Original Air Date 2-2-2020
Today we take a look at the relationship between fear, anger and how to deal with the structural forces of harm in our society. To help us, we examine two of the greatest thinkers of the past 65 years, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mister Rogers, and go beyond the nonviolence of King and interrogate Mr. Roger's insistence on liking everyone just the way they are.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: W. Kamau Bell on coming face to face with white supremacists - Finding Fred - Air Date 11-26-19
Empathy can be found when you understand what circumstances people came from
Ch. 2: Author Christian Picciolini on how white nationalists recruit and radicalize online - Democracy Now! - Air Date 3-18-19
Reformed neo-Nazi and author Christian Picciolini explains how white nationalists target vulnerable online communities
Ch. 3: The dubious luxury of anger - Progressive Faith Sermons w @RevDrRay - Air Date 6-24-17
Understanding the fear that underlies anger.
Ch. 4: Help the Helpers: Evil cannot withstand forgiveness - Finding Fred - Air Date 12-17-19
On being your best self. On the least of these. On the virtues of a cup of tea.
Ch. 5: Help the Helpers: But forgiveness can be complicated - Finding Fred - Air Date 12-17-19
You can't be nice to everyone because being nice to certain people is inherently cruel to others.
Ch. 6: Anger and forgiveness as a survival strategy - In The Thick - Air Date 10-4-19
Discussing the conviction and sentencing of Amber Guyger, the Dallas police officer who shot and killed her black neighbor, Botham Shem Jean
Ch. 7: Forgiveness in the #MeToo era - Interfaith Voices - Air Date 6-24-18
Many faith traditions emphasize the importance of forgiveness. But in the context of the #MeToo movement, can forgiveness silence women who have been abused?
Ch. 8: Why Do Black People Always Have to Forgive? - The Real News - Air Date 10-4-19
As Botham Jean’s brother makes headlines for “forgiving” Amber Guyger, Real News hosts Jacqueline Luqman and Lisa Snowden-McCray to discuss what Christian forgiveness in the face of oppression means.
Ch. 9: Why accountability matters for faith-based forgiveness - Interfaith Voices - Air Date 7-13-18
Serene Jones says deep forgiveness is actually part of a larger process of seeking justice and accountability.
Ch. 10: The art and science of apologies and forgiveness Commentary - Best of the Left - Air Date 3-23-19
Final comments on strength, power, fragility, apologies, forgiveness and the legacy of the Confederacy
Ch. 11: Help the Helpers: Grace - Finding Fred - Air Date 12-17-19
Grace is to focus on the humanity of others than to see them as monsters.
Ch. 12: Help the Helpers: The fear and hurt that gets in the way - Finding Fred - Air Date 12-17-19
The difficulty of focusing on helping the needy rather than punishing the dangerous
Ch. 13: Van Jones: Why Casting “Bigots” Out Doesn’t Move America Forward - Big Think - Air Date 12-6-17
There is a limit to empathy, you cannot tolerate the intolerant for too long—but having empathy for those who interpret change as scary, and understanding why they think that way, maybe the only inroad to untying this great mess.
Ch. 14: The birth of the Black Power Movement - King in the Wilderness (HBO) - Air Date 4-2-18
The story of King's reaction to the rise of the Black Power movement and the roles of anger, fear and sickness
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 15: Final comments on the various sicknesses infecting our society
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
Thanks for listening!
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
#1616 The Party of Putin and the Propaganda Leading the GOP to Trump and the US to Russian-Style Autocracy
Bonus Sample #294 Answering men's cry for help
#1165 To Exist is to Resist: Life and Activism in Occupied Palestine Working Toward Rights and Democracy For All in Israel (Throwback)
#1163 Strange Bedfellows: Looking at why Ethno-Nationalists Admire Israel and the Violence Inflicted on Gaza (Throwback)
Bonus Sample: #293 I love you, man
#1615 Envisioning a Leftisț Economic Future of Postcapitalism, High-Tech Automation, Universal Basic Income and a World (Mostly) Without Work
#1614 Deep-Fakery and Deep Consequences for Democracy: AI-generated fake news threatens elections around the world and makes people question the ability to know what is real
Bonus Sample #292 Techno Authoritarians vs Interoperabilities
#1613 Breathless Speculation: Biden's Baggage, Trump's Tyranny, Misleading Media, Courts and Criminality
#1612 New Tech and the New Luddite Movement; Inequitable Distribution of Benefits from New Technology Always Sparks Demands from Labor and AI is Rekindling the Old Arguments
Bonus Sample #291 Recommendations and Manipulations
#1611 Higher Education: the Myths, McCarthyism, and Change Makers at a time when education is under attack for free speech, DEI and CRT but arguably needs changes to meet a changing world
#1610 The Border, and Our Border Politics, Are a Mess - As Trump and MAGA-driven misunderstanding and panic about the nature of immigration dominates election concerns.
#1609 The Post-Roe World is Bad But it Could Still Get Worse - Abortion Bans in the US Are Causing Widespread Suffering for Both Patients and Doctors Attempting to Navigate the New Normal
#1608 Widespread Loneliness is a Solvable Social Problem - Urban Design, Architecture, Co-housing, and Community Action and Support Can Make Our Towns Better
Bonus Sample #289 A Cul-de-Sac of Ignorance
#1607 The Tangled, Flammable Web of War in the Middle East
Bonus Sample #288 Make the Children Cry in Order to Save Them
#1606 Biden's Barriers and Boons to Reelection
#1605 Our Prison System is a Demonstrable Failure
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