Centered From Reality

From Bowling Alone to Partying Alone, Spain Cools on Latin America & the EU Looks to Ratify the Mercosur Deal!

In this episode, Alex starts by talking about why he found the movie Anora to be one of the best he’d seen in years. Then he talks about how the country has gone from bowling alone to partying alone. As loneliness has become a public health issue in the United States, it seems like Americans aren’t socializing as much, are partying less, and are doing less risky behavior. Alex thinks this is a unique problem in the US and is troubling. Finally, Alex talks about Spain losing its faith in Latin American markets as the European Union is looking to ratify a large deal with Mercosur that would allow free trade between the two economic blocs. Alex gives the pros and cons. 

2025 Begins with Tragedy, Fearmongering & a Burning Cybertruck

In this episode, Alex starts by talking about how he is sold on Peloton after a nice ride through the Dolomites, then he mentions that Anora is the best movie he has seen in years. For the rest of the episode, Alex talks about tragic and insane events that have occurred within the first two days of 2025. He worries that this year may be a wild year with a lot of chaos to come. He talks about the tragic attack in New Orleans and how some Republicans are demagoguing this issue to focus on transforming the FBI and cracking down on immigration. He also talks about the Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside of a Trump property in Las Vegas. 

A Year of Brain Rot: the Costco Guys & Why Culture is Downstream from Politics

In this 2024 recap episode, Alex decides to highlight why culture clearly leads our society, and politics is clearly downstream from culture. Oxford coined “brain rot” as the word of the year and Alex thinks that this word is a proper way to unpack 2024. He looks at a new conspiracy about fogs spreading diseases (called Fogvid-24), the Hawk Tua phenomenon (and the coin that ruined her 15 minutes of fame), the drone mass hysteria (maybe people just looked at the stars for once), why people are fascinated with the Costco Guys, and more. He also talks about the MAGA circular firing squad between the “tech bros” and nativists, and reflects on how time is moving too fast. 

Will Red Bull Fuel the Chaos in 2025? (feat. Martin Benes)

In second part of his conversation with Martin Benes, Alex asks Martin to help him understand the chaos going on throughout the world. They talk about Ukraine, the feared “Narva Scenario”, the War in Gaza, and why Syria’s next stage could lead to retribution over common ground. Alex also challenges Martin to give his predictions for 2025 and also reflect on 2024. There may also be some New Year’s resolutions involved in this conversation. It also looks like Martin may be coming back fairly soon! 

Trouble at the Gaetz (+ La Represión in Venezuela Gets Dark & Alex Finally Rants About Macaroni Grill!)

In this episode, Alex starts by finally delivering his Macaroni Grill rant, after he couldn’t watch the game there last Sunday, he figured it was time to speak out. Next, he talks about the troubling Wall Street Journal piece that helps illustrate the so-called “cover-up” of President Biden’s mental capacities. In reality, it is bad, and Alex thinks that Biden did a disservice to the country and his legacy has been tarnished. He finds the report troubling and thinks that many in Biden’s inner circle have a lot to answer for. Finally, Alex provides an update on Venezuela. Since Venezuela’s president (albiet dictator), Nicolás Maduro, clearly lost the recent presidential election in July of 2025, he has decided to enact revenge on the population. There was always an authoritarian deal in Venezuela, “you don’t speak up and you won’t be bothered.” However, since Maduro has been challenged internally, he is now imposing uncertainty on his population and has directly forced political opponents to get walled up in Argentina’s closed embassy. Alex argues that this uncertainty of fear is the next stage of Maduro’s oppressive revenge on his own people. The ramifications will hault any chance of oppostion for the near future. 

The Gaslight is ON! (feat. Martin Benes)

In the first part of their conversation, Alex speaks to his former coach and good friend, Martin Benes. Martin is not only a renowed global coach but is also a student of history and is fascinated/shocked by global affairs. The two spend this episode breaking down the failures of the Kamala Harris campaign, how the left can rebuild, why the Democrats are in the wilderness, and why it sometimes feels like gaslighting is a new hobby for many on the right. 

Young Thug, YSL & the Longest Trial in Georgia’s History (+ Ukraine Assassinates a General in Russia)

In this episode, Alex talks about how Fanny Willis, Fulton County’s District Attorney, should have focused on cases involving defendants without resources, instead of botching both the prosecution of Donald Trump and Young Thug. Alex breaks down the details of how Young Thug and his co-defendants mainly were found not guilty and why it seems like ambition clouded Willis’s judgement. Alex also talks about how the Ukrainian military killed a Russian General Igor Kirillov in Moscow on Tuesday. Kirillov was associated with using illegal chemical weapons and was found guilty of war crimes by a Ukrainian court just a day earlier. Alex talks abouw how this event could remind Russian citizens that the war is not as far away as some may hope. He also talks about how involved on Russian soil the Ukrainian intelligence community is. 

ABC Bends the Knee to Trump (+ Good News out of Spain)

In this episode, Alex starts by talking about how he is disillusioned with organizations that are fundraising to help Mangione after he murdered Thompson last week. Then Alex talks about Spain for a bit and how it is a growing and successful example of economic rebirth in Europe. Finally, Alex talks about ABC kowtowing to Donald Trump and why it is associated with the idea of anticipatory obedience. ABC is the most recent organization that has apologized to Trump for defamation claims and seems to be getting close to the president-elect before he gets back into office. 

Should Romania Have Cancelled its Presidential Election?

In this episode, Alex takes a break from Sunday football and talks about a fairly controversial election in Romania. In the first round of Romania’s presidential election, a fairly unknown, right-wing politician, named Calin Georgescu went from 5% to 23% in a small amount of time. He came out of the first round looking like he could beat the center-right candidate in the second round to become Romania’s next president. However, it looks like Russian-backed troll accounts helped Calin Georgescu gain support on social media, it looks like Russia may have interfered. Romanian election authorities annulled the election. Alex debates with himself whether this is good or bad for democracy. 

Jersey Shore Season 7: Iranian Motherships & Mysterious Drones

In this episode, Alex talks about mysterious drones over all of New Jersey and why both the federal government and local authorities are confused. The drones are larger and lower to the ground than most recreational drones. Some actors have started to blame Iran, aliens, and Russia. Alex also laments what Christopher Wray’s resignation from the FBI will do to our norms. Then he talks about the revealing mirror that Luigi Mangione holds up to our country after the UHC killing and why our country wants to paint a narrative about the motive without understanding the moment.