 11-10-25

(00:55:53) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On how to preserve democracy

DEEPER DIVES

(01:10:38) SECTION A: SHUTDOWN

02:01:39) SECTION B: FOOD INSECURITY

(03:19:42) SECTION C: GOP AWFULNESS

SHOW IMAGE CREDITS

Description: Composite image of the SNAP program logo (food stamps) and a symbol of a stethoscope (healthcare) in a closed cage with a GOP elephant symbol standing on top against a faded American flag background.

Credit: Internal composite design. Elements from Pixabay | Pixabay license | and UDSA

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

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Air Date: 11-10-25

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

• Ch. 1 - "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps"

• Ch. 2 - "Politically correct"

• Ch. 3 - "Ethnic cleansing"

• Ch. 4 - "Meritocracy"

• Ch. 5 - Our current "wealth pump" crisis and how it has been solved throughout history

• BACKSTAGE! Beyond the Algorithm (Members Only!): The best words to articulate the current moment

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REFERENCES

Why The Phrase 'Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps' Is Nonsense - Huffington Post

How Cancel Culture Became Politicized — Just Like Political Correctness - NPR

Manifest Destiny and Zionism, a legacy of ethnic cleansing - Mondo Weiss

What Happens to Language When Authoritarianism Takes Hold - Lucid (Substack)

RSA Minimate: The Tyranny of Merit - Michael Sandel

The Satirical Origins of the Meritocracy - Kottke

Hundreds of societies have been in crises like ours. An expert explains how they got out. - Vox

TAKE ACTION:

Free DC Project: FOR ALLIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY

One Million Rising Trainings

In a blue state? Help stop ICE overreach

Find your Indivisible group - or start one

Join our Discord Server

Reach us via Signal:

Bestoftheleft.01

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Produced by:

Jay! Tomlinson

Thanks for listening!