Air Date: 7/25/2026
The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on the news from June and July without being overwhelming! Organized around a single idea: the same politics that left America friendless abroad is keeping Americans apart at home. The war with Iran ends and America's word counts for less around the world, so Europe starts building its own software instead of buying ours, NATO war-games its own doubts, and China quietly steadies the world's oil markets, while Taiwan shows that real security comes from connection, not threats. At home, the administration revives the red scare, hands the Justice Department to the president's personal lawyer while judges face death threats, and turns the country's 250th birthday into a fight over who counts as American, and billionaires cash out while everyone argues. And the way back starts small: a psychologist's simple habit for a happier social life, organizers who treat loneliness as a political problem with a political cure, and a Michigan Senate campaign built on talking to people instead of donors.
Covering: June–July 2026
Full Show Notes
Be part of the show! Leave a voice message, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
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!
SECTION 1: A SUPERPOWER WITHOUT FRIENDS
(00:01:30) #1805 - Trump Giving Iran $300 Billion to End His Own War
1: The Iran Deal, Boy, I Don't Know - Takes by Jamelle Bouie - Air Date 6-18-26
2: J.D. Vance Iran Deal Fall Guy Part 1 - On the Media - Air Date 6-19-26
3: Trump Weakened U.S. Allies While Strengthening Iran Part 1 - UNFTR - Air Date 6-19-26
(00:26:23) #1810 - Post-American Europe: How to Lose Friends and Influence People to Protect Themselves Against You
4: TODAY: Europe Replaces ENTIRE American Software Stack - Google OUT, Microsoft OUT June 9 - House of El - Air Date 6-4-26
5: Would NATO Hold if Russia Tested Article 5? Lessons From a War Game | Berlin Briefing Podcast Part 1 - DW News - Air Date 7-17-26
6: China Quietly Saved the World Last Month Part 1 - Max Fisher - Air Date 7-17-26
(00:54:17) #1799 - The US and China Are Fighting Over Taiwan, Semiconductors, and Africa's Minerals
7: Can There Ever Really Be "one China?" - Vox - Air Date 5-28-26
8: Trump's FAILED Meeting With China's Xi Jinping Was Humiliating - Pod Save the World - Air Date 5-21-26
9: China Will Never Beat Taiwan, Here's Why - Maxinomics - Air Date 3-37-26
SECTION 2: DIVIDED ON PURPOSE
(01:23:27) #1809 - Democrats Seek a Blue Wave, Progressives Push Democratic Socialism, GOP Revive the Red Scare
10: The Red Scare Returns Trump Is Calling Us Communists - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 7-8-26
11: Why Dems Like Him Are Crashing Out Right Now with Jeet Heer Part 1 - The Majority Report - Air Dat 7-3-26
12: Unsticking Congress with Maya Kornberg Part 1 - Future Hindsight - Air Date 5-7-26
(01:45:55) #1802 - Department of Injustice: Revenge Prosecutions, Judges Threatened, and Incompetence All the Way Down
13: Trump Eyes Personal Lawyer to Run DOJ Part 1 - The Beat w Ari Melber - Air Date 6-4-26
14: This Federal Judge Ruled Against Trump. Then the Death Threats Rolled in Part 1 - 60 Minutes - Air Date 3-1-26
15: DOJ in Crisis - Stay Tuned with Preet - Air Date 2-10-26
SECTION 3: STRANGERS IN OUR OWN COUNTRY
(02:12:09) #1806 - America at 250: The Declaration, the Constitution, and our Crisis of Democracy
16: America's 250th Birthday Must Reckon with Racism, Historian Says - Here & Now Anytime - Air Date 6-19-26
17: Trump 250 Gala Grows More Humiliating as Fox Grapples with Low Turnout - THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent - Air Date 6-26-26
18: The Constitution (Melissa's Version) - Strict Scrutiny - Air Date 5-11-26
(02:37:01) #1807 - What the World Cup Exposes: Identity, Colonialism, and Racism in 2026
19: Pete Hegseth is Trying to Resegregate the Military - Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie - Air Date 6-20-26
20: US Soccer Star Shows MAGA's Racism With Zero Effort - Rick Strom - Air Date 6-23-26
21: Colonial Wars Played On The Pitch - AJ+ - Air Date 6-21-26
(03:07:56) #1804 - Elon Musk, the First Trillionaire, and the Broken System That Made Him
22: Belfast Riots: Why UK Mobs See Racial Violence as 'national Defence' | Amina Shareef | MEE Opinion - Middle East Eye - Air Date 6-18-26
23: 'Billionaire CRISIS': How the Country's Wealthiest Are 'bankrolling' U.S. Politics - MS NOW - Air Date 5-27-26
24: SpaceX IPO: What They're Not Telling Retail Investors - UNFTR Media - Air Date 6-9-26
(03:34:28) #1808 - Billionaires vs. Democracy: They're Not Coming For Your Job, They're Coming For Your Government (And The Entire Economy)
25: The Richest Country Is Pretty Mid Now Part 1 - Benn Jordan - Air Date 6-28-26
26: The End Of Capitalism Is Here. - Second Thought - Air Date 6-5-26
27: America is Entering a New Socialist Era — and It Might Stick - The Recount - Air Date 6-30-26
SECTION 4: THE WAY BACK TO EACH OTHER
(04:03:58) #1800 - How Capitalism Created Loneliness and How To Joyfully Organize Our Way to Community
28: Anthropic Discovers the Axis of Evil, and AIs Loneliness Economy - The AI Fix - Air Date 2-3-26
29: The Political Economy of Love Attention, Affection, & What Capitalism Can't Buy Part 1 - Rev Left Radio - Air Date 1-19-26
30: The Simple Habit for a Happier Social Life Nicholas Epley Part 1 - TEDTalks - Air Date 5-19-26
(04:30:56) #1801 - Counterfeit Populism: Trump, the 2026 Primaries, and the Era That's Ending
31: Why I Left the (White) Left - Signified B Sides - Air Date 6-2-26
32: Hayes: Trump is Chasing Good Press with Bombs - All In with Chris Hayes - Air Date 6-11-26
33: Abdul El-Sayed Thinks the Michigan Senate Race Will Come Down to This One Factor - Slate and Abdul El-Sayed - Air Date 4-30-26
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 Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
