Best Sample Axis Podcasts (2025)

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#1500 America, A Beginner's Guide (Throwback) 1:29:08

Play Pause

19m ago1:29:08

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, …

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#1759 Why Dictators Are Lunatics and Their Followers are Fools 3:31:18

2d ago3:31:18

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 very mockable. No really nice, likable, non-clownish people make themselves dictators and so the people who do are, without exceptio…

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SOLVED! FROM THE ARCHIVES - "This is Really Happening" (Original Air Date: 12-12-24) 1:14:04

3d ago1:14:04

1:14:04

Re-Air Date: 12–18-25 Unless you were a member in December of 2024, this episode of SOLVED! will be brand new to you! If you were a member back then, THANK YOU and this one is worth a re-listen. We're slowing down production for a little bit to reorganize our production processes, so enjoy this episode from our archives (and before YouTube) where J…

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#1758 Why you think the Sudanese civil war doesn't involve you 2:47:07

7d ago2:47:07

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. Nothing happens in a vacuum and in our world, if you're willing to dig deep enough, you'll always find how we're all connected -…

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SOLVED! SAMPLE! #29 - "Don't Be Cringe": Is Gen Z's Humor a Political Warning Sign? 22:05

9d ago22:05

22:05

Air Date: 12-10-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, and Deon (Erin was out this week) discuss: Ch. 1 - Generational humor, and analysis of Gen Z's absurdist humor and the impact it's having Ch. 2 - The unexpected social side effects of NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's campaign on Gen Z volunteers Ch. 3 - The "App"stinence Movement helping people get off of soc…

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#1757 Life is But a Game (that you can now bet on) 3:13:48

10d ago3:13:48

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 to lose and bet on the game rather than playing it, am I right?) Now, while it's well known that sports gambling has great potent…

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#1756 War Criminal Dick Cheney's Guide to Ethical Governance and Saving Democracy 2:59:02

14d ago2:59:02

2:59:02

Air Date 12/10/2025 Dick Cheney used to be thought of as Darth Vader but did he have an end-of-life conversion back to the light side of the force? No, he was bad all along and only thought Trump was worse. 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@BestOfTheLef…

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SOLVED! FROM THE ARCHIVES! - "Not Everything That Counts Can Be Counted" (Original Air Date: 5-26-24) 1:02:23

17d ago1:02:23

1:02:23

Re-Air Date: 12–2-25 Unless you were a member in May of 2024, this episode of SOLVED! will be brand new to you! If you were a member back then, THANK YOU and this one is worth a re-listen. We're slowing down production for a little bit to reorganize our production processes, so enjoy this episode from our archives (and B.Y: before YouTube) where Ja…

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#1605 Our Prison System is a Demonstrable Failure (Throwback) 1:02:42

18d ago1:02:42

1:02:42

Original Air Date: 1-23-2024 The recent discovery of hundreds of bodies buried behind a jail in unmarked graves sparks a renewed discussion about the futility and counter-productiveness of our system of incarceration and the context of our history that has brought us to this point. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, me…

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#1755 Affordability: Actual Economic Populism is the Kryptonite to Fake Populism 2:53:44

22d ago2:53:44

2:53:44

Air Date 12/2/2025 If you need more evidence for just how far from rationality our politics have slid in recent decades, Zorhan Mamdani is seen by many as a radical for mostly just saying that people should be able to afford to buy the things they need to live. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at…

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SOLVED! SAMPLE! #28 - Big White Lies: The Impossible Promises of Supremacy 21:03

23d ago21:03

21:03

Air Date: 11-25-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch. 1 - The extremists trying to create race-based neighborhoods all over the U.S. Ch. 2 - What we can learn from Ireland's history of sectarian violence Ch. 3 - How the Irish became white Ch. 4 - An inconvenient truth from Frederick Douglas (and some modern, mild misreadings) Ch. 5 - …

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#1354 Police violence and racism are a product of our past (Uprising, Crackdown, Authoritarianism) (Throwback) 2:30:03

