Centered From Reality

Hunter’s Special Counsel Brings Backlash, Rogan Does His Own Research & Trump Threatens More Judges

In this episode, Alex is disappointed with Joe Rogan. Rogan has gone further down the rabbit hole and now seems to push conspiracies that he should do more research on. In this case, Rogan agrees that election fraud may have stolen the Arizona Gubernatorial election from Kari Lake (even though like 6 lawsuits say otherwise). Next, David Weiss has been appointed as the Special Counsel to investigate Hunter Biden and his tax evasion, gun related lies, and foreign connections. Alex thinks this is good news, but some think this is just camouflage to distract the public from the Joe-Hunter connection. Finally, Alex goes into Trump’s record of intimidating witnesses and judges are is concerned about where the actions may lead. 

The USWNT Didn’t Lose Because of Wokeness, DeSantis Drops Further, College Football Becomes a Parody & Culture Wars Are Ruining Public Policy!

In this episode, Alex talks about how GOP voters have gotten to know Ron DeSantis and REALLY don’t like him. He is dropping further in the polls and Alex wonders when his time may finally be up. Next, Alex gets into some sports topics that can be related to politics and culture. He discusses the pending demise of the Pac-12 conference as more teams have left for bigger and wealthier conferences. Later, Alex discusses the right’s reaction to the US Women’s National Team losing to Sweden in the World Cup. Many commentators blame wokeness on the loss. Alex argues that this is absurd and the party has become solely focused on culture wars. 

PragerU in Florida Schools, The War Drums in Africa Are Getting Louder & Russians in Niger?

In this episode, Alex talks about how PragerU’s “selective curriculum” may be coming to a Florida K-12 school near you. The state of Florida has sanctioned public schools to use PragerU material (while also banning AP African American courses). Alex notes that this is all insane, while Florida leadership is banning “woke ideologies” it is allowing right-wing advocacy groups like PragerU to retcon history and promote American Exceptionalism. For the rest of the episode, Alex goes into how ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, is talking about sending forces into Niger if the democratically elected government is not restored. The drums of war are banging as the Russian-Wagner forces now control several militaries in the Sahel and diplomatic talks have failed. Alex worries that this could be a new proxy issue in the Ukrainian invasion/war.

The Dark Enlightenment: How the New Right Melds Monarchism, Pre-WW2 Views, Reactionary Rhetoric and Delusional Politics with Dangerous Fantasies

In this episode, Alex finally dives into a topic that he has wanted to cover for a long time. He goes into the New Right, how the movement is really based on the Old Right, and why these views not only criticize democracy, but also challenge the underpinnings of our society. Alex goes into the Managerial class critiques from James Burnham, the rantings of Pat Buchanan, the monarchism of Curtis Yarvin, and the blatant neo-fascism and Greek love of the Bronze Age Pervert. Liberal Democracies have not seen a philisophical challege in a long time, and now it seems like the enemy is at the gates. 

Oppenheimer: The Creator’s Burden, Balancing Regret with Power, the Proliferation of Artificial Intelligence, Why Polarization Destroys Reason & DeSantis Desperately Agrees to Debate Newsom

In this episode, Alex discusses how a desperate Ron DeSantis, with dropping poll numbers, is willing to debate Gavin Newsom. This will be interesting as this will be a battle between the governors of two states with very different ideologies. For the rest of the episode, Alex provides his anaysis and reaction to Christopher Nolan’s new film, Oppenheimer. Alex goes into its themes including the creator’s burden and how creation through science can be a brutal game balancing regret with power. He also goes into the poltics of the time, why the movie almost made him cry, and how the international community should take artificial intelligence more seriously. 

