Like the Joe Rogan Experience, except for the Left.
martial arts, combat sports, mma, pro wrestling, don't miss, mental health, philosophy, pop culture, critical, somehow, political, analysis, informed, unique, history, deep, perspective, hosts, enjoyable.
Listeners of Southpaw that love the show mention: leftist politics,The Southpaw podcast is a unique and refreshing addition to the podcasting world, providing a much-needed presence in the combat sports community. While it covers MMA and combat sports, it goes beyond that to explore a wide range of topics, making it more than just your average MMA podcast. The hosts, Sam and Paul, offer insightful perspectives on society, politics, and the role of martial artists within them. Through their discussions and interviews, they have helped many listeners grow as human beings by opening them up to new perspectives and increasing their knowledge.
One of the best aspects of The Southpaw podcast is its ability to tackle timely social and political commentary with thoughtfulness and knowledge. The hosts bring on knowledgeable guests who provide unique insights into various topics. Whether they are analyzing fights or discussing cultural issues, they make important topics understandable and accessible to their audience. Additionally, the podcast strikes a balance between professionalism and casual conversation that makes listeners feel like they are just hanging out with Sam and Paul.
In terms of drawbacks, some listeners may find that The Southpaw podcast's left-leaning perspective could be polarizing for those who do not share the same views. However, this can also be seen as one of its strengths as it challenges mainstream narratives often found in combat sport programs. Additionally, while the show covers a wide range of topics, some listeners may prefer more focused content solely dedicated to MMA or combat sports.
In conclusion, The Southpaw podcast is an excellent choice for anyone interested in MMA, martial arts, philosophy, politics, or expanding their minds. It offers deep analysis of fighting techniques along with discussions on culture and society from a well-informed leftist lens. Despite potential disagreements on political stances or desired content focus, this podcast stands out for its unique blend of martial arts and leftism that creates an engaging listening experience for all.
This episode was recorded on August 31, 2025.We recap "Call to Arms" and discuss the things to come.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on August 3, 2025.We recap "In the Cards" and discuss how even the baddies have interior lives.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on August 3, 2025.We recap "Empok Nor" and discuss a forgettable episode with a memorable racial slur.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on July 6, 2025.We recap "Blaze of Glory" and discuss how Eddington was right and Sisko was wrong.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on July 6, 2025.We recap "Children of Time" and discuss privileging the lives of a select few over the many, time-travel genocide, serial killer alternate Odo, and the challenges of staying a Ben Sisko fan during a rewatch with a Leftist lens.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on June 29, 2025.We recap "Soldiers of the Empire" and discuss Klingon pain and vulnerability.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on June 29, 2025.We recap "Ferengi Love Songs" and discuss how Ferengi girl boss feminism is pretty much liberal girl boss feminism.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on June 1, 2025.We recap "Ties of Blood and Water" and discuss end-of-life care and why Leftists honor former soldiers of Empire.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on June 1, 2025.We recap "Business as Usual" and discuss how genocide is just business as usual to defenders of capitalism.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on May 18, 2025.We recap "A Simple Investigation" and Odo's bedroom eyes.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on May 18, 2025.We recap "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?" and the eugenics of "elite" parenting.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on April 27, 2025.We recap "In Purgatory's Shadow" and "By Inferno's Light" and discuss a Changeling long con.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on March 26, 2025.We recap "For the Uniform" and discuss how Eddington was right.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on February 16, 2025.We recap "The Begotten," where crimes against humanity are committed on a baby in the guise of touching parenthood.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on February 16, 2025.From "The Darkness and the Light":"None of you belonged on Bajor. It wasn't your world. For fifty years, you r--ed our planet, and you killed our people. You lived on our land, and you took the food out of our mouths, and I don't care whether you held a phaser in your hand or you ironed shirts for a living. You were all guilty, and you were all legitimate targets!"SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on February 9, 2025.We recap "Rapture," where we discuss mental health, bodily autonomy, secret information, and organizing.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on February 9, 2025.We recap "The Ascent," where we discuss found families and alien fatherhood.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on January 26, 2025.We recap "Things Past," discussing the moral inconsistencies of how DS9 portrays the occupation and all the inconvenient truths fans conveniently forget.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on January 26, 2025.We recap "Let He Who Is Without Sin," where Worf is being a chud, and ask the big question: what do we do with the Worfs in our lives?SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on January 19, 2025.We recap "Trials and Tribble-actions," where the DS9 crew goes back in time again to meet the original Star Trek crew.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on January 19, 2025.We recap "The Assignment." It's a body snatch episode that oddly tackles the racialized Other.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on December 27, 2024.We recap "Nor the Battle to the Strong," where we see the ugly side of space colonialism.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on December 27, 2024.Sam and Scott recap "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places," where multiple love triangles ensue.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on November 19, 2024.Sam and Scott recap "The Ship," where the DS9 crew fails at compromise and takes things.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on November 19, 2024.Sam and Scott recap the season 5 premiere, "Apocalypse Rising," where the DS9 crew do Klingonface to save the Federation.SDS9 seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can be found wherever you stream Southpaw. Season 6 is only available to paid subscribers: https://www.southpawpod.com/
