Centered From Reality

Alex uses this special Labor Day episode to examine Donald Trump’s holiday-weekend Truth Social spree, from complaints about non-working holidays to AI-generated visions of territorial expansion, renamed states, and even acquiring the moon. The host argues that these posts may reflect less of a coherent expansionist agenda and more of Trump’s growing preoccupation with his personal legacy, image, and desire to leave a permanent mark on America.

Alex argues that the backlash against AI data centers is understandable but overblown, with concerns about water use, electricity costs, and local disruption better addressed through regulation, taxation, and infrastructure investment than outright bans. He sees AI infrastructure as strategically necessary for the U.S. to compete with China, while remaining concerned about the speed and lack of regulation around AI development itself.

In this sports focused podcast, Alex brings back guest Cole Costello, a PhD candidate at the University of Montana and the pod's history correspondent. They discuss the changing landscape of college football, including the collapse of the Pac-12, conference realignment, the loss of regional rivalries, and the growing corporatization of college sports. They also turn to the NFL, breaking down preseason power rankings, quarterbacks, playoff contenders, and their predictions for the upcoming season and Super Bowl.

In this episode, Alex explores generational and political shifts, using Tucker Carlson’s ideological divergence from his father’s establishment-conservative background as a window into changing political coalitions. He then focuses on generational wealth inequality, arguing that younger Americans face much steeper barriers to building financial security even with strong incomes. Using the frustrating delay of depositing a paper check as a metaphor, Alex contrasts older generations’ accumulated financial cushion with younger people’s need for faster access to money and argues that banking systems should better reflect modern financial realities.

Cole Costello joins host Alex for a spin on the viral trend of ranking different regions of the United States based on one question: if they had to pick one region to live in forever, where would it be? From the Pacific Northwest and desert Southwest to the Great Lakes, Deep South, and New England, they weigh culture, climate, geography, cities, and what makes somewhere actually feel livable. Along the way, Alex and Cole find plenty to agree on—and some very different ideas about what makes a region worth calling home.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians is ending, leaving hundreds of thousands vulnerable to deportation to a country the U.S. State Department itself tells Americans not to travel to. Alex highlights the stark contradiction: Haiti remains under the highest-level “Do Not Travel” advisory, and U.S. deportation flights cannot even safely land at the main airport in Port-au-Prince because of the security crisis. He argues that sending Haitians back under these conditions raises a profound humanitarian and moral question, underscored by the story of a 20-year-old Haitian in Springfield, Ohio, who feared being returned there.

Alex uses the latest season of Outer Banks as a case study in what happens when streaming economics collide with geographic authenticity. After noticing that supposedly Spanish and Mediterranean locations look suspiciously like Croatia, he digs into why productions consolidate filming in places like Dubrovnik—and how tax incentives, production infrastructure, and cost-cutting can turn entire countries into interchangeable backdrops. Along the way, Alex compares Outer Banks with Below Deck Mediterranean, reflects on Game of Thrones-driven tourism, and explores the strange relationship between entertainment, economics, and the places audiences think they’re seeing.

Alex is joined by history correspondent Cole Costello, a PhD student at the University of Montana studying labor history around the turn of the 20th century. The two dig into Donald Trump’s unusual ranking of U.S. presidents, using it as a jumping-off point to discuss presidential history, political leadership, expansionism, and what the rankings may reveal about Trump’s worldview. They also examine some of the list’s stranger omissions—including Republican icon Ronald Reagan—and try to make sense of why certain presidents made the cut while others disappeared entirely. Along the way, they debate figures including Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Johnson, FDR, and Bill Clinton, while touching on the increasingly surreal state of contemporary American politics.

Alex breaks down signs of an unusually powerful El Niño taking shape in the Pacific and what it could mean for South America, from flooding and landslides in Peru and Chile to major disruptions in marine ecosystems. He also looks at the extreme ocean heat fueling concern among scientists and why this El Niño could hit differently in a world already dealing with warmer seas and stressed ecosystems. The episode also covers renewed tensions with Iran and the catastrophic flooding unfolding in Nepal.

The episode focuses on two stories with a heavy dose of irony and geopolitical anxiety. Alex reacts to far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos being detained by ICE and facing deportation after overstaying his authorized time in the U.S., then turns to CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s surprise trip to Moscow to warn Russia against testing NATO—potentially through a limited attack on a Baltic state. The Ratcliffe visit feels especially ominous given that the last known CIA-director trip to Moscow came shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine.