Welcome to this monthly mix episode of the award-winning Best of Left podcast. In our regular episodes, we focus on one major theme presenting our top takes in the first hour or so of the show before diving deeper into each of several sub-topics in the second half. For the monthly-ish mix, episodes like this one, we skim across

the surface of the past couple of months as a sort of quick recap and reference guide. We do these

recaps to try to meet people where they are. So if someone you know would do better with just

occasional news wrap-ups instead of the full fire hose, send them this episode. And if that's describing you,

then welcome. One last quick note of promotion, we've also launched a new show on the Best

of Left YouTube channel called Solved. We put our curation skills toward gathering interesting

articles and ideas that collectively help us solve some of the biggest problems of our day.

Best of Left members get solved early and ad-free as a podcast, but anyone can check out

the video version of the show on the Best of Left YouTube channel.

Now for today's episode, we have five big sections and lots of sub-topics.

If you want to skip around, reference the show notes for guidance.

We're starting with Section 1, Direct State Violence, followed by Section 2, Systemic Destruction, Section 3, Reality Manipulation, Section 4, Global Chaos, and Section 5, Building Resistance.

This first set of clips about state violence comes from episode 1719.

When you listen to this on Saturday morning, the sun will be rising on two Americas.

In Washington, D.C., dozens of tanks will thunder through the streets in a military display that putatively marks the Army's 250th birthday, but very clearly marks dear leader Donald Trump's birthday.

Around the country, thousands upon thousands of people will be getting on buses, making signs, and gathering friends to march in no King's protests happening

at state capitals right enshrined in the First Amendment. Many of them worried about being

arrested simply for speaking and assembling, and in that same America, millions of people will be

afraid to go to their jobs or to church or the corner store for fear of being rounded up by masked

ice forces. We have no idea how this day will end. And as I try to type these words and to record

this introduction, I am quite honestly overwhelmed by the events of the past seven days, not to mention

the past five months.

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