Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Air Date: 10/27/2026 The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on the news from September and October without being overwhelming! Organized around a single idea: when something goes wrong, follow where the blame lands. Republicans staged a hearing over Anthony Fauci's diary while a food-borne parasite sickened more than 1,500 people after the Trump administration gutted the systems that track outbreaks. Housing costs get pinned on rent control, and the paperwork of being poor eats hours the wealthy pay someone else to spend. Meanwhile Boulder, Colorado is taking Exxon to court over what the company knew about climate change fifty years ago. The mix closes with the people organizing to protect the midterms and with what Occupy Wall Street left behind. Covering: September–October 2026 Full Show Notes BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Support and Get No Ads!) Link in Bio - Everything in one place! (Support, contact, socials, books + merch) SECTION 1: THEY KNEW (00:01:45) #1827 - Deep Cuts: Exxon Knew - The History Behind the Case to Make Polluters Pay 1: Trump's Big Oil Case Heads to the Supreme Court - What A Day - Air Date 3-16-26 2: The Fight for Fossil Fuel Industry Accountability: Understanding Suncor V. Boulder Part 1 - Center for Progressive Reform - Air Date 9-3-26 3: What's Suncor V. Boulder? And Why Does It Matter to Climate Progress? - Covering Climate Now - Air Date 9-23-26 (00:25:05) #1824 - The Next Gilded Age: AI Doomsday and the Insatiable Business Model 4: The AI Bubble Is Bigger And More Dangerous Than You Think Part 1 - The Tea with Myriam François - Air Date 9-11-26 5: You Don't Hate AI Enough. - Nash Keune - Air Date 9-20-26 6: The 'End Times Fascists' of AI - Blood in the Machine - Air Date 9-13-26 SECTION 2: SENT TO THE WRONG ADDRESS (00:53:41) #1829 - Poverty Is Hard on Purpose in America and We All Pay the Time Tax 7: The Vague, Capital-Serving Co-Optation of Affordability Politics Part 1 - Citations Needed - Air Date 6-17-26 8: The Time Cost of Bureaucracy Part 1 - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 8-28-26 9: Merchants of Death The Men Who Killed Healthcare in America. Part 1 - UNFTR - Air Date 9-4-26 (01:17:56) #1826 - The Mechanics of Complicity from Nazis to Newsrooms to Fandoms 10: I Quit My Job Because of Harry Potter Part 1 - Hoots Hootman - Air Date 9-26-26 11: UK Sanctions Israeli Settlers. A Breakthrough Or A Cop-Out? - Owen Jones - Air Date 9-8-26 12: Why Centrists and Ezra Klein Are Ruining Everything - Benaminute - Air Date 11-21-25 SECTION 3: SHOW TRIALS AND REAL ONES (01:43:37) #1820 - Science and Public Health Under Attack by Our Own Government 13: Fauci Takes the 5th Amendment While MAGA Cracks His Diary Open & Calls Him Hitler - The Daily Show - Air Date 7-30-26 14: Fauci, RFK Jr., and the Latest in American Health Part 1 - Reveal - Air Date 8-11-26 15: We Need to Accept That We Elected an Actual Madman to Be President - Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie - Air Date 8-11-26 (02:05:20) #1822 - The State Media Playbook: The FCC and Billionaires Are Waging a War on the Free Press 16: "Profoundly Corrupt": Trump Sued for Selling Early Access to His Truth Social Posts for $100K/Month - Democracy Now! - Air Date - 8-19-26 17: Trump's "Authoritarian Takeover" of the Media, ABC Suing FCC & the Meta Trial: Free Press's Jessica González - Air Date 8-19-26 18: Coyote Vs. Acme Proves the CEOs Don't Know S***. - Adam Conover - Air Date 9-4-26 SECTION 4: WHERE ANSWERING STILL HAPPENS (02:27:22) #1821 - Election Sabotage, Voting System Vulnerabilities, and the Defense of the 2026 Midterms 19: President Trump Is Trying to Change How Elections Are Run. Where Do Things Stand - Consider This - Air Date 8-28-26 20: Will Dems Risk Being Called 'Election Deniers' If They Need to Challenge Midterms - The BradCast - Air Date 8-27-26 21: Protecting the Midterms—at the Grassroots and in the Courts Part 1 - Start Making Sense - Air Date 8-19-26 (02:50:29) #1825 - We Are Still the 99%: Occupy Wall Street's Unfinished Business, 15 Years Later 22: The Long Fight Against Equality in the United States with Kim Phillips-Fein Part 1 - This Is Hell! - Air Date 9-3-26 23: We Are the 99 - 15 Years Later, Occupy Wall Street's Impact Is Still Being Felt Part 1 - Democracy Now! - Air Date 9-18-26 24: Episode 6 You Can't Evict an Idea Part 1 - Future Hindsight - Air Date 8-13-26   Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at [email protected]