Italy’s New Right: Hobbits, Post-Fascists, Middle Earth, Tunisian Deals & Moderated Foreign Policy (Plus Hunter Biden Updates)

In this episode, Alex starts by going into his hesitations around the credibility of Devon Archer, a former business associate of Hunter Biden that is going to testify about the Hunter/Joe connection. Alex thinks that this is all projection to downplay the seriousness of Donald Trump’s actions as president (though Hunter Biden clearly seems to be a criminal). For the rest of the episode, Alex discusses a controversial agreement between the European Union and Tunisia. The agreement has been endorsed by right-wing European leaders out of Italy and the Netherlands, and Tunisia is thrilled to get financial aid in return for border security and national stability. The agreement is controversial because the Tunisian government has cracked down on human rights and has politicized the immigration crisis. This conversation leads Alex into a discussion around why Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s Prime Minister, wants this deal to pass and why she is a controversial leader. She is a far-right politician that has both moderated her views and doubled down on some of her worst. 

What Mussolini, UFOs & Congressional Hearings All Have in Common!

In this episode, Alex starts by going over the content he has recently been consuming. Then he goes into his thoughts on Ron DeSantis and why DeSantis really is a missed opportunity. Later, Alex talks about the coup in Niger that has officially been acknowledged and now African countries are sanctioning Niger. Also, Russia is holding out of the Black Sea Grain Deal and Alex has a theory about why that may be. Finally, Alex analyzes the recent UFO hearings featuring Retired Air Force Maj. David Grusch. At first, the hearings are convincing but with more research, they feel like a game of telephone that loses credibility quickly. While aliens may exist, it seems like this may be the wrong example. 

Gaslighting Through Nuance, Another Coup in the Sahel, Florida Gets Crazier, Centrism Prevails in Spain & Mitch McConnell Freezes

In this episode, Alex starts by discussing how the Florida Board of Education’s new K-12 curriculum is propagandizing history (especially slavery). It is downplaying the uniqueness of American slavery to promote American exceptionalism. Next, Alex plays a press conference that Senator Mitch McConnell gave. In the video, McConnell noticeably freezes for over 19 seconds and is taken back to his office. Later in the episode, there has been another coup in the Sahel Region of Africa. The area is known as Africa’s “Coup Belt” and the recent coup attempt has occurred in Niger, which has been known as a bastion of democracy and fair elections in the region. There are worries that this coup (if accurately portrayed) could make the fight against jihadism and radicalism more difficult. Finally, it looks like Spain’s national elections had better (or less terrible) results than expected. Alex looks at how the far-right party, Vox, did worse than expected and now the center-left and center-right are deadlocked in a coalition-building game of chicken. 

Defending & Criticizing Jason Aldean: the ’Nontroversy’ Continues

In this episode, Alex (a big fan) takes a deep dive into the recent controversy (or non-troversy) involving Jason Aldean and his new song “Try That in a Small Town.” The song is a strong criticism of the BLM protests, the left, and more. While Alex may not agree with Aldean on every issue, he thinks the song is expected and is receiving unnecessary backlash. Alex discusses the double standards of how there are countless pop and rap songs that get overly political. He also gets into some of his criticism of Aldean — mainly Alex thinks that he didn’t need to fight fire with fire and could have taken a more positive (high) road. 

Darfur is Happening Again, The Far Right Surges in Germany & Democratic Parodoxes Emerge

There is a far-right party in Germany called the Alternative for Democracy (AFD) and it is surging in rural and former East German regions. In the national elections in 2021, AFD had close to 10% of support. Alex is worried that the country could be in a conundrum because current polls show that AFD has over 20% of support for a general election. While the other parties could freeze the AFD out of coalition politics, it is now hard to justify doing so when 1/5 of the population may support this extreme party that supports tryanny, illiberal politics, and strong anti-immigration policies. Later in the podcast, Alex goes into recent events happening in Darfur, which is in Western Sudan. New reports paint a troubling and disturbing picture — it looks like the Darfur genocide could be happening once again. Alex discusses how the groups involved in the 2003-2005 events are still existant in the conflict. He also looks into how the breakdown in Sudan is going to get much worse and solutions are limited.