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Alex Kopytko is a ”radical centrist” that wants to understand the extremes. He has worked in politics and has studied public policy and political science. Alex argues that centrism is less about being a contrarian, it is about being able to change your mind and embrace an openness to new ideas. He is concerned about where the United States is headed and through conversations with people from all sides of the political spectrum, he wants to know how Americans can limit the tribalism that is flourishing. As someone that dances along the center-right of the political spectrum, Alex thinks the country needs to come together and talk to one another before it could be too late. This podcast covers domestic politics, as well as political philosophy, and international issues.
Episodes
Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
Tuesday Oct 17, 2023
In this emergency pod, Alex breaks down the embarassing vote in the House of Representatives in which Jim Jordan could not get enough votes and twenty people in his own party voted no. Alex argues this is the worst time for the house to have no speaker as the country faces a shut down and two wars.
Friday Oct 13, 2023
Friday Oct 13, 2023
In this episode, Alex starts by going over some updates on the tragic events occurring in Israel and Gaza. Fear and chaos are looming in Gaza as the Israeli government has told over 1.1 million people in Gaza to leave before a likely invasion begins. Alex argues that it is highly unlikely that Gazans would be able to flee the cities and worries that tragedy and destruction is looming. Later, he talks about how some worry that Hezbollah (currently located in Lebanon) is waiting for an invasion into Gaza and then will fight Israel from the north. Alex worries this could be a trap and could also lead to a bigger conflict due to Iranian, Qatari, Syrian, and Iraqi support for Hezbollah. Finally, Alex discusses his growing anger with certain factions of the far-left, progressive left, and intersectional left. There seems to be a segment of the intersectional, progressive left that is anti-Israel to the point that it is buying into Hamas propaganda and is almost defending Hamas. Alex argues that this highlights the contradictions of modern progressivism and is really alarming.
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
In this episode, Alex starts with an update on the growing violence and conflict between Israel and Hamas. Reports show that there are Americans among the hostages, Americans have been killed, and as Israel has escalated its response, Hamas has started killing hostages. Alex also reacts to some of the horrific defenders of Hamas that he has seen on social media. Later, Alex goes into why Jim Jordan would be a dangerous house speaker, and why he doesn’t understand why people like Nancy Mace seem to think he is the best man for the job. For the rest of the episode, Alex goes into David Frum’s 2019 warning — “IF LIBERALS DON’T ENFORCE BORDERS, FASCISTS WILL.” This theme can be related to other issues such as crime as well. Luckily, Democratic leaders, including the president, seem to understand that the rise in crime and border chaos are not just Fox News scare tactics, and it is time to start addressing the elephant in the room.
Monday Oct 09, 2023
Monday Oct 09, 2023
In this episode, Alex starts by going over what some are calling a bedbug infestation in Paris. Alex goes over whether this infestation is an overreaction, or a problem of travel and globalization. For the rest of the episode, Alex gives updates on the events in Israel and Gaza. Hamas as threatened to start executing hostages as Israel is preparing for what looks like a massive strike or offensive into Gaza. Alex also discusses the Iranian connection to the attacks as it looks like Iran was at least aware and green-lit the attacks.
Sunday Oct 08, 2023
Sunday Oct 08, 2023
In this episode, Alex breaks down the recent terrorist attacks conducted inside of Israel by the terrorist group Hamas. Over the weekend, Israel experienced unprecedented attacks by Hamas that (as of now) left over 700 Israelis dead and a large, but unknown, number of civilians taken as hostages. Alex notes that a lot of the deaths were civilians and even some included students at festivals. Some are calling this attack Israel’s 9/11 and Alex finds it hard to disagree with this description. Unfortunately, but understandably, Israel has responded with brutal attacks on Palestinian territories and some worry the worst is yet to come as strikes have been reported in Lebanon as well. For most of the episode, Alex talks about how Israel and Palestine have reached this point and why Hamas should be blamed but the policies of Netanyahu must be questioned.
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
In this episode Alex takes a deep dive into all of the chaos happening in the House of Representatives and beyond, he argues that this is a complete circuis and is not a good harbinger of things to come for American Democracy. Alex looks at how Republicans are getting petty, moving Nancy Pelosi out of her current office. He also looks into how Steve Bannon’s alternative universe has made people like Matt Gaetz stars and how Donald Trump could be the next house speaker. Alex finishes the episode with some clips from the Bulwark Podcast that look into how the circuis looks a lot like late-era Rome, and how the chaos could turn off moderate voters. BUT, will moderates vote for Biden or stay home?
Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
In this emergency pod, Alex discusses how the Matt Gaetz revolt to oust Kevin McCarthy from his speakership role succeeded. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted with a 216-210 vote and how the Republican side in the house is in shock and shut down. Alex gives his thoughts into what his next and why this was a self-inflicted wound for the Republican side.
Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
In this episode, Alex starts by discussing how Donald Trump is back in court in New York for a civil fraud trial involving the Trump Organization. It seems like Trump will take this case seriously because it brings into question the efficacy of his name and business. Next, RFK Jr. could be running as an independent or even a libertarian. Alex notes that RFK Jr. has put out an ad telling his supporters that there will be an announcement in Pennsylvania on October 9. Some commentators think his annoucement could hurt Biden, others think it could hurt Trump. Alex argues that it would be more likely to hurt Trump due to the views of the average RFK Jr. supporter, but he also thinks it may be a wash. Later, Alex discusses how the SCOTUS is back in session and will be hearing some important cases that may overturn the Chevron deference doctrine. He argues that some of these cases may change the role of federal agencies in society and could lead to less stability and flexibility in government. Finally, Alex gives an update on the chaos happening in congress. It looks like there will be a vote to oust Kevin McCarthy and there’s a chance he may lose!
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Monday Oct 02, 2023
In this episode, Alex starts by talking about how the looming government shut down was averted at the 11th hour once again. In an interesting turn of events, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy chose compromising/working with Democrats over letting his far-right party members shut down the government. Alex argues that this is good news for the country but may be bad news for McCarthy if he wants to remain the Speaker of the House. Next, Alex quickly goes over a new series of interviews conducted by Sarah Longwell in her focus groups with two-time Trump voters. Many of the people in the focus groups either do not want a woman president or do not think the country is ready for one. Later, Alex talks about a troubling election in Slovakia that happened in late-September. In the election, Robert Fico, the country’s corrupt, former prime minister, has won the plurality and is likely going to be prime minister once again. He has allied himself with pro-Russian leaders in the region and Alex worries that there will be a democratic backslide in Slovakia. Finally, Alex dives into the right’s new culture war against Taylor Swift.
Sunday Oct 01, 2023
Sunday Oct 01, 2023
In this episode of the Sunday Countdown, Alex discusses the people that may end up being Trump’s vice presidential picks. It seems clear that he must pick a woman or a minority, or both, due to his need to appeal to woman and minority groups in the general election. Alex outlines 8 potential picks to be his VP and these picks range from semi-sane to completely crazy and/or dangerous.