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. Save time by listening to a range of perspectives on a focused topic in each episode and be introduced to new sources you will not have come across on your own!
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Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy is a commentary podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 550 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 84. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.
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Unknown Host hosts Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy, a commentary show with 550 episodes published.
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Episode #1816
#1816 IP'd to Death: How Intellectual Property Law Went from a Protection to a Weapon
Aug 19, 20263h 31m
Air Date: 8/19/2026 Today we trace the corporate capture of ideas themselves. What began as a brief legal incentive granting fourteen years of exclusive rights to a creation has become a system that kept a pandemic vaccine from reaching poorer countries and where entertainment conglomerates and technology giants fence off and sell our own culture back to us. Full Show Notes Transcript 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 ! TOP TAKES KP 1: Why We Should Get Rid Of Intellectual Property - Second Thought - Air Date 11-18-22 KP 2: How Patent Abuse Blocks Patient Access to Generic Drugs - PIRGvideos - Air Date 4-18-23 KP 3: YouTube's Copyright System Isn't Broken. The World's Is. Part 1 - Tom Scott - Air Date 5-23-20 KP 4: How Disney Will Control Mickey Forever - LegalEagle - Air Date 1-10-26 KP 5: We Are Being IP-ed to Death / Vicky Osterweil Part 1 - This Is Hell! - Air Date 5-27-26 KP 6: Is AI Burning The Library Of Alexandria? - Taylor Lorenz - Air Date 8-5-26 KP 7: Should We Abolish Copyright? Part 1 - Tom Nicholas - Air Date 10-2-19 (00:56:46) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Disney Lobbied for Walls in 1998. OpenAI Asked for Holes in 2025. My commentaries on YouTube - Share them! DEEPER DIVES (01:07:51) SECTION A: HOW WE GOT HERE A1: The 5 Phases of Corporate IP Ownership - David Stewart - Air Date 7-8-18 A2: Amanda Kleintop on Abolishing Property Rights in Slaves During and After the US Civil War - The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition - Air Date 1-24-22 A3: Maggie Blackhawk and K-Sue Park - Digging a Hole: The Legal Theory Podcast - Air Date 3-23-21 A4: Claire Priest - Digging a Hole: The Legal Theory Podcast - Air Date 2-16-21 A5: YouTube's Copyright System Isn't Broken. The World's Is. Part 2 - Tom Scott - Air Date 5-23-20 (01:50:20) SECTION B: WHO PROFITS, WHO PAYS B1: A Deepfake Stole My Face and Voice | Rich Roll (Ep. 20) - Life with Machines - Air Date 5-13-25 B2: Can Artists Protect Their Work From AI? – BBC News - Air Date 6-18-23 B3: Brian Eno Explains Why AI Art Sucks - Life With Machines - Air Date 10-31-25 B4: YouTube's Fair Use Paradox - Vertex Effects - Air Date 7-18-25 B5: We Are Being IP-ed to Death / Vicky Osterweil Part 2 - This Is Hell! - Air Date 5-27-26 (02:27:53) SECTION C: THE DISNEY PLAYBOOK C1: A Disney Monopoly Is A Problem (According To Disney's Recess) - Just Write - Air Date 11-30-19 C2: Vicky Osterweil on Disney, Intellectual Property and Storytelling Part 1 - The Final Straw Radio - Air Date 5-3-26 C3: Everyone's Wrong About John Oliver's Trademark War - LegalEagle - Air Date 8-8-26 C4: Vicky Osterweil on Disney, Intellectual Property and Storytelling Part 2 - The Final Straw Radio - Air Date 5-3-26 C5: We Are Being IP-ed to Death / Vicky Osterweil Part 3 - This Is Hell! - Air Date 5-27-26 (03:14:03) SECTION D: WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT D1: Should We Abolish Copyright? Part 2 - Tom Nicholas - Air Date 10-2-19 D2: The Ethical Case Against Intellectual Property (by David Koepsell) - V for Voluntary Library - Air Date 5-17-10 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
