Bonus Sample #308 Let the Kids (and Adults) Play

Air Date: 6-23-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - The Kidult trend in depth (since we had to cut it short last time) - A right-wing attempt at a puppet-based kids show to draw in young viewers early - How Nanalan' - a kids puppet show from the 90s - is helping some Millennials with reparenting REFERENCES: Adults Are Spending Big on Toys and Stuffed Animals—for Themselves Kidults - do you have one in your life? PLAYBACK The UK’s adults-only soft play, ball pits, Lego nights, museum sleepovers & holiday camps where grown-ups play like kids 'Gus Plus Us' Offers a Glimpse of Texas Filmmaking’s Conservative Future  What is Bentkey? 'She Is the Icon of All That Is Joyful in the World Nanalan' on YouTube Join our Discord Server Leave a message at 202-999-3991 Produced by: Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft  Contact me directly at [email protected]  Review the show on Apple Podcasts!

Air Date 6/21/2024 The European elections could have been worse but they weren't great. Shifting politics among mainstream parties is legitimizing far-right policies at the same time as people's concerns over immigration is being reflected in a willingness to vote for far-right parties. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email [email protected] Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Clips and Shows + No Ads!) SEE FULL SHOW NOTES Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS KP 1: Clear Shift Toward the Far Right Anti-Immigrant Nationalists Gain Ground Across Europe - Democracy Now! - Air Date 6-11-24 KP 2: Europe Slides to the Right Unpacking the EU Parliamentary elections. - UNFTR - Air Date 6-15-24 KP 3: How the EU Parliament Voted This Year - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 6-12-24 KP 4: Does the economy matter to the far right? - Business Beyond - Air Date 5-31-24 KP 5: How Deep Does Right Wing Extremism Go In The Republican Party With Teddy Wilson - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 6-11-24 KP 6: What is behind the rise of the far-right in Europe - Al Jazeera English - Air Date 6-11-24 KP 7: Far Right Surges in European Elections - Pod Save The World - Air Date 6-12-24 KP 8: Europe Slides to the Right Unpacking the EU Parliamentary elections Part 2 - UNFTR - Air Date 6-15-24 (49:23) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On the snowball effect of factors leading to a rightward shift in politics DEEPER DIVES (56:56) SECTION A: THE EU STRUCTURE AND ELECTION RESULTS (1:05:58) SECTION B: IMMIGRATION AND THE CULTURE WAR (1:24:12) SECTION C: THE PLAYBOOK AND MESSAGING OF THE FAR RIGHT SHOW IMAGE: Description: Photo of European Parliament off-center, shifted right. Credit: “European Parliament Strasbourg Hemicycle” by Diliff, Wikimedia | License: CC BY-SA 3.0 | Cropped

Original Air Date: 12/11/2021 Today we take a look at the many structures of American government that tilt to favor minority rule and conservatism which, in our case, is one and the same. Some structures like the Senate and the filibuster were intentionally designed to give extra weight to the minority while others like gerrymandering and the influence of large-dollar political donors were, well, I suppose they were designed for about the same reason but just in a different way. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email [email protected] BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Lawrence Lessig on Unrepresentative Democracy - Network for Responsible Public Policy - Air Date 10-1-21 Ch. 2: Why Wyoming Has More Power Than California in the Senate - AJ+ - Air Date 10-14-20 Ch. 3: Perpetual Minority Rule with David Faris - Battleground with Amanda Litman and Faiz Shakir - Air Date 6-10-21 Ch. 4: Biden's DOJ is SUING Texas For Their Brazenly Discriminatory Gerrymandering - The Humanist Report - Air Date 12-7-21 Ch. 5: Andrew Perez on the Filibuster - CounterSpin - Air Date 6-18-21 Ch. 6: A To-Do List for Senate Democrats - Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick - Air Date 7-17-21 MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S) Ch. 7: Chauncey DeVega On Why Democracy Might Not Survive - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 12-7-21 FINAL COMMENTS Ch. 8: Final comments on public policy, human nature and Cold War talking points Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

Air Date: 6-16-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - The importance of unsupervised playtime for children and why it's disappearing - The roots and consequences of over-scheduling kids and why it's so hard to cut back - The rise of the "Kidult" REFERENCES: Parents: Keep Out! - Hidden Brain The Fine Art of Underscheduling Adults Are Spending Big on Toys and Stuffed Animals— For Themselves  Let Grow Play Club Chasing Childhood documentary Join our Discord Server Leave a message at 202-999-3991 Produced by: Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft  Contact me directly at [email protected]  Review the show on Apple Podcasts!