Air Date: 10/23/2026 Today we look at the women's sports boom as a power story and explain how women's sports were held back on purpose, from England banning women's soccer for fifty years to colleges spending next to nothing on their women's teams, primarily because the men feared the competition. Full Show Notes Transcript Leave a Voice Message BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Support and Get No Ads!) Link in Bio - Everything in one place! (Support, contact, socials, books + merch) TOP TAKES KP 1: The Boom in Women's Sports: WNBA, NWSL & Brands Following the Money - Women's Sports Now - Air Date 8-17-26 KP 2: Why the WNBA Became a Battleground in America's Culture Wars - Political Breakdown - Air Date 8-21-26 KP 3: Why Trans Women Have a Place in the WNBA - Everyone Watches Women's Sports Pod and Togethxr - Air Date 8-16-26 KP 4: Equal Pay in the WNBA Ft. Aliyah Boston, Alysha Clark, and Terri Carmichael Jackson - Hearsay - Air Date 8-28-24 KP 5: Why Ashlyn Harris REALLY Walked Away From Soccer - Women's Sports Now - Air Date 6-17-26 KP 6: Title IX Trailblazers Part 1 - Torched with Molly Bloom - Air Date 9-6-22 KP 7: Celebrating the New WNBA CBA and Examining Its Leaguewide Cultural Ramifications - The Ringer WNBA Show - Air Date 3-18-26 (00:54:05) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR   My commentaries on YouTube - Share them! DEEPER DIVES (01:15:37) SECTION A: FOLLOW THE MONEY, FOLLOW THE BOOM A1: WNBA Valuations EXPLODE 💰 Up 59%… "This Isn't Charity, It's BUSINESS" - Chiney Today - Air Date 5-1-26 A2: How NIL Deals and Sponsorships Are Transforming Women's Sports - Women's Sports Now - Air Date 5-29-25 A3: Sarah Spain On the Evolution of Women's Sports Coverage - Front Office Sports - Air Date 5-16-25 A4: Everyone Watches Women's Sports - The Varsity - Air Date 4-16-25 A5: Gimme, Gimme, Gimme The Basketball with Betsy Riley - Good Game with Sarah Spain - Air Date 10-13-26 (01:53:40) SECTION B: THE CULTURE WAR, THE BACKLASH, AND WHO GETS CALLED A THREAT B1: The WNBA, Past and Present and Irish Sport for Palestine - Edge of Sports - Air Date 10-7-26 B2: The Caitlin Clark Effect with Sarah Spain - Here We Go Again With Kal Penn - Air Date 2-3-26 (02:14:40) SECTION C: THE CBA FIGHT - LABOR, PAY, AND POWER INSIDE THE W C1: The WNBA's Business Revolution: Lexie Brown and Mariah Rose on What Comes Next - Adspeak - Air Date 10-15-26 C2: WNBA CBA Deadline Drama: Emma Baccellieri and Lindsay Break Down the Labor Fight - Burn It All Down - Air Date 3-1-26 (02:30:50) SECTION D: HOW WE GOT HERE - TITLE IX, BARRIERS, AND BUILDING NEW LEAGUES D1: Title IX Trailblazers Part 2 - Torched with Molly Bloom - Air Date 9-6-22 D2: Title IX Discrimination and Women's Sports - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 10-1-26 D3: Why Women's Sports Are Reaching New Heights in Popularity and Revenue - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 4-7-24 D4: Closing the Coaching Gap: Pam Baker's Mission to Empower Young Women - Women's Sports Now - Air Date 8-25-26 D5: Megan Rapinoe & Emma Hayes on Why Women's Soccer Isn't Just the Men's Game - A Touch More: The Podcast - Air Date 6-18-26 D6: Inside the WPBL's First Season and How We Got Here - Just Women's Sports - Air Date 8-26-26   Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at [email protected]

Publish Date: 10/22/2026 Original Air Date: 4/6/2018 Today we look back to the spring of 2018, when a conservative listener called in looking for common ground on guns and we answered her point by point: the research on defensive gun use, who gets to be the good guy with a gun, what the Second Amendment was written to do, and the policies most Americans, gun owners included, already support. After the shooting at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, every one of those questions is back. Full Show Notes Transcript Leave a Voice Message BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Support and Get No Ads!) Link in Bio - Everything in one place! (Support, contact, socials, books + merch) SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Listener Voicemail - Looking for common ground on gun control - Caitlin Ch. 2: Jennifer Carlson on race and gun culture - The Ezra Klein Show - Air Date 3-12-18 Ch. 3: Second amendment redefinition a fraud on the American people - Bradcast - Air Date 3-27-18 Ch. 4: The myth of defensive gun ownership Part 1 - Science VS Ch. 5: The myth of defensive gun ownership - The David Pakman Show - Air Date 2-3-15 Ch. 6: The myth of defensive gun ownership Part 2 - Science VS Ch. 7: Gun Control will Not Cure a Society that Produces Monstrous Behavior - The Real News Network - Air Date 2-24-18 Ch. 8: Danger of guns to women - Progressive Faith Sermons with Rev. Dr. Ray - Air Date 10-8-17 Ch. 9: The homicide rate with guns present, especially against women - Science VS Ch. 10: Prevalence of guns results in more gun deaths and laws do work - Speak Out with Tim Wise - Air Date 2-20-18 Ch. 11: The Gun Policies Americans Agree On - On the Media - Air Date 1-8-16 Ch. 12: Does It Matter What You Think About Gun Policy? - On the Media - Air Date 1-8-16   Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at [email protected]

Air Date: 10/17/2026 Today we look at how being poor in America is made harder on purpose. The hours of paperwork it takes to keep food assistance or Medicaid are there to shrink the programs quietly by attrition and make failure feel like a personal problem. The same design runs through a healthcare system that profits when care is denied and the patient doesn't have the time to fight back. The alternative is the kind of program you'd design if you thought everyone living in a wealthy society was worthy of a dignified life. Full Show Notes Transcript Leave a Voice Message BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Support and Get No Ads!) Link in Bio - Everything in one place! (Support, contact, socials, books + merch) TOP TAKES KP 1: The Time Cost of Bureaucracy Part 1 - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 8-28-26 KP 2: The Vague, Capital-Serving Co-Optation of Affordability Politics Part 1 - Citations Needed - Air Date 6-17-26 KP 3: No One Can Escape The Time Tax Part 1 - What A Day - Air Date 9-3-26 KP 4: The $29 Trillion Social Security Crisis We Already Know How to Fix ( with Rey Fuentes) Part 1 - Pitchfork Economics - Air Date 9-8-26 KP 5: The Time Cost of Bureaucracy Part 2 - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 8-28-26 KP 6: Merchants of Death The Men Who Killed Healthcare in America. Part 1 - UNFTR - Air Date 9-4-26 (00:52:13) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On the Launch of Our Social Media System My commentaries on YouTube - Share them! DEEPER DIVES (00:58:24) SECTION A: SOCIAL INSURANCE AND WORKER PROTECTIONS A1: The New Deal - Everything Everywhere Daily - Air Date 10-9-26 A2: Terri Gerstein on Gig Workers Rights Part 1 - CounterSpin - Air Date 10-9-26 A3: The $29 Trillion Social Security Crisis We Already Know How to Fix ( with Rey Fuentes) Part 2 - Pitchfork Economics - Air Date 9-8-26 A4: Terri Gerstein on Gig Workers Rights Part 2 - CounterSpin - Air Date 10-9-26 (01:32:26) SECTION B: THE TIME TAX AND BURDEN BY DESIGN B1: How the Government Wastes Our Time Part 1 - Fresh Air - Air Date 8-31-26 B2: No One Can Escape The Time Tax Part 2 - What A Day - Air Date 9-3-26 B3: How the Government Wastes Our Time Part 2 - Fresh Air - Air Date 8-31-26 (01:57:46) SECTION C: HEALTH CARE UNDER ATTACK C1: The Cost of Drugs From Canada Is Set to Soar for Millions of Americans - CBS Pittsburgh - Air Date 10-8-26 C2: Merchants of Death The Men Who Killed Healthcare in America. Part 2 - UNFTR - Air Date 9-4-26 C3: Hidden Cuts to Health Care - Letters From An American - Air Date 8-20-26 (02:23:21) SECTION D: AFFORDABILITY POLITICS AND THE RISING LEFT D1: Raina Lipsitz on DSA Politics Part 1 - CounterSpin - Air Date 9-25-26 D2: The Vague, Capital-Serving Co-Optation of Affordability Politics Part 2 - Citations Needed - Air Date 6-17-26 D3: Raina Lipsitz on DSA Politics Part 2 - CounterSpin - Air Date 9-25-26 D4: El-Sayed Affordability Crisis Is Destroying Dreams - The Moment - Air Date 8-28-26   Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at [email protected]

