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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
Thursday Sep 30, 2021
Thursday Sep 30, 2021
In this second episode of the podcast, Alex covers a plethora of issues. He discusses -
- In the eleventh hour, the government finally did their job and passed a plan to keep the government funded until December. Unfortunately, Congress still has work to do. Janet Yellen, the treasury secretary, has said that the US will reach its debt ceiling by October. Can congress agree on something to work? Also, Biden’s $3.5 trillion spending bill is not only being held up by Republicans, but also my moderates like Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema. How did Sinema, a rockstar of the left, become a bulwark against passing legislation?
- Germany held their federal elections, with the highest position possible being the German Chancellor. This was a role that Angela Merkel held since 2005. She announced earlier this year that she wouldn’t seek another term. Instead what happened was the centre-left Social Democrats narrowly took first place in Germany’s federal election. The SDP only narrowly won with %25.7 of the vote, with the CDU only a percentage point behind. How will the SDP form a coalition that barely represented a majority of the electorate?
- “Why Are People Nostalgic for Early-Pandemic Life?” By Morgan Ome and Christian Paz is a fascinating article from The Atlantic. It goes over a growing trend amongst young Americans who feel nostalgia for the early days of the pandemic. Alex shares his own “pandemic nostalgia” and tries to understand why this could be happening. Did COVID pull off the veil of ignorance and now people are seeing unwanted realities of the world? Maybe even nostalgia is a coping mechanism.
Tuesday Sep 28, 2021
Tuesday Sep 28, 2021
In this inaugural episode of the Centered From Reality podcast, Alex Kopytko dives into a multitude of issues over the last month that he views could help dismantle US democracy. The majority focus on what the Republican Party is doing under the absence of Trump's presidency and how Trump's resurgence following more failed audits could be problematic.
He talks about:
- Robert Kagan's article in the Washington Post titled "Our constitutional crisis is already here" and how it relates to a new plethora of issues that the Trump era has brought to fruition. Kagan's article views the coming years as crucial for democracy and worries about 2022 and beyond. It seems like the founding fathers weren't ready for a political party to back one person in the way in which they are now.
- John Eastman's memo in which he provided a legal (albeit flawed) framework for throwing out millions of legal votes in order to keep Trump in power. Alex talks about how Trump had the rioters and the election conspiracy, now it looks like he had the legal plan too.
- The Arizona Audit by the Trump-supporting "Cyber Ninjas" actually helped validate Biden's electoral victory, yet Trump is still backing the big lie at rallies.
- Anne Applebaum's warnings about authoritarianism and how it can grow and flourish in a country like the US.
- Thoughts on how the Democratic Party needs to get rid of perfection and work towards passing GOOD policy.