Air Date 6/14/2024 We're in the middle of Supreme Court opinion season, which is not going well for non-extreme conservatives in the country, at the same time as scandal, corruption, and justices Thomas and Alito's refusal to recuse in the face of clear bias is reaching a modern peak. Call or text 202-999-3991 or email [email protected] Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS 1: Opinionpalooza A Bad June Rising At SCOTUS Part 1 - Amicus 2: How The Mifepristone Case Reached SCOTUS - Amicus 3: Way Too Close Insane SCOTUS Case Could've Sunk The Country w Mark Joseph Stern - The Majority Report 4: Fact-Checking the Supreme Court - 99% Invisible 5: The IVF Decision We Should Have Seen Coming - Amicus 6: SCOTUS Flag Neighbor Exposes Alito’s BS Story- The Majority Report 7: Delegitimize The Court - Contempt of Court (1:03:35) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On some of Alito's finer absurdity Articles: Alito says the Supreme Court’s fake ethics code allows him to be unethical The Republican Party's man inside the Supreme Court The Supreme Court's new voting rights decision is a love letter to gerrymandering DEEPER DIVES (1:14:19) SECTION A: DO FACTS MATTER? (1:45:47) SECTION B: POLICING MEDICAL CARE (2:15:48) SECTION C: THE REPUBLICAN COURT WE’VE ALL WAITED FOR (2:42:24) SECTION D: SCOTUS IS A FLAWED SYSTEM Description: Photo of the U.S. Supreme Court building with an ominous red filter. An image of golden, uneven scales of justice sits on top. Credit: Composite design by A. Hoffman. / Photo: “The Supreme Court” by Glenn Beltz, Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Overlaid with red and imagery as part of composite. / Illustration: “Uneven scales of justice” via TheDigitalArtist, Pixabay.

Air Date 6/11/2024 Democracies don't break all of a sudden in a moment of crisis, they fail slowly over time and only by knowing the warning signs and responding effectively to the threat before it's too late can the worst be averted. Call or text at 202-999-3991, email [email protected] Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS 1: Why and Where is Democracy in Decline? - TLDR News 2: Is Democracy Under Threat? - Tufts University 3: The decline of American democracy won't be televised - Vox 4: How Republicans are fueling Russia and China_s global effort to undermine democracy - Velshi 5: How Republican Attorneys General are Undermining Voting Rights - Democracy Docket 6: Democracy vs. Autocracy: An Unproductive Dichotomy - Marxist Project 7: When Democracy Breaks: Final Thoughts with Archon Fung, David Moss and Arne Westad - Democracy Paradox 8: Protecting Voting Rights with Eric Holder - Why Is This Happening? 9: Rich Logis Escaped the Trump - MAGA Cult -- Heed His Warnings About Its Power and Extreme Danger to America - Chauncey DeVega Show 10: "The President of Forgetting" - Dastardly Cleverness in the Service of Good (1:03:29) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Those who defend authoritarians against criticism during D-Day commemoration Conservatives Angry at Biden’s Anti-Nazi D-Day Speech Fighting Trump on the Beaches DEEPER DIVES (1:09:52) SECTION A: DISSECTION OF DEMOCRACY (1:31:56) SECTION B: INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRACY (2:09:54) SECTION C: THE CULT OF TRUMP (2:36:47) SECTION D: DEMOCRACY IN ACTION IMAGE: Description: Black and white photo of a person holding a homemade sign that says “Fighting for Democracy” Credit: “For Democracy” by Alisdare Hickson, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Change: Cropped

Air Date: 06-09-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - how focusing on the "politics" of an event trivializes the impact that event has on real people - the detrimental effects combining the daily news grind and the prioritization of profits forces has on news coverage - how keeping news coverage light and ignoring the effects of neoliberalism leaves desperate people vulnerable to fascism - the way history is repeating itself when it comes to news media not treating a demagogue's rhetoric as the emergency it is - the difference between symbolic beliefs vs factual beliefs REFERENCES: Why Americans Hate the Media The Media Still Doesn’t Grasp the Danger of Trump Don’t Believe What They’re Telling You About Misinformation   Join our Discord Server Leave a message at 202-999-3991 Produced by: Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft  Contact me directly at [email protected]  Review the show on Apple Podcasts!

