#1500 America, A Beginner's Guide (Throwback)

#1500 America, A Beginner's Guide (Throwback)

Author: Best of the Left: Perspectives on Politics, Culture, and Economics December 24, 2025 Duration: 1:29:08

Original Air Date: 7/4/2022

Today, for this milestone episode, I attempted to squeeze in as many clever and interesting ideas as I could and ended up writing a starter guide to understand the United States. Plus, there are jingles!

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!

In honor of our 20th birthday, we're giving new Members 20% OFF FOR THE LIFETIME OF YOUR MEMBERSHIP...this includes Gift Memberships! (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!


SHOW NOTES

(00:01:30) Ch. 1: Political Structures of Our Country

Tracking the political eras that proceeded our current situation and looking at what may come next.

Jingle 1: Strawman

(00:13:09) Ch. 2: Progressives and Progress

Looking at a progressive perspective of the last 20 years and the process of progress itself

Jingle 2: Defer to Authority

(00:24:25) Ch. 3: Understanding Race, Gender, Privilege and Power

Understanding why our understanding of the world is often insufficiently complicated

Jingle 3: Just Asking Questions

(00:37:06) Ch. 4: Progressives in Politics

Tracing the fissures on the political left from Bush to Biden

Jingle 4: Manipulating Data

(00:46:45) Ch. 5: Republican Transformation

Tracing conservatism from mid-century Republicans to 21st-century insurrectionists

Jingle 5: Appeal to Emotion

(00:59:32) Ch. 6: Foreign/Power

Looking at various forms of power and how they play out on the international stage

Jingle 6: Passive Voice

(01:08:52) Ch. 7: The Progress Trap

The progress traps of new technology and why we're not defending against them

Jingle 7: Clickbait

(01:19:07) Ch. 8: Structural Thinking and the Alternative

What happens when an individualist thinker is faced with problems that only structural thinking can handle?

Jingle 8: Conspiracy Theories


Jingles: Concept and Some Lyrics by Jay Tomlinson, Music and Most Lyrics by Jonathan Mann

 

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


For over fifteen years, Best of the Left-Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy has served as a vital, human-curated digest of voices from across the progressive spectrum. Instead of presenting a single opinion, each episode is built around a specific theme-from economic inequality to climate policy to cultural shifts-and weaves together insightful commentary from a diverse array of journalists, activists, and thinkers. This approach allows you to efficiently grasp the nuances of complex issues by hearing multiple expert angles in one sitting, all while discovering new commentators and sources you might not have encountered otherwise. The result is a richly layered analysis that algorithms simply cannot replicate, offering depth and context often missing from the daily news cycle. Since 2006, this award-winning podcast has cut through the noise, drawing from hundreds of independent and established sources to provide a coherent, thoughtful examination of the forces shaping our society and governments. Tuning in means joining a long-running conversation dedicated to understanding and advancing democratic principles, social justice, and a more equitable economy, all through the focused lens of leftist thought.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Podcast Episodes
#1751 Monthly-ish Mix: Institutions Fall, Reality Breaks, Empire Rises [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:47:06
Air Date: 11/11/25 The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month we examine how power is being quietly consolidated across institutions, how propaganda and AI are…
#1750 "America's Backyard" - The War on Terror Meets the War on Drugs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:05:57
Air Date 11/7/2025 The United States claiming a divine (and imperialist) right to tamper in the politics of South American countries is nothing new. As is so often the case with Trump, the biggest difference is that he's…
#1749 Democracy: In Theory, In Practice, and Under Threat [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:02:14
Air Date 11/4/2025 Elections are always coming up, some sooner than others, so we thought we would take a look at the state of our democracy and what we must do to maintain it in the face of the greatest direct assault o…
#1747 Racism in the United States, it turns out, is a problem [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:10:15
Air Date 10/28/2025 As we were looking for episode topics, I came across an article making the case that racism is a real problem in the country and that there were lots of recent examples that proved the point. And I wa…
#1746 What an actual attack on free speech looks like [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:12:46
Air Date 10/25/2025 Trump's attacks on free speech, particularly with the use of the Federal Communications Commission, goes far beyond the Jimmy Kimmel story. We're in the middle of an all-out assault on freedom of spee…
#1745 Fake New World: The Age of AI Slop, AI Education, and AI Fascism [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:18:56
Air Date 10/19/2025 Robber Barons™ of The Gilded Age™ told themselves stories about how they were ushering in progress for all which is why, they argued, they shouldn't be constrained by things like safety regulations or…