Best Democracynow Podcasts (2025)

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SOLVED! #20 - America’s Brain Drain: How Scientific Empires Fall 26:57

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1d ago26:57

26:57

Air Date: 8–28-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch. 1 - How scientific empires fall Ch. 2 - How fascists of the past have destroyed their country’s scientific progress in fear of inconvenient truths Ch. 3 - How other countries are taking the opportunity to poach American scientists Ch. 4 - Living in a society that is shifting away fr…

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#1733 The Impossible Promise of Make American Healthy Again: MAHA vs MAGA 3:09:37

3d ago3:09:37

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Air Date 8/27/2025 RFK Jr. and the Make America Healthy Again movement aren't completely wrong about everything, they often identify the larger structural problems with the US health industrial complex even if their proposed solutions are wildly off the mark. But the problem they failed to see coming when partnering with Trump and the Republicans i…

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#1732 It's Never Just About the Kids (Online Censorship, Age Verification, and the Project 2025 Agenda) 2:53:34

7d ago2:53:34

2:53:34

Air Date 8/24/2025 The nature of politics and public policy is that there's always a need to balance opposing interests. Almost nowhere is there a more intractable set of opposing interests than in the attempt to protect children from harmful content on the internet while maintaining free access to adults, particularly because people wildly disagre…

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#1731 Raw Power, the Presidency, the Courts, and Democracy in the Balance 3:41:10

10d ago3:41:10

3:41:10

Air Date 8/20/2025 There's been a faction of conservatives who have been trying to instill king-like powers into the presidency for a long time, so it shouldn't be surprising that Trump is getting so much help from the packed court and the apparatchiks in the states who are more than happy to turn their precious federalism on its head as long as th…

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SOLVED! #19 - Big Data: Putting Digital Fingerprints in the Pie of Freedom 16:35

11d ago16:35

16:35

Air Date: 8–19-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch.1 - The Trump administration’s unprecedented attempts to get your data from the states Ch. 2 - Why Trump’s new private health tracking system is a wolf in sheep’s clothing Ch. 3 - How HIV patients suffering in the 80s, 90s and early 00s from constant health data breaches is a hint of…

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#1730 The Axis of the Dark Personality Triad: Unfit Leaders and the Suffering They Cause 3:52:59

15d ago3:52:59

3:52:59

Air Date 8/16/2025 There's the old Douglas Adams quote stating that, "Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job" which is a good general rule to live by. But then there are the real baddies, those would-be leaders who possess one or more of the dark triad of traits that spells real doom…

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#1729 Monthly-ish Mix: Layers of Authoritarian Control and the Rising Resistance 3:48:40

19d ago3:48:40

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Air Date 8/12/2025 The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month, we're covering the full spectrum of authoritarian threats—military in the streets, surveillance in our phones, conspiracies in our feeds, and corruption at the top—before turning to the grassroots organizers and Democratic Soc…

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SOLVED! #18 - How to Live Under Fascism 21:55

19d ago21:55

21:55

Air Date: 8–10-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, and Deon (Erin was on vacation!) discuss: How modern fascism does not look like the jarring and brutal images people think of, and the “rituals of conformity” in Nazi Germany that remind us of another era we’ve lived through How despotism affects the citizen psyche and how to counter those effects The importan…

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#1728 The Lawfare Presidency: The Case of Trump v. Journalism 3:09:37

20d ago3:09:37

3:09:37

Air Date 8/10/2025 Trump has been condemning the media for all of his professional life and is pretty open about doing it so that people won't believe the negative press he so richly deserves. Now, with the power of the presidency, he's turned his battle with the press into a protection racket complete with payoffs and side deals in an attempt to t…

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#1727 Super-Powered Men For Good and Ill: Fascism, Media, and the Manoshpere 4:39:49

25d ago4:39:49

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Air Date 8/6/2025 Today's slate of topics may feel disjointed at first until you realize that they're not. We set out to produce an episode in which we explored powerful men and those who look up to them from various angles and so that ended up including both real and fictional men from supervillains to superheroes. Be part of the show! Leave us a …

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#1573 Confronting Climate Chaos with Action and Adaptation (Throwback) 1:07:33

28d ago1:07:33

1:07:33

Original Air Date: 7–22-2023 Today, we take a look at the action needed to curb and adapt to the extreme weather that climate change is already delivering Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on the infamous Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email [email protected] Full Show Notes Check out our new…

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SOLVED! #17 - How to Use the Bullsh*t Machine: A.I. LLMs’ insertion into childhood, school, work, and movements 20:57

29d ago20:57

20:57

Air Date: 8-1-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: The impact of A.I. LLM “friend” bots on childhood development How using A.I. LLMs negatively impacts critical thinking and information retention The importance of understanding how A.I. LLM tools work before using them The ways in which A.I. LLM tools could and shouldn’t help movements o…

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#1726 Epstein Forever: Trump flails as criticism finally comes from inside the MAGA house 3:29:05

1M ago3:29:05

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Air Date: 7/31/2025 Who would have thought that a political movement built almost exclusively on conspiracy theories and a cult of personality would end up being threatened by the cult leader being implicated in the biggest and worst conspiracy coverup… even though it’s been well documented for decades? Content warning for detailed accusations leve…

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#1725 A Flood of Disinformation: A World of Climate Change and Conspiracies 2:58:47

1M ago2:58:47

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Air Date: 7-27-2025 Back when I worked in the climate movement, just after the turn of the century, we knew that the extreme weather we were warning about would become ever-more clear to see in people's lived experiences and assumed that any doubts people had about the science of climate change would be wiped away with the evidence they could see w…

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#1724 How to Socialism: Einstein liked socialism, you think you know better? 3:47:42

1M ago3:47:42

3:47:42

Check out our new show, SOLVED! on YouTube! 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! KEY POINTS KP 1: Old Democrats Must Go or Trump NEVER Will - UNFTR Media - Air Date 7-15-25 KP 2: 'The Economy …

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SOLVED! #16 - Under Pressure: Aiming Higher to Fix Societal Problems 20:26

1M ago20:26

20:26

Air Date: 7–22-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: The need for universal childcare and the pressure release valve of fighting your employer over working from home The need for universal benefits and the pressure release valve of gig workers fighting for a patchwork of crumbs from giant corporations The need to get rid of the business m…

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#1375 The Militia Movement is Having a Moment (Throwback) 1:09:48

1M ago1:09:48

1:09:48

Original Air Date: 10–16-2020 Transcript Today we take a look at the history and origins of the American militia movement right up to the recent plot to kidnap the Governor of Michigan, the likelihood of more violence and the high probability that they will show up at polling places on Election Day. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text a…