Air Date 6/7/2024 Banning abortion is wildly unpopular and also one of the primary motivators for the group most strongly supporting the Republican Party and Donald Trump, the Christian Right, which has transformed both the party and politicians into extremists made in their own image, threatening the lives and health of millions and sacrificing democracy in the process. Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email [email protected] Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Clips and Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS 1: Abortion and Reproductive Rights - Lectures in History 2: Abortion and the erosion of privacy - The Weeds 3: Digital surveillance and reproductive rights - Technically Optimistic 4: Anti-abortion hardliners want restrictions to go farther. It could cost Republicans - Consider This 5: Abortion and Reproductive Rights Part 2 - Lectures in History 6: Rakeen Mabud on Greedflation, Rachel K. Jones on Mifepristone - CounterSpin 7: Abortion and the erosion of privacy Part 2 - The Weeds 8: Digital surveillance and reproductive rights Part 2 - Technically Optimistic (57:00) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On the abuse produced by abortion restrictions DEEPER DIVES (1:02:40) SECTION A: CRIMINALIZING ABORTION (1:21:07) SECTION B: ABORTION EXTREMISM OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY (1:36:40) SECTION C: ABORTION IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM (1:53:45) SECTION D: WHAT IS THERE TO DO? SHOW IMAGE:  Description: A person dressed in a red cape and white conical bonnet with a red sash over their nose and mouth (referencing the Handmaid's Tale) stands outside the U.S. Supreme Court at dusk holding a cardboard sign with the words "This is NOT fiction." Credit: Photo by Tyler Merbler, Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Cropped

Air Date 6/4/2024 The problems that arise within the systems of sports are the same problems we all face everywhere which makes them a good lens through which to understand the mechanisms of broader society. Fair pay, both journalism and addictive games functioning under capitalism, and benefits for billionaires all resonate far beyond the bounds of the players, owners and fans of sports clubs. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991 or email [email protected] Transcript BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Clips and Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS KP 1: Pay for Play Part 1 - University of Iowa KP 2: What the historic $2.8 billion settlement to pay NCAA players means for college sports - PBS NewsHour KP 3: Pay for Play Part 2 - University of Iowa KP 4: Sports Media has changed forever. - Brett Kollmann KP 5: Dan Le Batard Tells Stephen A. Smith He Hates What He and Skip Bayless Did to Sports Media - LeBatardShow KP 6: Report Finds That Sports Owners Use Their Teams To Avoid Millions In Taxes - MSNBC Reports KP 7: The Sports Stadium Scam - Robert Reich KP 8: The gambling problem in sports - The Current (1:01:43) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On the value of sports to building community DEEPER DIVES (1:06:18) SECTION A: PAY FOR PLAY A1: Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger: What NCAA Suit Settlement Means for Paying Players - The Rich Eisen Show A2: "Amateurism Is Dead" - The Rich Eisen Show A3: Pay for Play Part 3 - University of Iowa (1:23:57) SECTION B: STADIUMS, OUR GREAT FOLLY (1:40:18) SECTION C: SPORTS JOURNALISM (1:59:15) SECTION D: SPORTS GAMBLING SEE FULL SHOW NOTES   SHOW IMAGE:  Description: A grocery store display of Coca-Cola soft drinks stacked in the shape of a basketball and “NCAA!”. Credit: “Coca Cola NCAA Cases Display” by Mike Mozart, Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Cropped

Air Date: 6-2-24 Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss: - How one MIT study used AI to reduce belief in conspiracy theories - How a new AI tool is attempting to make comments sections less awful - Some advice from Korea's litigious political environment on how to deal with Trump BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) REFERENCES: America’s Worst Time Zone Chatbots can persuade conspiracy theorists their view might be wrong The AI That Could Heal a Divided Internet South Korea Has a Warning About Donald Trump’s Trial   Join our Discord Server Leave a message at 202-999-3991 Produced by: Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft  Contact me directly at [email protected]  Review the show on Apple Podcasts!