Centered From Reality

An Overly Active Supervolcano in Italy, Josh Hawley Hits a New Low & Bad News for Biden

In this episode, Alex goes over a troubling interaction between Senator Josh Hawley and Alejandro Mayorkas that reflects the senator’s poor judgement and necessity to “own the libs.” Next, Alex talks about a supervolcano in Italy that is becoming more active and could threaten almost a million people if it erupts. Finally, Alex discusses a recent Quinnipiac poll that highlights the fact that younger Democrats do not support Israel’s response to Hamas’ attack, don’t support aid to Israel, and do not support Biden’s response. Alex worries this could be troubling news for Biden’s campaign and chances of reelection. 

Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent Again!

In this episode, Alex talks about why he thinks Daylight Savings Time should be permanent in the United States. He goes into the economic, health-related, and societal reasons as to why this would be beneficial. He also rants about the age old battle between Night Owls and Morning People. 

A Warning Out of Ukraine, Troubling Rise in Antisemitism & Why a Ceasefire Won’t Work

In this episode, Alex reacts to a Jared Kushner interview that makes him face palm. Then he Alex talks about a troubling rise in antisemtism around the world and fears of new forms of pogroms. Next, Alex discusses why he supports a humanitarian pause but also why a ceasfire would only allow Hamas to build back up and continue attacking. Finally, Alex goes over the interview between The Economist and Ukraine’s top general. He argues that the war has reached a stalemate without an technological breakthroughs. 

Yemen’s Houthis Enter the War, Horrifying Violence in Gaza & Thoughts on Mike Johnson

After being away on vacation, Alex returns for an episode reacting to some recent world events. He starts by sharing his thoughts on the new House Speaker, Mike Johnson. Alex argues that Johnson, an election denier and far-right congressmen, may be the worst option. Later, Alex talks about Yemen’s Houthi rebels entering the war (backed by Iran) to fire rockets at Israel. He also talks about why he doesn’t support a ceasefire but does support more pressure on the Israeli government and a halt in indiscriminate bombings that are killing thousands of civilians. There are also international alliances that could make the conflict even more dire to the globe. 

Vivek Shows He’s Fake, but Might be a Useful Press Secretary for Trump

In this episode, Alex argues that Vivek Ramaswamy reminds him of that student in a Poly Sci 101 class that would argue with the professor no matter what. He spends the episode reacting to a very interesting interview that the Young Turks gave to Vivek. Alex highlights portions of the interview that help listeners understand why Vivek Ramaswamy is not ready to be president but could be good as Donald Trump’s Press Secretary! 

The Rise of Spycraft Regimes, the Qatar Conundrum, Good News in Poland & Jesse Waters Gets More Dangerous

In this episode, Alex starts by recommending a great documentary on the January 6th defendants and plays an atrocious clip of Jesse Waters unable to differentiate Hamas from Palestinians. Alex then delivers good news about a recent election in Poland in which the illiberal Law and Justice Party won the most votes but lost its majority government. The Law and Justice Party wanted to turn the Polish system into a Viktor Orban-esque system so this is good news. Later, Alex talks about the Qatar conundrum — the United States has a flawed but necessary relationship with Qatar but it is becoming more difficult due to Qatari links and funding to numerous terror groups including Hamas. Finally, Alex looks in the rise in global espionage against the United States and how many threats are coming from smaller powers like Egypt. There seems to be a resurgence of smaller countries that are relying on spycraft regimes. 

The GOP House Circus is Devolving into a Circular Firing Squad

In this episode, Alex takes a deep dive into the chaos happening (mainly) on the Republican side of the House of Representatives. Alex discusses what will happen next, why it is not surprising that Jim Jordan could not build a useful coalition, and why he worries that the house will be useless for quite some time because it seems like the Republicans in the house not vehemently hate one another. 

Israel’s New Security Reality, Pepper X Has Arrived, Jim Jordan DENIED Again & Biden’s Inflection Point

In this episode, Alex shares hesitant optimism after learning that Jim Jordan is no longer attempting to be the speaker of the house after a failed third vote. Next, Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, told a parliamentary group about a three-step plan to establish a “new security reality” involving the war against Hamas and how to treat Gaza. Alex goes through each point and expresses worries that this plan could take years and years and could only backfire. He argues that democracies are still treating the war on terror as if it is a traditional war and this is the wrong way to approach it. Next, Alex gives an analysis of Joe Biden’s address last night from the Oval Office. The speech was important and again highlights Biden’s moral clarity in defending freedom, open societies, and holding autocrats accountable. Finally, a new pepper has passed the Carolina Reaper was the hottest pepper in the world. This pepper is called Pepper X and is 2.7 million on the Scoville Heat Units system. 

A Prisoner’s Dilemma is Brewing in Georgia as Sidney Powell Unleashes the Kraken!

In this episode, Alex gives a brief update on escalating tensions in the Middle East but notes that he will save strong opinions until more information is released. Then, for the remainder of the episode, Alex gives an update into the Fulton Country, Georgia case against Trump that involves him, 17 others, and the 2020 election. Sidney Powell, his insane former lawyer, has pleaded guilty to her involvement in the case and is likely to help prosecutors as part of her plea deal. Alex discusses how this could lead to a cascading turn of events as more defendents could flip. 

The Fog of War Leads to a Mist of Misinformation

In this episode, Alex talks about the embarassing saga that Jim Jordan faces as he tries and fails to get enough votes to be the speaker of the house. Then, for the rest of the episode, Alex looks into how social media’s demand dynamic, political polarization, and the different silos of media ecosystems have created a problematic situation for people that want to understand what is happening in Israel and Gaza. Alex talks about the tragic hospital attack in Gaza, Netanyahu’s existential comments, why self preservation is dangerous, and why the facts don’t matter anymore.