26d ago2:30:03

2:30:03

Original Air Date: 6–22-2020 Today we take a look at the history of racist policing which flows seamlessly into our present racist policing which itself flows into Trump's authoritarian glee at the opportunity to consolidate violent, racist power in response to protests against violent, racist power. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text …

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#1754 The Epstein Files and Donald Trump, Our Predator-in-Chief 2:38:24

29d ago2:38:24

2:38:24

Air Date 11/25/2025 We live in a world awash with baseless conspiracy theories but that doesn't mean there are no true conspiracies, as exemplified by Jeffrey Epstein. But it bears repeating, that we didn't need the exposure of a massive conspiracy to know that Donald Trump was a sexual predator because he said as much on tape before he was elected…

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SOLVED! FROM THE ARCHIVES - "The Truth Shall Set Us Free" (Original Air Date: 12-6-24) 1:25:46

1M ago1:25:46

1:25:46

Re-Air Date: 11–18-25 Unless you were a member in December of 2024, this episode of SOLVED! will be brand new to you! If you were a member back then, THANK YOU and this one is worth a re-listen. We're slowing down production for a little bit to reorganize our production processes, so enjoy this episode from our archives (and B.Y: before YouTube) wh…

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#1753 What the Shutdown and Weaponized Hunger Exposed About Our Asymmetric Morality 3:59:13

1M ago3:59:13

3:59:13

Air Date 11/21/2025 In an ethical political system, being willing to break the law in order to starve people amid a political dispute wouldn't be a source of greater leverage and power but it is in ours and the shutdown put the wildly different senses of ethics between the parties on full display. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at …

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SOLVED! SAMPLE! #27 - Watch what you say! How weaponized language changes our reality 20:13

1M ago20:13

20:13

Air Date: 11-10-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch. 1 - "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps" Ch. 2 - "Politically correct" Ch. 3 - "Ethnic cleansing" Ch. 4 - "Meritocracy" Ch. 5 - Our current "wealth pump" crisis and how it has been solved throughout history BACKSTAGE! Beyond the Algorithm (Members Only!): The best words to articul…

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#1752 Reigniting the Nuclear Arms Race: Fat Man, Little Boy, and Donald Trump 3:24:04

1M ago3:24:04

3:24:04

Air Date 11/7/2025 The most dangerous part of nuclear weapons has always been the people in charge of them. As we potentially enter a new arms race, some of the worst people in the world are in charge of the vast majority of nuclear weapons. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestofth…

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#1751 Monthly-ish Mix: Institutions Fall, Reality Breaks, Empire Rises 3:47:06

1M ago3:47:06

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 reshaping our sense of reality, and how division and fear are fueling both domestic repression and global aggression. From the Su…

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#1750 "America's Backyard" - The War on Terror Meets the War on Drugs 3:05:57

2M ago3:05:57

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 doing proudly and in the open what used to be done only shamefully and in secret. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text…

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SOLVED! FROM THE ARCHIVES - "Transgressive Thoughts in a Villain Era" (Original Air Date: 1-6-25) 1:10:06

2M ago1:10:06

1:10:06

Re-Air Date: 11–6-25 Unless you were a member in January of 2025, this episode of SOLVED! will be brand new to you! We're slowing down production for a little bit to reorganize our production processes, so enjoy this episode from our archives (and B.Y: before YouTube) where Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch. 1 - Why people love villains Ch. …

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#1749 Democracy: In Theory, In Practice, and Under Threat 3:02:14

2M ago3:02:14

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 on our institutions we've seen in our 250 year history. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us…

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#1748 Patriotism in Peril: Democracy, the Military, and the Fight Over What America Means 3:41:05

2M ago3:41:05

3:41:05

Air Date 11/02/2025 A lot of people on the left aren't feeling the love for their country right now and that's understandable but we have some thoughts on more productive ways to channel those conflicting feelings toward a country that is currently falling far short of living up to its founding ideals. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or tex…

