Today we take a look at recent teachers union strike in the Los Angeles school district and see it as another event in an emerging pattern of progressive uprisings that have been stirring for the last decade, fighting back against the status quo, the neoliberal instinct to privatize everything for the ultimate benefit of billionaires.

#1250 Teachers at the forefront of a resurgent progressive labor movement

Expertly-curated progressive politics, news, and culture produced by leftist humans, not algorithms or AI. This is an award-winning podcast that dives deeply into a wide range of national and international issues facing society and governments. We draw from hundreds of sources of progressive news and commentary. Est. 2006.

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Air Date 5/7/2024 Civil resistance on campuses across the country against Israeli genocide in Gaza calling for cease fire and divestment, university administrations up to the Biden administration respond, often with overwhelming violence and claims of antisemitism. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community!  FRONTPAGE FP 1:  The US college protests... - Today in Focus - Air Date 4-25-24 FP 2:  Behind Columbia... - Al Jazeera English - Air Date 4-24-24  (47:13) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR  (50:54) SECTION A: POLICE RESPONSES A1: Atlanta Police Violently Arrest Emory... - Democracy Now! - Air Date 4-26-24 A2:  Juan González, Veteran of '68 Columbia Strike... - Democracy Now! - Air Date 5-1-24  (1:06:59) SECTION B: INSIDE THE PROTESTS  B1: Pro-Israel THUGS Attack... - Owen Jones - Air Date 5-1-24 B2: Live from the Encampments - CODEPINK Radio - Air Date 5-1-24  (1:34:52) SECTION C: BIDEN'S POLITICS AND ACCUSATIONS OF ANTISEMITISM C1:  Nicholas Kristof ... Part 2 - Brian Lehrer - Air Date 4-26-24 C2: Manufactured Panic Over Peaceful... - The Majority Report - Air Date 4-23-24  (1:57:05) SECTION D: UNIVERSITY ADMINS AND ENDOWMENTS D1: Why Colleges Have No Idea... - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 4-23-24 D2: Columbia University President ... - The Bitchuation Room - Air Date 4-27-24  (2:37:42) SECTION E: MEDIA CRITICISM   SEE FULL SHOW NOTES  IMAGE Description: A photo of a lawn in front of a university building at Vassar College showing students standing near tents, a sign that reads "Liberation," and a Palestinian flag along a walkway.  Credit: "Liberation Lawn at Vassar College (cropped)" by Found5dollar, Wikimedia | License:  CC BY-SA 4.0 | Changes: Cropped

#1627 Campus Protests and the Crackdown: Civil resistance against Israeli genocide in Gaza, responses from university presidents to Biden

Air Date: 5-5-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - Jerry Seinfeld blaming the "extreme left" and "PC culture" for the death of sitcoms - how Poe's Law (and the Amanda Principle) makes creating and identifying satire difficult - how TV shows trying to satirize the left for the left struggle to land the jokes REFERENCES:  Jerry Seinfeld Says TV Comedy Is Being Killed By the ‘Extreme Left and P.C. Crap and People Worrying So Much About Offending Other People’   Jerry Seinfeld Is a Lazy Hack Out of Touch with the Real World—And Who Can Blame Him?  Poe’s Law and Internet Satire  In the Know (Peacock)   ‘In the Know’ Showrunners Unpack Its Loving Evisceration of Public Radio, Progressive Politics  Zach Woods, NPR Fan, Reads NPR Fans for Filth   Exclusive: In the Know's Zach Woods and Brandon Gardner on Satirizing Liberals with Mike Judge The Cleaner - S2 E5 The Statue (Acorn) Malthusian Conception   Join our Discord Server  Leave a message at 202-999-3991 Produced by: Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft  Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Review the show on Apple Podcasts!

Bonus Sample #302 Satire requires a clarity of purpose and target lest it be mistaken for and contribute to that which it intends to criticize.

