The LEFT Show

24/11/2025

It’s Monday in America, time for The World’s Greatest Political Podcast: THE LEFT SHOW! This week JM Bell and Jon talk about GOP dangers to children, Mamdani charm, unaliving your political foes, and Quiet Piggy! F-Bombs, petition madness, Higgins alone, and Latinos v Trump! US Invades Mexico, Saudi sportswashing, and Shine On!

17/11/2025

It’s Monday in America, time for The World’s Greatest Political Podcast: THE LEFT SHOW! This week JM Bell and Jon talk about the latest Epstein news [a-hem], new maps, 8 bad Dems, Kim Davis’s bad day, THC bans, 600k murdered, and the Taliban gets its feelings hurt. Hypocritical court cases, Schumer rolled over TWICE, planes need engines, and coffee is good for you and me!

16/11/2025

16/11/2025

Nastassja, do you remember how much you liked the movies?

When Astrid Lindgren's daughter Karin was sick in bed, she asked her mother to tell her a story about "Pippi Långstrump" -- a name so strange that Lindgren knew it had to belong to an equally strange girl. Years later, when Lindgren sprained her ankle and was forced to rest, she finally wrote down Pippi's adventures. That whimsical beginning launched one of literature's most enduring characters and changed children's literature forever.

Born on this day in 1907 in Vimmerby, Sweden, Lindgren would go on to create a beloved character who challenged 1940s conventions with her strength, independence, and joy -- a girl who lived alone and could lift a horse. Lindgren is pictured here with actress Inger Nilsson, who brought the beloved character to life in a series of classic films.

But Lindgren was far more than a storyteller -- she was a passionate advocate for children. In 1978, after receiving the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, she delivered a powerful speech titled "Never Violence!" that helped Sweden become the first country in the world to ban corporal punishment of children in 1979. Reflecting on her purpose, she once said, "If I have managed to brighten up even one gloomy childhood – then I'm satisfied."

With more than 167 million copies sold worldwide and her status as one of the world's most translated authors, Lindgren brightened countless childhoods while championing the belief that "Give the children love, more love and still more love -- and the common sense will come by itself."

For a lovely illustrated hardcover edition of all three of Lindgren's classic Pippi Longstocking books, we highly recommend “The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking" for ages 7 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/the-adventures-of-pippi-longstocking

For adult fans of Lindgren's work, we recommend the biography "Astrid Lindgren: The Woman Behind Pippi Longstocking" (https://www.amightygirl.com/astrid-lindgren) and her personal diaries from WWII "War Diaries, 1939–1945" (https://amzn.to/3CfIkql)

Astrid Lindgren is also the author of such Mighty Girl favorites as the early chapter book "Lotta on Troublemaker Street" for ages 6 to 9 (https://www.amightygirl.com/lotta-on-troublemaker-street) and "Ronia, the Robber's Daughter" for ages 8 to 12 (https://www.amightygirl.com/ronia-the-robber-s-daughter)

There is also a collection of 14 of her beloved children's books at https://amzn.to/3WXExux

The four original Pippi films are also available in a box DVD set at Pippi https://www.amightygirl.com/pippi-longstocking-film-collection

13/11/2025

Well, this certainly tracks.

03/11/2025

It’s Monday in America, time for The World’s Greatest Political Podcast: THE LEFT SHOW! This week JM Bell and Jon talk about SNAP wars, awesome Presidents (not US), bad things Trump is doing, drowning in medical debt, again, and Noem can’t stop lying.

28/10/2025

This week on I Told You So, Tiffany and J.M. talk about relationships and money problems, and how to navigate a healthy attitude toward being a couple who is in financial distress without destroying the union.

www.theleftshow.com

27/10/2025

It’s Monday in America, time for The World’s Greatest Political Podcast: THE LEFT SHOW! This week JM Bell and Tiffany talk about the Arizona AG, Florida erases guilt, Trump gets his feelings hurt by Reagan, and the white house joined Bluesky. Putin’s plaything, Meal Team Six, and the Gravy Seals try to join ICE, selling out informants, a danger to women, and another Jan 6’er goes back to jail.

20/10/2025

It’s Monday in America, time for The World’s Greatest Political Podcast: THE LEFT SHOW! This week JM Bell, JC and Tiffany talk about the No Kings protest, the need for a general strike, and the South is aiding and abetting the Felon in Chief. Tucker’s search history tells truths. What are GOP children learning? JD thows Pete under the bus, and Katy Perry snogs Sophie Grégoire’s ex-husband!

https://theleftshow.com/2025/10/20/707-the-left-show-no-kings/

19/10/2025

It's pictures of protest signs.

18/10/2025

That's okay. I have used Pandora for music since Rogan.

18/10/2025

Happy 69th birthday to astronaut Mae Jemison -- who became the first African American woman to travel in space during her voyage on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992! As Jemison once recounted, her interest in science began at an early age while growing up in Chicago: "In kindergarten, my teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I told her a scientist. She said, 'Don't you mean a nurse?' Now, there's nothing wrong with being a nurse, but that's not what I wanted to be."

She was deeply inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. and viewed his famous dream speech as a call to action. She considered the Civil Rights Movement as being about breaking down barriers to human potential, noting, "when I think of Martin Luther King, I think of attitude, audacity, and bravery. The best way to make dreams come true is to wake up."

Jemison entered Stanford University at age 16 to study chemical engineering. She later received her medical degree from Cornell and began her career as a physician by serving as a Peace Corps Medical Officer in Africa. After Sally Ride's historic flight to space in 1983, Jemison decided to apply for the astronaut program and was accepted in 1987. She served as a Mission Specialist during her historic space flight. A lifelong Star Trek fan, Jemison began communications on her shift with the salute "Hailing frequencies open" in reference to Lieutenant Uhura's famous line.

In 1993, after Star Trek star LeVar Burton learned that Jemison was an avid fan of the show, he asked her if she would like a role on the program. As a result, she appeared as Lieutenant Palmer in "Second Chances", an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," becoming the first real-life astronaut to appear on the iconic series.

To share Mae Jemison's inspiring story with children, we recommend the picture book "Mae Jemison: Little People, Big Dream" for ages 5 to 8 (https://www.amightygirl.com/mae-jemison-little-people) and the chapter book for ages 6 to 8 (https://www.amightygirl.com/mae-jemison-1)

She is also one of four pioneering women of NASA featured in the "Women of NASA LEGO Building Set" at https://www.amightygirl.com/lego-women-of-nasa

Jemison is featured in a fun activity book about female astronauts which includes a variety of space-themed STEM projects: "Gutsy Girls Go for Science: Astronauts" for ages 8 to 11 at https://www.amightygirl.com/gutsy-girls-astronauts

Mae Jemison is one of 40 trailblazing black women featured in the uplifting illustrated biography, "Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History" for ages 6 to 10 at https://www.amightygirl.com/little-leaders

If you'd like to encourage your children's interest in science, you can find many girl-empowering science toys and kits in our post, "Top 60 Science Toys for Mighty Girls" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=10528

Thanks to Mechanical Engineering World for sharing this image!