Jason and Sam analyze some notable fights from UFC 317. Fight Study is essential listening for thoughtful martial arts fans.Find more: southpawpod.com
Butch, a long-time organizer, care worker, and martial arts movement facilitator, shares their journey from the Stop Cop City movement to the Liberation Martial Arts movement approach. It's a journey that spans the deep work of unlearning, care work, grief, healing, conflict resolution, de-escalation, building meaningful relationships, and understanding "community" as more than one thing.Southpaw: https://www.southpawpod.com/
New Guy from CC joins Sam to discuss organizing, campus uprisings, and the role of play-based martial arts.Full episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/122593531
Writer and martial artist Chris Gayomali joins Sam to discuss how he went from public libraries to a career in journalism and fighting in the ring. Chris writes the newsletter Heavies. Southpaw: https://www.southpawpod.com/
Award-winning journalist and writer Karen Attiah joins Sam to explore combat sports and the power of storytelling. Southpaw: https://www.southpawpod.com/
Philosopher Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò joins Sam to explore the intersection of philosophy, radical politics, and martial arts. Fẹ́mi is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University and the author of Elite Capture and Reconsidering Reparations. He recently wrote "The Bad Guys Don't Really Care What Kind of Leftist You Are" for Teen Vogue. He has also trained at the LMA Learning Lab. Southpaw: https://www.southpawpod.com/
Sam speaks with Thomas Rahontsiiostha and Phillip Raweri:io Barreiro of Good Mind Grappling, a project that aims to guide young people in Indigenous communities to use wrestling as a positive physical outlet for overcoming intergenerational trauma and developing good character. The Barreiro brothers are national wrestling champions from Akwesasne, a Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) community that straddles the Quebec, Ontario, and New York state borders. Thomas is a six-time Canadian national champion, and Phillip is a three-time Canadian national champion. They represented Canada at the 2019 World Championships and Pan American Games. Southpaw: https://www.southpawpod.com/
Sam recaps some notable fights from UFC 310. Fight Study is essential listening for thoughtful martial arts fans. Find more: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on November 28th, 2024 Professor Justin Podur of the Anti-Empire Project joins Sam to explore martial arts and politics, what martial arts can teach us about power, the "elite" education model, the meaning of Empire, unconscious Western biases, Israel's expansion, the U.S. as the head of Western Empire, and why Empire needs Israel to sustain its global dominance. Substack: https://liberationmartialarts.substack.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/southpawpod
This is the first of a series of interviews with people connected to the LMA and Southpaw sphere. Two facilitators from different red gyms discuss applying the LMA approach to their martial arts training programs that primarily serve LGBTQ+ and disabled participants. Substack: https://liberationmartialarts.substack.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/southpawpod Fighter's Brew: https://www.patreon.com/posts/76751767 Emmanuel's gym: https://www.instagram.com/punchupbrum/ Sophie's gym: punchupftp@riseup.net
Supplements: https://www.patreon.com/posts/88027940 Competition Essentials: https://www.patreon.com/posts/105108325 Nasal Breathing: https://www.patreon.com/posts/104397246
Equipment guide: https://www.patreon.com/posts/96383175
Transcript: https://www.patreon.com/posts/115734061
Sam speaks with Justin Podur about the LMA approach. The original interview: https://youtu.be/Xrc5fZKNGxA?si=lafTM3U74yxA-ti0 Liberation Martial Arts: https://www.patreon.com/posts/72505630
Coach Jason and Sam discuss UFC 308, Francis Ngannou's success outside of the UFC, and the challenges of coaching. Fight Study is essential listening for thoughtful martial arts fans. Transcript: https://www.patreon.com/posts/114962257
We ran an introduction to Liberation Martial Arts (LMA) for striking academic workers at the University of California, Irvine. These are the highlights. Find the entire session at the SouthpawPod Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/106582824
This episode was recorded on September 19, 2024. Scott and Sam recap the season 4 finale, "Broken Link," and discuss how Garak justifies genocide as self-defense. Space colonizers are taking a page out of the US and Israeli playbook. Support the show and find season 5 at: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on September 12, 2024. Scott and Sam recap "Body Parts" and discuss colonial capitalist debt and death. Support the show and find season 5 at: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on September 12, 2024. Scott and Sam recap "The Quickening" and discuss disease and germ warfare as Western colonial tools and the US soldier mentality to cancer treatment. Support the show and find season 5 at: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on September 12, 2024. Scott and Sam recap "To the Death" and discuss how culture, drugs, and disassociation have been used as means of control. Support the show and find season 5 at: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on September 1, 2024. Scott and Sam recap "For the Cause" and discuss how just as Killmonger was right, the Maquis are right. ACAB includes the Federation. We're a different kind of Trek show. Support the show and find season 5 at:
This episode was recorded on September 1, 2024. Scott and Sam recap "The Muse" and discuss how DS9 really doesn't understand consent. Support the show and find season 5 at: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on August 22, 2024. Scott and Sam recap "Shattered Mirror" and discuss Sisko's sexual assault and how Trek fandom does a lot of bypassing. Support the show and find season 5 at: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on August 22, 2024. CW: The episode and our recap have discussions of self-harm Sam and Scott recap "Hard Time" and discuss the US settler-colonial prison system, the Western biomedical diagnostic model, and the trauma-informed lens to mental health. Support the show and find season 5 at: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on July 11, 2024. Scott and Sam discuss "Rules of Engagement," in which Worf is charged with destroying a Klingon civilian transport and faces an extradition hearing in which the Klingon Empire seeks to have him tried in Klingon court. Support the show and find season 5 at: https://www.southpawpod.com/
This episode was recorded on July 11, 2024. Scott and Sam discuss "Accession," in which Sisko is given an opportunity to relinquish the title of Emissary but soon regrets it. Support the show and find season 5 at: https://www.southpawpod.com/