Air Date 5/3/2024 A look back at previous coverage of criminalizing protests, weaponizing civility, and violent responses to peaceful dissent. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Clips and Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community!  SHOW NOTES Ch. 1:  The Problem with Civility - On the Media - Air Date 6-30-18 Ch. 2: Criminalizing Protest - @USNewsBeat - Air Date 6-14-18 Ch. 3: Civility as a cudgel - Trumpcast - Air Date 6-30-18 Ch. 4:  Protests Sweep Across America and Beyond Part 2 - The Daily Show - Air Date 6-9-20 Ch. 5: The coming anti-protest laws w/ Alleen Brown and Akela Lacy Part 1 - This is Hell! - Air Date 2-12-21 Ch. 6: Anti-Protest Bills Popping Up Everywhere - David Pakman Show - Air Date 8-19-20 Ch. 7:  Elly Page on Anti-Protest Bills - CounterSpin - Air Date 4-23-21 Ch. 8:  Not Ready For That Conversation - On The Media - Air Date 4-23-21 Ch. 9:  GOP States Are Pushing for Stricter Penalties for Protesters - The Takeaway - Air Date 4-27-21 Ch. 10: How Corporate Media Protects Violent Cops - Carlos Maza - Air Date 6-4-20  MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)   Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere! Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

#1626 Remix - Protest Crackdown: Power Concedes Nothing Without a Demand and the Response is Predictable

Air Date 5/1/2024 The past, present, and future of tackling the uselessness of extreme wealth by exposing and closing tax avoidance loopholes and pushing for a culture change to embrace the need for a more equal society. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Clips and Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community!  SHOW NOTES Ch. 1:  What Happens When You Tax Billionaires at 90 Percent? - The Hartmann Report - Air Date 6-3-23 We did it before, and the result was the creation of the world’s first and largest middle class and a level of peace and prosperity that held its own until Ronald Reagan took a meat-axe to it… Ch. 2: #TaxBillionaires w/ Robert Reich, Sen. Ron Wyden, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, and more - Americans for Tax Fairness - Air Date 4 -18-22 If you think school teachers shouldn't pay a higher tax rate than billionaires, join us to learn how you can join in on the fight to #TaxBillionaires! Ch. 3: Wealth Tax Part 1 - Pullback - Air Date 4-11-23 Should we be taxing Scrooge-McDuck wealth? Can we? We talk with friend of the pod Fariya Mohiuddin, a Senior Program Officer with the International Budget Partnership's Tax Equity Program, and our favourite tax justice researcher and activist. Ch. 4: No One Should Have More Than 10 Million Pounds | Ash Sarkar meets Ingrid Robeyns - Novara Media - Air Date 2-4-24 If you're serious about alleviating poverty, as most liberals claim to be, should there be a cap on how wealthy one person can be?   SEE FULL SHOW NOTES  FINAL COMMENTS Ch. 12: Final comments on anger and irrationality in war and politics  MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions) SHOW IMAGE: Description: A protester holds a sign that says “Tax the Rich” Credit: “We have a right to the city. Tax the rich.” by dignidadrebelde, Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Cropped   Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

#1625 Society of Extreme Wealth and its Discontents: Tax avoidance, wealth inequality and the detrimental effects felt by us all

Get full, weekly bonus shows! Air Date: 4-29-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:  - how the film 'Civil War'  intentionally avoids any specifics about the "why", and in doing so becomes a perfect encapsulation of the Amanda Principle™ - how "the view from nowhere" journalism is supposed to be straight down the middle and fact-based, but is actually rife with bias and ends up representing the dominant culture - that America and its culture has been steeped in war and violence since it's inception - the similarities between modern America and Germany in 1933 REFERENCES:  Americans Have Enjoyed Imagining Civil War for a Long, Long Time  How to Both-Sides a “Civil War”  Alex Garland's Civil War Plays Both Sides  Opinion: Is the US on the brink of another civil war?  ‘Civil War’ and the Dangerous Myth of ‘Unbiased’ Journalism  America Isn’t Nazi Germany, but It Looks a Little Like 1933  Modern Mathematics Confronts Its White, Patriarchal Past  Join our Discord Server  Leave a message at 202-999-3991 Produced by: Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft  Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com  Review the show on Apple Podcasts!

#1250 Teachers at the forefront of a resurgent progressive labor movement

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