7 OCT 2021 · We live in strange times. In the English speaking West, we are supposedly experiencing a resurgence of a frighteningly populist Right, with figures like Trump and events like Brexit signalling a return to the infamous catastrophes of 20th century fascism. This is a time when many people of all political stripes are drawn to the Left, simply because they see it as a necessary rebuke to a more dangerous far right alternative. At the same time, many on the Left are expressing an increased dissatisfaction with our side of the political spectrum. This has led to a good deal of defecting, with many figures who would self-identify as left-wing, now being associated with, or sometimes joining sides with, the Left’s traditional opponents (Conservatives and Libertarians). The result is paradoxical. Figures associated with the right-wing side of today’s culture wars are often people who, even ten years ago, wouldn’t be seen as particularly right-wing. Podcaster Sam Harris was a fierce opponent of George W Bush’s foreign policy; the comedy creation ‘Jonathan Pie’ is both a Socialist and Remainer, while writer Tim Pool mostly holds views that wouldn’t be out of place in the Democrat Party of 2008. Even the infamous Helen Pluckrose encouraged her fans to vote left as recently as the 2018 US mid-term elections. Yet these people have careers where, regardless of how they define themselves, they are mostly associated with a backlash against the Left. This state of affairs exists because many of the biggest critics of the 21st century Left are people that would have easily fitted into the 20th century Left. The lesson here is obvious, but difficult for many to see: the 21st century mainstream Left is in many ways, more like the radical 20th century Left. The mainstream Left of the previous century has largely been excommunicated from today’s idea of what left is. This is why so many figures who would have fitted comfortably in the 20th century Left are now only given platforms in circles associated with the Right. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/support

6 OCT 2021 · •Manchin Breaks With Party Leaders Over Strategy On Debt Ceiling And Biden's Economic Package• Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on Monday pushed back on several politically sensitive positions his party leaders are taking at a crucial time for President Joe Biden's domestic agenda. •Biden: Senate filibuster change on debt a ‘real possibility’• To get around Republican obstruction, President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Democrats are considering a change to the Senate’s filibuster rules in order to quickly approve lifting the nation’s debt limit and avoid what would be a devastating credit default. •Biden says anyone who doesn't back his multi-trillion infrastructure bills is 'complicit in America's decline'• MAGA protesters line Michigan streets with 'go home sleepy Joe' signs as President tries to sell his agenda in Trump country --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/support

5 OCT 2021 · In 2017, as Julian Assange began his fifth year holed up in Ecuador’s embassy in London, the CIA plotted to kidnap the WikiLeaks founder, spurring heated debate among Trump administration officials over the legality and practicality of such an operation. Some senior officials inside the CIA and the Trump administration even discussed killing Assange, going so far as to request “sketches” or “options” for how to assassinate him. Discussions over kidnapping or killing Assange occurred “at the highest levels” of the Trump administration, said a former senior counterintelligence official. “There seemed to be no boundaries.” --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/support

4 OCT 2021 · Which is: Facebook is in trouble. Not financial trouble, or legal trouble, or even senators-yelling-at-Mark-Zuckerberg trouble. What I’m talking about is a kind of slow, steady decline that anyone who has ever seen a dying company up close can recognize. It’s a cloud of existential dread that hangs over an organization whose best days are behind it, influencing every managerial priority and product decision and leading to increasingly desperate attempts to find a way out. This kind of decline is not necessarily visible from the outside, but insiders see a hundred small, disquieting signs of it every day — user-hostile growth hacks, frenetic pivots, executive paranoia, the gradual attrition of talented colleagues. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/support

4 OCT 2021 · The U.S. economy may be poised for the fastest growth since 1984, but many Americans are not feeling all that confident about the economy, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Republican lawmakers have attacked the Biden administration over inflation as the country reopened from the coronavirus pandemic, and feelings about the economy are settling along partisan lines. Fewer than half, 45%, judge the economy to be in good shape, while 54% say it’s in poor shape. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/support

4 OCT 2021 · •Facebook whistleblower revealed on '60 Minutes,' says the company prioritized profit over public good• •Facebook grilled by Senate over company's impact on kids• •Facebook is hitting the brakes on Instagram for kids• Stream Uncivilized on Amazon Music & Audible with your 30-Day Trial: https://amzn.to/2YlMD5u --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/support

4 OCT 2021 · The secret deals and hidden assets of some of the world’s richest and most powerful people have been revealed in the biggest trove of leaked offshore data in history. Branded the Pandora papers, the cache includes 11.9m files from companies hired by wealthy clients to create offshore structures and trusts in tax havens such as Panama, Dubai, Monaco, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/support

2 OCT 2021 · The House Budget Committee advanced the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act on September 25, with a 20 to 17 vote. The legislation will now move to the House Rules Committee, where it will be submitted to a further round of changes before it can be brought to the chamber floor for a vote. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has also said that they would hold another vote on the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill on September 30. However, progressive Democrats have refused to move forward until Congress establishes a framework for the $3.5 trillion act, which also focuses on climate change, healthcare and education. Combined, this legislation will invest $4.5 trillion in Biden’s Build Back Better infrastructure agenda. Let’s break down what this could mean for you. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/support

2 OCT 2021 · The marked decline in support for President Biden and his administration nationally and in key swing states indicates that the Democratic Party could endure a blowout defeat in the 2022 midterm elections. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/support

28 SEP 2021 · Congress has authorized spending up to $3.5 trillion over a decade, but Biden is prodding Democrats to fully cover the cost of the legislation - by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy, negotiating the price of prescription drugs and dialing up other sources of federal revenue such as increased IRS funding.  A sharply divided U.S. Senate failed on Monday to advance a measure to suspend the federal debt ceiling and avoid a partial government shutdown, as Republican lawmakers denied the bill the votes necessary to move forward. House of Representatives begins debate on infrastructure bill Amazon Prime Free 30-Day Trial: https://amzn.to/2XmohIu --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/salisburyobserver/support