Left Jest

On this, our glorious siren song our hosts go over their favorite episodes and biggest problems with the show. They also talk politics because it seems like that's what people want to hear, probably. It's a safe bet by this point. Thanks to everyone who listened to the show over the last year. We wanted to do more but Ajit Pai has a blood grudge against Raghav as part of the Indian illuminati and it is no longer safe to continue. For it is said a blood grudge can only be quenched... with more blood.......

Is NAMBLA real? What are communists up to in Star Wars? Is the constitution any good? Mysterious law man and comedian John Bilancini joins the gang to answer these questions and more in an episode fans are calling "a very nice podcast." Come out to the stand up show at Starr Bar next Saturday November 18th from 7-9!

Are you pro con con? Or con con con? Are DA's bad? Has the Red Bear activated a top agent on the inside? We invite attorney, DSA organizer, and overall smart person Renee Paradis to answer all these questions and more. Maybe our finest installment of Russian Propaganda to date. Oh and go vote if you live in NY next Tuesday!

Fan favorite Danny Katch (socialistworker.org) returns to the program to talk about American Democracy and his new book Why Bad Governments Happen to Good People. It is a fun one! Please send us fan mail or mean spirited mail at leftjest@gmail.com

NYC comedy mavericks Sam Ruddy (@samlymatters) and Kenice Mobley (@kfmawesomeness) join the show. We talk the women's convention, the skeleton convention, call-out-culture, the oppression of gingers, and when jokes... are bad(?!)

Natalie Shure (Adam Ruins Everything) joins the podcast to talk a bit about co-pays and issues with America's healthcare system. We decide we don't like Harvey Weinstein, and address Anders quest to become the oldest living man. Be sure to check out Natalie's article on Jacobin here: https://t.co/5IyUe6Ga3K New York fans! Come out to our stand up show in Bushwick Friday October 13th fundraising for hurricane relief! 7PM at Starr Bar!

Comedian Irene Hartmann (@vontrapplord) joins the team for a discussion of all terrible things under the sun at the Alex Ptak Apartment Studios. How are you handling the mass murders? Are you for or against aliens? What does the great Tucker Carlson think of the football controversy? Enjoy all of these discussions and more on the celebrated podcast that first taught America how to dance.

Whoa whoa whoa! With all of the powerful gods of luck aligning, we managed to secure an amazing interview with an anonymous contributor from anticapitalist news hub ItsGoingDown.org. We talk about the reactionary base of the establishment media class, IGD's recent conflict with Patreon, and much more. If you live in NYC come check out our stand up show at Starr Bar on September 29th at 7PM!

Surprise! We got Kate Evans on the show! Kate is a cartoonist and author of the new book Threads From The Refugee Crisis. We talk to her about her experience visiting the refugee camp, the overall dearth of human dignity allowed to migrants, and most importantly the Spice Girls. Kate shout outs: https://phonecreditforrefugees.com/ Holly McNish "mathematics" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJX5XHnONTI NYC/DSA folks! Come to our stand up show Paid Protest next week at Starr Bar on 09/28 at 7 PM!

Have you ever been thrown out of a Trump Rally? Statistically probably not! But Arish Singh has! Arish (@arishish) opens up about the issues of mischaracterizing identity politics and being a "political comedian" without constantly working on your "brand." Then we have a really great interview the day after the NY primary with the hardworking Francisco Diez of the NYC DSA Electoral working group. The gang takes the opportunity to discuss winning elections, losing elections, and very briefly if cars are a type of horse. Sorry about the clicking sound in the last 10 minutes! We are working on it!

Hillary's got a new book and it's getting a lot of coverage, but we're the only ones with the inside scoop on Lincoln Chafee's! We also talk about Martin O'Malley's hot body and Anders' big idea for a woke viral video. Then Jake Flores gives us a quick rundown of some antifa history and whether or not breaking a window is murder. 10/10 it's a podcast.

Ladies and gentlemen blare your horns! Anders Lee returns triumphant to the Left Jest podcast! Anders is dying to talk about a fake facebook account he made as Jenna Bush and the ISO convention. Then a bunch of other stuff kind of happens. There's like a few minutes on the hurricane in there so check that out. It's pizza time!

It's been a week, but we're gonna do it! We're tackling the rise and fall of Nazis in America. Is it funny? Parts are! First check out Alex's intro with guest co-host Danny Felts, ignore the reverb sound Danny left on the recording, and then enjoy the glorious 4th interview with Mic.com's Jack Smith IV. We're 4 for 4, baby. Check back soon to see if Raghav's recovered or will at least continue to host the podcast as a ghost!

Check out this interview recorded last year! Trans social media diva Angelica Vice comes on the show to talk out her views on sexuality and politics with then-hosts Ian Garcia and Anders Lee. Interesting talk radio, babyyyyy. We'll be back with some stuff on Charlottesville next week when everyone is tired of it, probably. It's a date.

This week Left Jest opens its doors to Dominic Fogarty and Pedro Salinas, two down and out comedians / immigrants looking to forge a better life in the glorious lands of Talk Radio. Which comedian is secretly in the CIA? Is there a village of swole dudes who drink milk all day in India? Who in the room is going to become the President? Listen in for what is surely one of the most heartwarming episodes in podcast history. Also there are a bunch of clicks during the last 15 minutes and I couldn't get rid of them so I'm sorry about that.

It's DSA convention week! We invite on Jazz Hooks, co-writer of the scandalous Afro-Socialist Caucus proposal to discuss misconceptions people might have about race in the DSA. Specifically, the people at Dead Pundits Society who covered the proposal last week. IT'S REAL. PODCAST. BEEF. Then, in a whiplashing change in tone, David Tveite (@tveitprivilege)comes back to discuss the news and break down a few Ben Garrison cartoons. Alex apologizes for claiming Yaz is a defunct birth control medication, when apparently it is still around.

We invite former Austin comic Kath Barbadoro in to tell us about snakes, cowboy hats, performing for Trump supporters, and what the hell is wrong with the god damn MTA. Oh and it's important to know Raghav is sitting next to a prop for a wizard staff the entire interview. Yep.

There is a spector haunting this episode... the spector of comedian David Spector! This is a very silly one. We talk the new DCCC slogans, Left entry-ism, Social Democracy vs. Socialism, the DPRK, and most of all Sicilian pizza. Everyone is sorry in advance.

Writer and activist Loubna Mrie stops in to educate America's smartest and most talented comedians on the Syrian war. Unfortunately those comedians all have to reschedule and the hosts of this podcast are there instead. So really, everyone loses.

This one is an old fashioned ho down / bro down. David Tveite (@tveitprivelege)joins us in the legendary Alex Ptak's Apartment Studios to discuss the business of stand up comedy. When do you get paid? Should porn be political? How many clubs are run by the mob? Should we burn New York City to the ground? All topics covered from a left perspective -- sort of -- at least a little bit. It's called being On Brand and it's a BIG DEAL.

Alex is out of town so Andy Palmer (Democracy Later Podcast) is locked in to crack open contemporary issues like Train Gate. We follow up on the UK snap election, Hillary's slaves, and chat Raghav's undisputed favorite rapper, Macklemore.

Prophets of Profit (w/ Nicole Aschoff) by Left Jest

We have Jack Smith IV (mic.com) back on the program to discuss his recent trip to Boston to cover the weird 4chan people. Who are they? Why are they awful? We also go over the on-boarding process on the modern Left, coalition building with the Hillary cult, and Alex is a little drunk because this was recorded on memorial day. America.

Iain Marcks (American Cinematographer) returns with Hann Cowger (Cinder Block Comedy Festival) to break down the cyberpunk movement. What is Cyberpunk? What are its politics? Was my mom right about video games? Should I replace my eyes with lasers? Can I just do hard drugs instead? Tune in to find out! Also check out the doc we're talking about in the show on youtube. You will not be disappointed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRwU9zJcT60 And be sure to check out Iain's gofundme for his film! https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/harsh-reality-vr-thriller

Like Star Wars, get it? A New Host? A New Hope? Like Star Wars? Raghav Mehta takes the blood oath to become an official host of the podcast with Alex and Anders. We break down the movie Get Me Roger Stone on Netflix, and discuss random commie things. Also we may have accidentally killed Sir Roger Moore by riffing about him, so... sorry to his loved ones!

On the heels of the French Presidential Election we talk to French-American Comedian Steve Girard and our European Politics Correspondent Matt Easton, about neoliberalism's narrow victory and the global anti-austerity movement's future.

Katie Halper (@kthalps) and Gabe Pacheco (@gabe_pacheco) from The Katie Halper Show join in on the fun in the illustrious KPISS studios. We talk 70s militant movements, the Rosenbergs, ideal dystopia deaths, feminists, and when Alex should or should-not shut up. This show also marks the first occurrence of the Left Jest Riddle Ending. From now on every episode ends in a riddle! Apologies for the audio quality. We've got new recording equipment coming up so the problems should all be resolved soon. Sorry about that, but not sorry for the riddle thing. Come to our stand up show May 12th at Starr Bar in Bushwick (214 Starr st. Brooklyn) at 7PM to support the Bedford Union Armory and the DSA Housing Committee.

With the arrival of the new Timothy McVeigh doc on Netflix, the gang tackles the Oklahoma City bombing with Minnesota Man Anders Nerheim (@likealoveparade). For or against? You decide! Before anyone is added to a list, it is important to clarify that this is a joke.

Comedians and media titans Raghav Mehta (@ACLUofficial) and Mary Cella (@Mary_Cella) pop on down to punk alley on a beautiful Saturday aft of noon to podcast. We get into Mary's colorful history working around Fareed Zakaria and Nancy Grace. Raghav takes down popular president George W. Bush. Anders reads an excerpt from his all time favorite website: Military.com. Free OJ, he is innocent. Look it up.

Alex Nunns, author and Jeremy Corbyn expert, steps into the ring to show our two resident Yanks what's what. We talk about his sabotage from the labour party elite, and what's next for the Left post-Brexit. This episode also features NY comedy Bernie bro extraordinaire Julian Guarino, and famous folk singer Billy Bragg. Big gets here folks! The podcast is doing great!

We're HIGH ON ALBANY this week, wading through the do's and do not's of NY's corrupt state legislature. Anders makes a sassy phone call to a local representative. Oh and keep an ear out for dolphins and PCP to make a guest appearance somewhere in there. Harris Doran(@HarrisDoran) from the group Rise and Resist kicks off the episode, by telling us all about the Independent Democratic Conference in NY. Also Alex would like to apologize for sounding like Voltron for the first 10 minutes of the podcast. He is sorry.

Andy Palmer and Sean McCarthy from the Democracy Later podcast graciously had us on to do a crossover episode. The riffs. Are. Flaming hot. Papa Roach is going to play at the beginning of the show. While this is referenced in a joke later, Alex would like to emphasize that Last Resort is not played for the jokes, but merely because he thinks it is a cool song. Namaste.

Um a lot happens in this one. First we have on our friend Hannah Boone (@BooneComedy) to talk mental health issues, insurance, and how exactly lions eat people. After that Ryan Grim (@RyanGrim, Huffington Post)tells us a bit about the state of the U.S. congress as run by the softest and most crusty conservatives in America. Then a guy named Bushwick Bill just shows up and starts rapping with a hook and everything. Also Anders raps for a second even. Honestly now that I think about it, I'd recommend a listen.

Comedian Rufat Agayev (@RufatCamp) and Iain Marcks (American Cinematographer) head into the studio to talk media theory, television's death, internet's birth and how we can use propaganda to do something nice for once.

So here's what happened. The gang has to make a bunch of corrections for the first 15 minutes of the show and frankly the episode becomes very silly. After that there is an incredibly serious interview about racism against muslims in America for around 30 minutes. It's crucial everyone understands how this is going down now before things get jarring! Sarah Havard of mic.com (@AmyHarvard_ on Twitter) joins the studio to talk about the muslim ban and the importance of listening to oppressed voices as a journalist.

Phoebe Maltz Bovy (@tweetertation)comes on the show to talk about her new book, The Perils of Privilege, and break down competitive wokeness in the circles of the cultural elite. Comedy guy Tim Platt (@TimothyPlatt) helps us translate how this relates to stand up. Anders admits he mostly hangs out with old people and Alex calls out Superman for his privilege. Not to mention we start it all off with the long awaited follow-up on the amish dating website controversy! Ya gotta listen for that part at least.

SocialistWorker.org's Danny Katch drops in with his daughter to talk about his book (Socialism Seriously) and theorycraft some democratized economies. Alex is very sick. Anders is very handsome. Truly radio for the ages. We edited the reading segment down by half so be sure to buy the book to read the whole thing. Or go to a library... look the money's not what's important here, just read a book for once in your life. Damn.

In the middle of a blizzard, the boys sit down with Foreign Correspondent Sid Gurung to make some expert predictions on how the next four years are going to go under Trump. Is everything going to explode? Will nothing explode? Will some things explode? Find out what gets the official Left Jest Prediction Stamp. This may also be our first episode with no impressions which shows amazing constraint IMHO.

The Left Jest team tackles foreign soil in this episode covering the 2017 French presidential election. Do they know anything about it? Not really, but official LJ foreign correspondent Matthew Easton does. Alongside comedian / French expert Sarah Kennedy (@cerak) from the illustrious France Institute, there is enough information and disinformation going around to fill an hour pretty good. Special shoutout to the Game Stop employees in Paris, Texas who handle customer service like damned professionals.

A mysterious tape of Bernie's inauguration speech sends the boys on a rant about other dimensions. Jake Flores (@FeralJokes) and Jaboukie Young White (@Jaboukie) hop in the mix with starkly different opinions on memes. Jake even takes the time to convert his election analysis into Super Smash Bros metaphors so even idiot children can understand. Honestly it's all pretty chill this time around, what with everybody chillin' & whatnot.

That’s right Jack Smith 4 (@JackSmithIV, mic.com) is back along with shameless comedian Jeremy Hammond (@jeremythunder)to discuss fash bashing and the breakfast menu at McDonalds. Are the Spanish people spicy? Tune in to find out. This is Alex's big episode leading the discussion so there's a solid 45 minutes of thoughtful political discussion and then a good 15 of penis / anime talk. Sorry. Check out Jack's video of the black bloc protest here https://twitter.com/mic/status/822527070626578432

On Obama's last day in office, the 100% Caucasian (TM) hosting duo both admit they are weak spined libs and that he is their dad president. Comedian Jabouki Young White (@Jabouki on Twitter)drops in to talk about all the movie deals he is about to get as Comedy Obama. They all fantasize about Obama's body together. At one point Alex mistakes a Mike Birbiglia quote for a George Bush quote. Plus there's a Mean Girls clip in there. Yeah. Very sexual comedy podcasting.

The week before Trump's inauguration we trace back a line to the extreme right in America including Pat Buchanan and right wing militant movements. Are they all racist? Does the government have a machine that makes tornados? Tune in to find out! Our guests this week are Sam Rose (UFOlogy Podcast) and John Field (John Field Show). Great dudes. CORRECTION: Alan Berg is a radio show host and not a journalist. I'M SORRY, I'M A HUMAN BEING.

Anders and Alex stick to what they know this week and analyze the gorgeous dialectics of two stand up comedy specials from 1990. Fun is had. Gags are made. Israel comes up a surprising amount. Guests include Noted Chicago Comedian Andrew Tavin (Podcast Monsters) and the truth telling impressions-bot "Unit 32 Ceramics" (Nigeria). Be warned, you're going to have to listen to 2003 Dennis Miller say some crazy bullshit.

Wherein Anders teaches a bunch of millennials about the 1996 election. Fellow NY comics Melissa Stokoski (Bitches Brew) and John Field (Terrible Tribune) sit in on this old-school style education rap and debate mandatory school uniforms. There are not nearly enough microphones. Someone may say vote Bob Dole at the end as a fun reminder that this is a comedy podcast. This was recorded in October and features the premiere (!!) of the now famous Anders Lee Bill Clinton voice. Get your dang shirts!

Well well well well well well. If it isn't an old fashioned bro-down, where some good ol' boys come together and mansplain saving the environment. Jack Smith IV (mic.com) and Brian Bahe (laughs.gov) join Alex and Anders in Punk Alley this week to discuss the Dakota Access Pipeline. We come up with a hot new tag-line for the show, and theorize disaster movies. Lines are drawn. Loves are lost. Bits are done.

In our sexiest podcast episode yet, we invite professional clown Ed Malone (World Socialist Website) to talk a bit about the life and times of Leon Trotsky. The boys get stuck on some Kurt Cobain quotes. There is much dialectics. Please only listen if you are ready to experience HIGH OCTANE audio content. Thank you.

Surprise! This entire podcast has been a conservative show called Right Jest the whole time. Anders loves "clowning on libs" and will not stop doing it no matter what. Continuing said clowning, NYC comedy darling Elsa Waithe (@elsajustelsa) joins the boys in KPISS studios to talk about stand up, Black Lives Matter, and the controversial Pogs for Pigs program run by the New York City police. Anders and Alex snuggle to share a mic. It's all very woke.

On this most hallowed of podcast episodes, the gang reviews the 2010 film The Special Relationship on HBO. Comedian Andy Palmer joins the KPISS radio hot tub to add his unique perspective on the sensuous love between Tony Blaire and Bill Clinton. We all learn a little bit Bill Clinton's moon rock and a bit more about ourselves in the process. Namaste.

For a special bonus episode, we invite Democracy @ Work's Michael Selden (twitter: @XJYMichael) to tell us all about co-ops and growing meat out of mother fucking tubes. Alex and Anders debut the first Dystopia of the Week sketch with chillingly accurate impressions of Joe and Ezra Klein. THIS WAS RECORDED BEFORE THE ELECTION AND THAT IS WHY EVERYONE SOUNDS SO HEALTHY.

Down at KPISS studios this week, the boys get New York Comedy's own Jamie Manelis to chime in with some no holds barred Aussie perspective on politics. The team dissects the political mainstream of the 00's, Anders brings a very alternative Dystopia of the Week to the table, and Alex mistakenly calls the guest "Jannie" for a full 75 minutes. Don't be a hanging chad on this one, folks! Put it in your face!