#1815 Sanctioned Ignorance: The Assault on Museums, Libraries, and American Memory
Aug 16, 20263h 14m
Air Date: 8/16/2026 Today we look at what Toni Morrison called "sanctioned ignorance," the deliberate manufacture of a version of the past that keeps citizens from connecting the dots between what their government did then and what it's doing now. They're doing it by attacking museums, libraries, and everyone dedicated to ensuring that people have access to accurate information because that's what it takes to implement authoritarian control over a society. It's also the reason that countries under authoritarian rule suffer from the lack of benefits that comes with the free exchange of ideas. Full Show Notes Transcript 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 ! TOP TAKES KP 1: David Blight Makes Opening Statement in Hearing on How Smithsonian Presents History - PBS Newshour - Air Date 7-21-26 KP 2: Trying to Rewrite History - Letters From an American - Air Date 7-28-26 KP 3: Trump Orders Signs at Smithsonian Museum Warning of 'Inaccurate' History - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 7-30-26 KP 4: Rebecca Nagle on the Boomerang of Empire Part 1 - The Intercept Briefing - Air Date 7-11-26 KP 5: Right-Wing Attacks on Small-Town Libraries; Plus The Snow Leopard Part 1 - Start Making Sense - Air Date 8-17-23 KP 6: Free Speech for Me, but Not for Thee. Plus, Librarians Under Siege. - On the Media - Air Date 9-19-25 KP 7: Why Libraries Matter in a Fascist Moment Part 1 - Movement Memos - Air Date 3-19-26 (00:57:23) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Why Authoritarians Always Create a Brain Drain That Leaves Their Country Intellectually Impoverished My commentaries on YouTube - Share them! DEEPER DIVES (01:08:29) SECTION A: THE CRACKDOWN A1: What Is the Smithsonian - Civics 101 - Air Date 6-25-24 A2: 'If You Can Keep It' The Smithsonian Part 1 - 1A - Air Date 8-18-25 A3: Trumps Assault on Museums and Libraries, the Art Markets 12% Fall, Evie Hone and Mainie Jellett Part 1 - The Week in Art - Air Date 4-10-25 A4: 'If You Can Keep It' The Smithsonian Part 2 - 1A - Air Date 8-18-25 A5: Trumps Assault on Museums and Libraries, the Art Markets 12% Fall, Evie Hone and Mainie Jellett Part 2 - The Week in Art - Air Date 4-10-25 (01:47:35) SECTION B: HISTORIANS PUSH BACK B1: Historian Douglas Brinkley on MAGA-fying the Smithsonian Part 1 - Brian Lehrer A Daily Podcast - Air Date 8-21-25 B2: Trumps Renewed War, More ICE Killings, and Teaching American History - Start Making Sense - Air Date 7-15-26 B3: Historian Douglas Brinkley on MAGA-fying the Smithsonian Part 2 - Brian Lehrer A Daily Podcast - Air Date 8-21-25 (02:13:02) SECTION C: LIBRARIES UNDER SIEGE C1: From Budget Cuts to Book Bans — The Decades-Long Assault on Public Libraries Part 1 - Citations Needed - Air Date 3-29-23 C2: Why Libraries Matter in a Fascist Moment Part 2 - Movement Memos - Air Date 3-19-26 C3: From Budget Cuts to Book Bans — The Decades-Long Assault on Public Libraries Part 2 - Citations Needed - Air Date 3-29-23 C4: Right-Wing Attacks on Small-Town Libraries; Plus The Snow Leopard Part 2 - Start Making Sense - Air Date 8-17-23 (02:44:58) SECTION D: THE LONGER ARC - EMPIRE, IDEOLOGY, AND THE WORLD'S VIEW D1: The US Struggles with History, Stephen Friedman Gallery Closes, Tudor Heart Pendant Acquired by the British Museum - The Week in Art - Air Date 2-12-26 D2: Museum Responses to Fascism (or Not) Part 1 - The Modern Art Notes Podcast - Air Date 8-6-26 D3: Museum Responses to Fascism (or Not) Part 2 - The Modern Art Notes Podcast - Air Date 8-6-26 D4: Rebecca Nagle on the Boomerang of Empire Part 2 - The Intercept Briefing - Air Date 7-11-26 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
#1814 Open Imperialism in Latin America: Trump Says the Whole Hemisphere Is His to Run
Aug 13, 20263h 11m
