#1725 A Flood of Disinformation: A World of Climate Change and Conspiracies
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.6 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 28 July 2025
⏱️ 179 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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 with their own eyes as weather became more intense and less predictable. Of course, we didn't foreseen that we were headed straight into the eye of a storm of partisan conspiracism that would fully take over a third of the political spectrum. But here we are, head for high ground.
The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue by Mike Tidwell
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Full Show Notes
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: Flooding Is Common in Texas Hill Country. This Was Different - Consider This - Air Date 7-7-25
KP 3: Why Kristi Noems Incompetence Matters Part 1- Bulwark Takes - Air Date 7-10-25
KP 4: Republicans Get Exposed on Fox Live - The Adam Mockler Show - Air Date 7-10-25
KP 6: The Real Conspiracy Behind the Texas Floods - More to the Story - Air Date 7-16-25
KP 7: Disasters, Natural and Man-made Part 1 - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 7-8-25
(00:51:08) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On why we need to fight ignorance with research
The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue by Mike Tidwell
DEEPER DIVES
(00:57:45) SECTION A: FLOOD DETAILS
A1: Texas Flooding Tragedy Was Both Predictable and Predicted Part 1 - The Bradcast - Air Date 7-7-25
A2: Flooding Is Common in Texas Hill Country. This Was Different Part 2- Consider This - Air Date 7-7-25
A3: Texas Flooding Tragedy Was Both Predictable and Predicted Part 2 - The Bradcast - Air Date 7-7-25
A4: This Is Not a Good Time to Cut Funding for Weather Forecasting - Even More News - Air Date 7-8-25
(01:33:24) SECTION B: FASCIST REGIME
B2: Why Kristi Noems Incompetence Matters Part 2 - Bulwark Takes - Air Date 7-10-25
B5: Disasters, Natural and Man-made Part 2 - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 7-8-25
(02:13:59) SECTION C: CLIMATE POLICY CAPTURE
C1: A Brighter Climate Future Really Part 1 - The Insurgents - Air Date 7-12-25
C2: The War on Climate Change Policy W/ Lauren Windsor Part 1- The Majority Report - Air Date 7-18-25
C4: The War on Climate Change Policy W/ Lauren Windsor Part 2 - The Majority Report - Air Date 7-18-25
C5: How the 'big Beautiful Bill' Is Bad for the Climate Part 1 - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 7-8-25
C6: A Brighter Climate Future Really Part 2 - The Insurgents - Air Date 7-12-25
C7: How the 'big Beautiful Bill' Is Bad for the Climate Part 2 - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 7-8-25
SHOW IMAGE CREDITS
Description: Photograph of a damaged bridge in Kerr County, TX over the high river running under it in the wake of the deadly July flood.
Credit: “Texas Floods Devastate Local Communities” by World Central Kitchen, Flickr | License: CC BY 4.0 | Changes: Cropped
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of the Left podcast. Back when I worked in the |
| 0:07.9 | climate movement just after the turn of the century, we knew that the climate change fueled extreme weather |
| 0:13.6 | we were warning about would become ever more clear to see in people's lived experiences |
| 0:17.9 | and assumed that any doubts people had about the science of climate change |
| 0:22.6 | would be wiped away with the evidence they could see with their own eyes as weather became |
| 0:27.3 | more intense and less predictable. Of course, we didn't foresee that we were headed straight into |
| 0:33.4 | the eye of a storm of partisan conspiracyism that would end up fully taking over a third |
| 0:39.2 | of the political spectrum. But here we are. So head for high ground. For those looking for a quick |
| 0:45.4 | overview, the sources providing our top takes in about 50 minutes today includes Consider This, |
| 0:50.8 | The Daily Blast, Bullwork Takes, The Adam Mockler Show, Straight White American Jesus, |
| 0:56.5 | more to the story, and the Muck Creek Political Podcast. Then in the additional deeper dives |
| 1:01.4 | half of the show, there will be more in three sections, section A, flood details, followed |
| 1:06.5 | by section B, fascist regime, and Section C, Climate Policy Capture. |
| 1:12.4 | But first, a reminder to check out our new show solved on the Best of Left YouTube channel. |
| 1:17.1 | We're really proud of the show we're making. |
| 1:18.6 | We think you'll get real value out of it. |
| 1:20.8 | We just recorded an episode about the mixed bag that is AI. |
| 1:25.5 | There are a lot of things to be wary of, but we know that's not enough |
| 1:28.3 | to get people to avoid it. So we decided to provide a bunch of good advice on how to approach |
| 1:32.9 | new technology like AI and how to integrate it while avoiding some of the downsides. |
| 1:38.9 | We really think it's an important conversation that people need to hear, and you checking |
| 1:42.8 | it out will actually help us find new viewers on YouTube. So thanks in advance for all of your views, likes, subscribes, |
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