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#1747 Racism in the United States, it turns out, is a problem 3:10:15

2M ago3:10:15

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 was like, "Racism? In the US?! In Trump's Republican Party?? That doesn't sound like the country I've heard of." (sarcasm) But then …

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#1746 What an actual attack on free speech looks like 3:12:46

2M ago3:12:46

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 speech, a free and unbiased press, and freedom of association. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, messag…

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#1374 Tell Stories, Not Myths: Columbus and the Centrality of Colonialism (Throwback) 1:01:14

2M ago1:01:14

1:01:14

Original Air Date: 10/13/2020 Today we take a look at the myths of Columbus and American Exceptionalism™ that we cling to and turn our gaze to some of the less-understood but more accurate and important aspects of our collective history Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft…

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SOLVED! SAMPLE! #25 - Trump's "State Capitalism" is Just a Grift, NOT Socialism 19:24

2M ago19:24

19:24

Air Date: 10–14-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch. 1 - The cartoonish conservative and libertarian responses to Trump's state capitalism Ch. 2 - Trump's interest in sovereign wealth funds, and the lie the right sells its supporters about getting money back Ch. 3 - The left spectrum of reactions to Trump's state capitalism Ch. 4 - W…

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#1745 Fake New World: The Age of AI Slop, AI Education, and AI Fascism 4:18:56

2M ago4:18:56

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 worker unions - impoverishing millions while injuring and killing thousands in the process. It took a stock market crash, the Gre…

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SOLVED! SAMPLE! #24 - Attacking the Medium is the Message: Trump's Media Oligarchs and the Assault on Free Speech 24:32

2M ago24:32

24:32

Air Date: 10–5-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch. 1 - The state of American media consolidation Ch. 2 - The debate over free speech and the how the history of the right proves they have never been in favor of it. Ch. 3 - The Trump administrations latest aggressive anti-free speech moves, and the Jimmy Kimmel suspension Ch. 4 - A lo…

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#1743 Trump and Project 2025: Blitzkrieg Against America 3:15:00

3M ago3:15:00

3:15:00

Air Date 10/10/2025 The strategy that Trump and the masterminds behind Project 2025 are following is to move as fast as possible to implement their agenda because they know perfectly well how unpopular it is and will be as time goes on. It's hard to argue that anything good will come of this but I'm going to try during my comments anyway. Be part o…

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#1742 Captured Court, Captured Nation: SCOTUS Serves Trump's Authoritarianism 3:15:22

3M ago3:15:22

3:15:22

Air Date 10/7/2025 The Trump administration has been doing what we knew it would: breaking laws and losing about 95% of their court battles. And the conservatively stacked Supreme Court has been doing what we knew it would: overwhelmingly ruling for Trump to cover his tracks because that's what they were put there to do. Be part of the show! Leave …

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#1741 Global Uprisings: Dissatisfaction Roiling France, the UK, and Nepal 3:19:32

3M ago3:19:32

3:19:32

Air Date 10/3/2025 People around the world are angry, often for different reasons and even more frequently based on falseities - though not always. For instance, the Right in the UK and France are upset about immigration though most of those who are angry are wrong about the facts. But there's also widespread dissatisfaction with national governmen…

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#1740 Monthly-ish Mix: The Enemy Within and the Enemy Without—America's Two-Front 3:52:04

3M ago3:52:04

3:52:04

Air Date: 09/30/25 The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month we track the dangerous convergence of domestic collapse and international chaos by looking at political violence and martyrdom accelerating division, institutional capture from the courts to the media, the dismantling of voting…

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SOLVED! SAMPLE! #23 - ROBBING YOU BLIND: 'Buy Now Pay Later' and Mass Consumer Manipulation 19:01

3M ago19:01

19:01

Air Date: 9–24-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch. 1 - Intro, and quick follow up on bad satire Ch. 2 - The new culture of 'buy now pay later' and how these companies are manipulating the public to normalize the culture of overconsumption Ch. 3 - How companies pass the environmental toll of their products on the public, and the rise…

