How Platforms Captured Attention and Youth

Air Date: 3/3/2026

The Monthly-ish Mix™ is here to get you caught up on recent news without being overwhelming! This month we examine the multi-front struggle for control: military force and economic coercion seizing resources abroad, institutions weaponized to constrain bodies at home, platforms and propaganda capturing minds, and the democratic resistance proving that organized people can still win.

Be part of the show! Leave a voice message, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

Full Show Notes

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!

PART 1: TAKING WHAT THEY WANT

(00:02:31) #1762 - Trump's Imperialistic Shakedown of Venezuela

1: Trump Admits Venezuela Attacks Are All About Their Oil - The Majority Report W/ Sam Seder - Air Date 12-18-25

2: USA Is the Worst Pirate on Earth: Trump Boasts of Stealing Venezuela's Oil - Geopolitical Economy Report - Air Date 12-26-25

3: Trump's Piracy in the Caribbean - The Real News Podcast - Air Date 12-23-25

(00:29:28) #1768 - The End of an Era: The International Rules-Based Order Gives Way to Trump's Might-Makes-Right Plutocracy

4: Gaza, Venezuela, and Greenland Mark End of World Legal Order Set up in 1945 - Redeye - Air Date 1-19-26

5: "Empire in Decline": Historian Alfred McCoy on U.S. Aggression in Venezuela, Iran & Beyond - Democracy Now! - Air Date 1-13-26

6: Mark Carney and the New World Order - Front Burner - Air Date 1-20-26

(00:53:33) #1764 - Wealth Inequality is Bad for Society and There's No Good Counterargument

7: The Capitalist Mindset - The Market Exit - Air Date 12-9-25

8: Where Are Americas Leaders? - Robert Reich and Inequality Media Civic Action - Air Date 1-6-26

PART 2: CONTROLLING BODIES

(01:04:42) #1766 - The Fragility of State Violence: The ICE Occupation, Renee Good, and the Minneapolis Uprising

9: Abolish ICE - Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie - Air Date 1-7-26

10: ICE Is a Way to Deal With Surplus Males - Therese - Air Date 1-9-25

11: ICE Can Hack Your Phone Without You Knowing - Taylor Lorenz - Air Date 9-5-25

(01:30:58) #1763 - It's Not a Health Care System, it's a Wealth Extraction System

12: 20M Americans Set to Lose Healthcare Coverage Jan. 1 After Congress Goes on Recess - Democracy Now! - Air Date 12-30-25

13: Agonizing Choices on ACA Deadline Day Part 1 - Brian Lehrer_ A Daily Podcast - Air Date 12-15-25

14: Medicare For All Non-Negotiable #3 Part 1 - UNFTR - Air Date 2-8-25

(01:57:14) #1767 - Wars Are Won By Teachers and Trump is Attacking Them Like a Foreign Adversary

15: 'Abandoning' Kids' Futures AFT Pres. Slams Trump Dept. of Education Changes - MS NOW - Air Date 11-19-25

16: How Trumps Agenda Hurts College Students - Right Now With Perry Bacon - Air Date 11-19-25

17: Trump Set to Garnish Wages for Student Loan Defaults - Democracy Now! - Air Date 12-30-25

PART 3: CONTROLLING MINDS

(02:20:20) #1773 - How Big Tech Captured Attention, Kids, and Democracy

18: Trouble at TikTok Part 1 - Today, Explained - Air Date 2-4-26

19: Is Social Media Having Its Big Tobacco Moment Part 1 - The Global Story - Air Date 2-16-26

20: DMs! My Kingdom For DMs! - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 2-17-26

(02:46:22) #1765 - AI Capitalism Will Not Deliver an AI Utopia

21: The AI Bubble Part 1 - Today, Explained - Air Date 10-28-25

22: Desperate OpenAI Turns To Erotica - Novara Media - Air Date 10-16-25

23: Trump Considers Order to Override State Regulations on Artificial Intelligence - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 11-20-25

(03:09:13) #1772 - From Fragile to Fascist: How Broken Masculinity Feeds Authoritarianism

24: The Terrifying Rise of "Vice Signalling" - JimmyTheGiant - Air Date 1-28-26

25: The Incel to ICE Pipeline (with F.D Signifier and Caroline Kwan) Part 1 - Matt Bernstein - Air Date 2-6-26

26: The Rise of the Authoritarian-Curious - Then & Now - Air Date 2-9-26

(03:35:07) #1769 - Politics Beyond the Ballot Box: Elections and the Movements that Power Them

27: Donald Trump Wants to Cancel the Midterm Elections Part 1 - Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie - Air Date 1-16-26

28: The Next Socialist In Congress with Claire Valdez Part 1 - The Majority Report - Air Date 1-22-26

PART 4: THE PEOPLE PUSH BACK

(03:48:36) #1770 - Getting in the Fight Against ICE and Authoritarianism

29: What I've Learned From Reading History - Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie - Air Date 1-28-26

30: Americans Flex Democratic Muscles to Show That, Together, They're Stronger Than Trump - The Rachel Maddow Show - Air Date 1-27-26

31: ICE Out of Minnesota: Unions & Churches Lead Economic Blackout in "Day of Truth and Freedom" - Democracy Now! - Air Date 1-23-26

(04:04:47) #1771 - They Need You in the Dark: Information, Journalism, and the Fight Against Fascism

32: AG Bondi Confirms FBI Executed Search Warrant at WaPo Reporter's Home - MS Now - Air Date 1-13-26

33: Why Trump Arresting Journalists Is a Sign of Weakness - Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie - Air Date 1-30-26

34: Humor Can Topple Dictators Part 1 - Why, America with Leeja Miller - Air Date 10-18-25

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere!

Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X

Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft

Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com