Air Date: 10/13/2026 Today we look at rape culture as a system that contains far more than the crimes. This topic was prompted by the Cornell 7 story but it starts with little boys annoying girls and having it excused as affection, runs through the "nice guy" who treats kindness as a down payment, and ends with the false claim that men can't be expected to control their sexual urges. We're organizing the episode a little differently than normal, with the material everyone should hear in the first hour and the deeper dives being reserved for that which men particularly need to face but that assault victims may want to skip. Full Show Notes Transcript Leave a Voice Message BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Support and Get No Ads!) Link in Bio - Everything in one place! (Support, contact, socials, books + merch) TOP TAKES KP 1: It's Not About Sex: How Rape Culture Actually Works - Therese - Air Date 10-7-26 KP 2: AOC on the Campus Sexual Assault Factory - The Bitchuation Room (with Francesca Fiorentini) - Air Date 9-30-26 (Excerpt) KP 3: Is It True That Men Can't Control Themselves Sexually? Consequences Vs. Temptations - Huey Li and the News - Air Date 10-5-26 (Excerpt) KP 4: The Cornell 7: What Really Happened in Those 19 Days? - Therese - Air Date 10-3-26 KP 5: LSU Finds Student Responsible For Sexual Assault & DOESN'T CHARGE HIM - Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey - Air Date 9-28-26 KP 6: Turns Out The "Nice Guy" Is Actually TERRIFYING... Marina McBain - Air Date 6-6-26 KP 7: Jacob Geller, Cornell & the Future We Save for Men Part 1 - Jessie Gender - Air Date 10-7-26 KP 8: Men Scare Me and Good Men Make Excuses - Kat Blaque - Air Date 10-3-26 (Excerpt) KP 9: Jacob Geller, Cornell & the Future We Save for Men Part 2 - Jessie Gender - Air Date 10-7-26 (Excerpt) (01:04:10) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Blaming Assault on Men's Lack of Self-Control Is Toddler Logic My commentaries on YouTube - Share them! DEEPER DIVES (01:14:34) SECTION A: WHAT BOYS ARE TAUGHT ABOUT BEING MEN A1: Why Do Men Struggle with Empathy: The Problem of Transactional Relationships - Expatriarch - Air Date 11-5-24 A2: The Complicity of Geek Masculinity on the Big Bang Theory - Pop Culture Detective - Air Date 9-29-17 A3: Why Every Character in Obsession Failed Nikki - Kimbaland - Air Date 6-27-26 A4: The Problem With Porn - Breaking Down Patriarchy - Air Date 10-2-26 A5: Dulce Sloan: Will You Be My Valentine? - What Now? With Trevor Noah - Air Date 2-14-26 (01:54:33) SECTION B: HOW RAPE CULTURE IS BUILT AND WHO IT PROTECTS B1: What Is Rape Culture? - Do You Really Know? - Air Date 8-19-26 B2: Alisa Kessel, "Rape Fantasies: Rape Culture and the Persistence of Sexual Violence" Part 1 - New Books in Political Science - Air Date 4-16-26 B3: Is It True That Men Can't Control Themselves Sexually? Consequences Vs. Temptations - Huey Li and the News - Air Date 10-5-26 B4: Alisa Kessel, "Rape Fantasies: Rape Culture and the Persistence of Sexual Violence" Part 2 - New Books in Political Science - Air Date 4-16-26 B5: Should Women Share the Blame for R**e Culture? Not the Way They're Normally Blamed - Huey Li and the News - Air Date 10-5-26 (02:28:37) SECTION C: THE CORNELL AND LSU RECORDS AND THE APOLOGISTS C1: The Cornell 7 Is Business as Usual - The Bitchuation Room (with Francesca Fiorentini) - Air Date 9-30-26 C2: The Cornell 7 Case EXPLAINED - Hysteria - Air Date 10-1-26 C3: LSU Football Player UNDER INVESTIGATION After DISTURBING ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS!! - Katie Phang - Air Date 10-3-26 C4: NEW EVIDENCE From the Cornell 7 Case: Will THIS Be Enough For Justice? Part 1 - Hysteria - Air Date 10-3-26 C5: Michael Tracey, Shoe0nHead, Cornell - Edgier Than Thou - Air Date 10-2-26 C6: Jacob Geller, Cornell & the Future We Save for Men Part 2 - Jessie Gender - Air Date 10-7-26 C7: NEW EVIDENCE From the Cornell 7 Case: Will THIS Be Enough For Justice? Part 2 - Hysteria - Air Date 10-3-26 (03:25:54) SECTION D: ENABLERS, EXCUSES, AND WHAT MEN OWE D1: Graham Platner and the Left's Misogyny Problem (with Yasmin Nair) - Current Affairs - Air Date 8-11-26 D2: I Feel Differently About the Cornell 57... - Kat Blaque - Air Date 10-3-26 D3: Thomas Jefferson Survives: The Cornell 7 and the Price of Great Men - Resistance History with Tad Stoermer - Air Date 10-2-26 D4: Do You Really Care About Assault? - Cam James - Air Date 10-7-26   Featured song: "Not All Men" by Morgan St. Jean, used with permission. Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at [email protected]