Air Date: 8/12/2026 Today we follow the latest in Western Hemisphere imperialism. American presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to Donald Trump have invoked the Monroe Doctrine and its claim on the whole hemisphere to justify coups, sanctions, and now an outright military abduction in Latin America. Trump, as always, is bragging loudly about the parts most before him knew to keep quiet. Full Show Notes Transcript 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 ! TOP TAKES KP 1: "Imperial Laboratory": Alexander Aviña on the "Donroe" Doctrine & U.S. Intervention in Latin America - Democracy Now! - Air Date 1-6-26 KP 2: Trump Took Billions From Venezuela, Congress Is Demanding Answers - The Ring of Fire - Air Date 7-24-26 KP 3: Where Did Venezuela's $13 Billion Go? Part 1 - Patrick Boyle - Air Date 7-25-26 KP 4: Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega Dismantles Elections - The World - Air Date 7-21-26 KP 5: "Criminal Approach to Politics": Trump Ally Abelardo De La Espriella Wins Colombian Presidency - Democracy Now! - Air Date 6-22-26 KP 6: Cuba's Deepening Crisis as Residents Ask How Much Longer They Can Endure - Al Jazeera English - Air Date 7-18-26 (00:49:42) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR The Brag Defense: Announcing a Crime Makes It Look Innocent My commentaries on YouTube - Share them! DEEPER DIVES (01:02:49) SECTION A: VENEZUELA: THE MONEY, THE OIL, THE RUINS A1: Venezuela Earthquakes: U.S. Sanctions Impede Rescue Efforts as Death Toll Soars - Democracy Now! - Air Date 6-26-26 A2: What They Don't Tell You About Venezuela - Bianca Graulau - Air Date 5-7-26 A3: 'Pre-existing Vulnerabilities: Venezuela Already Experiencing Economic Turmoil, Displacement Crisis' - FRANCE 24 English - Air Date 6-29-26 A4: Where Did Venezuela's $13 Billion Go? Part 2 - Patrick Boyle - Air Date 7-25-26 A5: Venezuelan Government and Opposition Faction Are to Hold Talks | Inside Story - Al Jazeera English - Air Date 8-2-26 (01:45:10) SECTION B: CUBA IN THE CROSSHAIRS B1: Is Cuba Waging a Secret Campaign Against the US? | The Global Story Part 1 - BBC News - Air Date 6-27-26 B2: 'Cuba Is Not Venezuela': Trump's Takeover Threat Collides with 'disciplined Revolutionary State' - FRANCE 24 English - Air Date 3-18-26 B3: Is Cuba Waging a Secret Campaign Against the US? | The Global Story Part 2 - BBC News - Air Date 6-27-26 (02:09:15) SECTION C: REGIONAL RIPPLES AND HUMAN FALLOUT C1: Colombia Takes a Hard-Right Turn: Who Is Abelardo De La Espriella? - Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters - Air Date 6-23-26 C2: Human Rights in Nicaragua Part 1 - 35 West - Air Date 4-16-26 C3: Missouri Couple Murdered in Guatemala After Husband Was Deported - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 7-30-26 C4: Human Rights in Nicaragua Part 2 - 35 West - Air Date 4-16-26 (02:39:49) SECTION D: HISTORICAL ROOTS: THE DONROE DOCTRINE'S LONG SHADOW D1: A Brief History of US Interventions in Latin America - TRT World - Air Date 1-13-26 D2: American-Backed Coups, Mapped - Johnny Harris - Air Date 2-9-23 D3: How The United States Trained Latin American Dictators - The Cold War - Air Date 7-27-25 D4: What a Secret Government Warehouse in Venezuela Says About the US Today - Mother Jones - Air Date 1-20-26 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
#1813 Suffering is the Strategy: ICE, Mass Deportation, and Demographic Engineering
Aug 8, 20263h 32m