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#1526 A History of Political Violence in the US (Throwback) 1:20:44

3M ago1:20:44

1:20:44

Original Air Date: 11/15/2022 Today, we take a look at our extremely steady history of political violence from the Revolution, through the Civil War, Reconstruction and Jim Crow, into the Civil Rights era, the Militia Movement and domestic terrorism, and now to our current once-again-radicalized, right-wing movement willing to use and tacitly condo…

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#1739 The Charlie Kirk Assassination and the Plans to Weaponize It 3:29:37

3M ago3:29:37

3:29:37

Air Date 9/23/2025 All that is happening in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination was quite predictable because we've actually seen this game plan play out before. The only thing we didn't know was what would be the catalyst to really put the autocracy into high gear. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us …

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SOLVED! #22 - The Culture Wars at 10,000 Feet 18:51

3M ago18:51

18:51

Air Date: 9–20-25 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon, and Erin discuss: Ch. 1 - The right-wing's continued attempts at satire Ch. 2 - Manufactured outrage about male cheerleaders and sorority dances Ch. 3 - How political outsiders always adopt new tech, and how that ties to pushing back against misinformation Ch. 4 - Final thoughts on how when bad actors ma…

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#1738 Escalations: Russia, Israel, And What We Are Allowed to Say About It 3:28:50

3M ago3:28:50

3:28:50

Air Date 9/20/2025 The escalations are happening so fast now that even though this episode is about Russia increasing tensions by violating NATO airspace in Poland with drones and Israel intensifying their belligerence by bombing inside Qatar, those aren't even the most recent incidents now that Russian jets have entered NATO airspace in Estonia an…

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#1737 State of the Resistance: Labor, Anger, and Knowing That We've Been Here Before 3:31:51

3M ago3:31:51

3:31:51

Air Date 9/16/2025 Between recent Labor Day rallies and Republican Town Hall meetings, we're seeing that resistance to Trump's deeply unpopular policies is alive and well. Plus we're going to look at some historical legacies of resistance movements that can both inform and inspire us today. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999…

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#1736 Not the Opposition Party the Country Need Right Now 3:38:26

3M ago3:38:26

3:38:26

Air Date 9/11/2025 I've always learned the high-level understanding that the Nazis were partly able to come to power because the opposition at the time was too caught up with infighting to create a coherent resistance. With hindsight, it's easy to lament how badly they miscalculated the circumstances but living through the modern day and watching t…

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#1735 Trump's Making Friends of Enemies and Enemies of Neighbors (Foreign and Domestic Wars) 3:48:33

4M ago3:48:33

3:48:33

Air Date 9/7/2025 Trump has been setting a new tone both at home and abroad which is shaking up everything from the war in Ukraine to threats of force against Mexico, Venezuela, and our own American cities with the militarization of domestic policing. And we made all of this before Trump posted an Apocalypse Now meme about using the Department of W…

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SOLVED! #21 - GerryF**ked: How to Fix Congressional Representation and End Homelessness 21:07

4M ago21:07

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 i…

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#1567 How to Sell an Immoral Economic System to the Masses (Throwback) 1:03:13

4M ago1:03:13

1:03:13

Air Date: 6–20-2023 Today, we take a look at the story of how neoliberalism was born, how corporations were organized to help push it into the mainstream, and how the courts were reshaped to permanently tilt the rules in favor of corporate power. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bes…

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#1734 Where is the Revolutionary, Anti-Fascist Art? 3:11:37

4M ago3:11:37

3:11:37

Air Date 9/1/2025 The way people consume almost every variety of media, entertainment, and art is different now than it was only 10-15 years ago. That means that the way protest music, revolutionary art, and even mass market productions and performances are going to be different, feel different, and likely find you in different ways than in the pas…

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

4M 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

4M ago3:09:37

3:09:37

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

4M 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

4M 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

4M 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

4M 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

4M ago3:48:40

3:48:40

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…