SOLVED! #21 - GerryF**ked: How to Fix Congressional Representation and End Homelessness

SOLVED! #21 - GerryF**ked: How to Fix Congressional Representation and End Homelessness

Author: Best of the Left: Perspectives on Politics, Culture, and Economics September 5, 2025 Duration: 21:07

Air Date: 9–3-25

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

  • Ch. 1 - The surprising origins of Gerrymandering

  • Ch. 2 - The options we have to improve congressional representation for everyone in the country

  • Ch. 3 - Democratic states response to Republican gerrymandering threats

  • Ch. 4 - The argument for DC statehood and the people to blame for why it hasn't happened yet

  • Ch. 5 - How to end homelessness and what you can do to help those being targeted in DC

  • SOLVED! BACKSTAGE: Beyond the Algorithm: The only correct opinion about the Cracker Barrel rebrand

YouTube (This episode drops on YouTube on Friday - please share!)

Nostr public key: npub1tjxxp0x5mcgl2svwhm39qf002st2zdrkz6yxmaxr6r2fh0pv49qq2pem0e

REFERENCES:

Elbridge Gerry and the Original Gerrymander - The Gilder Lehrman Institute

Drawing the Line ("Ratf**cked": The Innfluence of Redistricting) - The New Yorker (2016)

History of Single Member Districts for Congress: Seeking Fair Representation Before PR - FairVote

Gavin Newsom's Retaliatory Redistricting Plan Is Good, Actually - The New Republic

How Democrats Should Actually Respond to Republicans' Attempts to Rig Voting Maps - Slate

How Moderate Senate Democrats Enabled Trump's D.C. Takeover - The American Prospect

Trump's Homelessness Crackdown Has Been Tried Before. It Didn't Work. - Mother Jones

MEMBERS

The New Cracker Barrel Logo Sucks And So Does The Mess Around It - Kotaku

EXTRAS

Congress literally doesn't care what you think (aka: Corruption is Legal in America) (Represent.US, 2016)

Is illegal immigration really a democratic plot to sway congressional apportionment?

Americans worry democracy in danger amid gerrymandering fights, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds


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
#1762 Trump's Imperialistic Shakedown of Venezuela [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:16:47
Air Date: 1/3/2026 Imperialism is best thought of as a "Wealth Pump," extracting wealth from one country and depositing it in another. Venezuela has wealth and wealth is the only thing Trump cares about, his willingness…
#1500 America, A Beginner's Guide (Throwback) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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 a…
#1759 Why Dictators Are Lunatics and Their Followers are Fools [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:31:18
Air Date 12/22/2025 It's said that mockery is one of the most effective weapons against dictators. I guess it depends on your goal, but still, there's truth there. And the good thing in that regard is that they are so ve…
#1758 Why you think the Sudanese civil war doesn't involve you [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:47:07
Air Date 12/14/2025 The sad ease with which we manage to ignore some atrocities, even while paying much attention to others, has to do with how visible or invisible to us the systems are that are propping up those events…
#1757 Life is But a Game (that you can now bet on) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:13:48
Air Date 12/14/2025 Albert Einstein said, "Life is just like a game, first you have to learn rules of the game, and then play it better then any one else." (Or just get some insider knowledge about which team is paid off…