Air Date: 8/8/2026 Today we examine the mass deportation machine that's been intentionally designed to inflict suffering, from the conditions inside immigration jails to the reckless actions of ICE agents, and the systematic dismantling of accountability. All of this in service of a blatant demographic engineering program to forcibly Whiten the country. Full Show Notes Transcript 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 ! TOP TAKES KP 1: Lauren Bonds on ICE Murders Part 1 - CounterSpin - Air Date 7-17-26 KP 2: Trumps National Killer Police Force Part 1 - The Intercept Briefing - Air Date 7-24-26 KP 3: Uncovering Abuse Inside America's Largest ICE Detention Center Part 1 - Fresh Air - Air Date 7-14-26 KP 4: ICE Took Mom and Dad. Now the Kids Are on Their Own. Part 1 - Reveal - Air Date 7-25-26 KP 5: ICE Deports Family To Their Deaths In Guatemala - The Majority Report - Air Date 7-29-26 KP 6: ICE Took Mom and Dad. Now the Kids Are on Their Own. Part 2 - Reveal - Air Date 7-25-26 (00:58:33) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Mass Deportation and the Birth Rate Panic Are One Project My commentaries on YouTube - Share them! DEEPER DIVES (01:18:16) SECTION A: INEVITABLE BRUTALITY A1: What We Know About the Recent ICE Killings Part 1 - Radio Atlantic - Air Date 7-20-26 A2: ICE Kills Again Part 1 - Today, Explained - Air Date 7-13-26 A3: What We Know About the Recent ICE Killings Part 2 - Radio Atlantic - Air Date 7-20-26 A4: ICE Kills Again Part 2 - Today, Explained - Air Date 7-13-26 A5: Trump Endorses Non Citizen FBI Stops Investigating ICE Shootings Maine Dems Pick Platner's Sub - David Feldman Show - Air Date 7-19-26 A6: ICE Murders and the Maine Senate Scramble with David Dayen and David Weigel - Factually! with Adam Conover - Air Date 7-17-26 (02:15:18) SECTION B: DESIGNED TO BE UNBEARABLE B1: Killer ICE Agent's Ex-Wife Tells Us Everything We Need To Know - The Majority Report - Air Date 7-17-26 B2: Uncovering Abuse Inside America's Largest ICE Detention Center Part 2 - Fresh Air - Air Date 7-14-26 B3: Lauren Bonds on ICE Murders Part 2 - CounterSpin - Air Date 7-17-26 B4: Trumps National Killer Police Force Part 2 - The Intercept Briefing - Air Date 7-24-26 (02:51:33) SECTION C: THE WORLD WATCHES & THE PEOPLE FIGHT BACK C1: Claudia Sheinbaum Takes on the ICE Killing Machine Part 1 - Soberanía - Air Date 7-15-26 C2: Meet Beto Coral, Activist Targeted by ICE for Criticism of Trump-Backed Colombian President-Elect - Democracy Now! - Air Date 7-28-26 C3: Claudia Sheinbaum Takes on the ICE Killing Machine Part 2 - Soberanía - Air Date 7-15-26 C4: Citizens Bank Cuts Ties to ICE Prison Companies GEO Group & CoreCivic After Grassroots Campaign - Democracy Now! - Air Date 7-30-26 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
#1434 Confronting Climate Chaos Through Time (Throwback)
Aug 5, 20261h 7m
Publish Date: 8-5-2026 Original Air Date: 8–13-2021 Today we dig through the archives to give context to the news of the 2021 IPCC report ringing the alarm bells for the climate crisis. Full Show Notes Transcript 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 ! SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: The IPCC's new report - @greennewsreport - Air Date 4-3-14 Ch. 2: Green News Report w/ Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen - Air Date 8-10-21 Ch. 3: Global Water Shortages Pose Threat of Terror & War - @davidpakmanshow - Air Date 02-16-14 Ch. 4: The World's On Fire and There's Money in the Flames - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 8-10-21 Ch. 5: Why humans are so bad at thinking about climate change - Vox - Air Date 4-19-17 Ch. 6: Report confirms the effect of climate change happening today, spurs action - @greennewsreport - Air Date 5-6-14 Ch. 7: When Republicans believed in climate change - @allinwithchris Hayes - Air Date 04-22-14 Ch. 8: Geoff Mann: Transforming and Democratizing Institutions to Address Climate Change - Economics & Beyond with Rob Johnson - Air Date 8-9-21 Ch. 9: Climate crisis and jobs with Naomi Klein - What Comes After What Comes Next - Air Date 6-11-20 Ch. 10: Extreme Heat in the News, Naming Heat Waves, Thermal Equity and more with Dr. Ladd Keith - America Adapts the Climate Change Podcast - Air Date 7-5-21 Ch. 11: Putting the Freeze on Global Warming - @BillMoyersHQ And Company - Air Date 4-25-14 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
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