Centered From Reality

The Sunday Scaries: A Troubling Trump Interview (+ Thoughts on a Golden Age)

A Trade Storm is Brewing at the Port of LA (+ MAGA & Your Data)

The Twitter Files Inspire a Witch Hunt at the State Department (+ Shrinkflation at Taco Bell)

In this episode, Alex talks about how Darren Beattie, a senior official at the Department of State has used government data to create a list of people in the agency that have been in contact with public figures critical of Trump/MAGA. Alex talks about how Beattie’s actions mirror those of Elon Musk when he green lit the “Twitter Files.”

The Waltz in Our Stars: Faults in National Security as Trump Purges Realists & Internationalists

Mike Waltz has been demoted from National Security Advisor to the Ambassador to the United Nations. Alex gets over his Schadenfreude to talk about why Waltz was probably the most reasonable person we will get and why this demotion is a perfect metaphor for why the Trump Administration is engulfed in chaos.

A Mineral Deal That Turns Ukraine Into a U.S. Vassal State & Trump’s 100 Day Week Sees Economic Woes (+ Economic Contractions)

Some are applauding Trump’s recent mineral deal with Ukraine but Alex argues that it is not only exploitative of Ukrainian resources during a tough time, but it also will limit the country from embracing green technology. Alex then talks about the economy, stagnation, contractions, and why Trump will always blame Biden.

Canadians Can't Agree on Anything but Trump!

DOGE Sucked, What’s Coming Next Will Be Worse: Schedule F, Climate Science Cuts & Privatizing NOAA

In this episode, Alex reminds listeners that Project 2025 exists alongside the chaos of DOGE. As Elon Musk is distancing himself from Trump, it is time for Project 2025 to make things worse. He talks about Schedule F ruining the civil service, AmeriCorps cuts that may rock civil society, worrying cuts to climate research, and more.

Disco Isn't Back but Stagflation is (+ A New Strategy in North Carolina to Steal Elections)

Drunk Texting War Plans as VOX is Making Franco Proud, Violence Rises in Kashmir & Marco Makes State Department Cuts

In this episode, Alex goes over a myriad series of events happening around that world that trouble him, especially as the State Department is making cuts and Pete Hegseth is drunk texting war plans.

Signalgate Deux: Hegseth Strikes Back (+ Pope Frances Dies & Divides MAGA)

In this episode, Alex watches the sunset and talks about the sun setting on stability and norms as the Pentagon is in dysfunction.

We Are About to Deport Afghan Christians & Allies Fleeing Persecution (+ Dangerous Josh Shapiro Conspiracies)

The Immigration Crisis Moves South to Costa Rica & Trump Caves to Putin (+ Little Marco Gets Smaller)

In this episode, Alex sits in his car (again) with a beautiful and positive view while he talks about some dark events going on around the world. First, it looks like Donald Trump and Marco Rubio want to force Ukraine to make a peace deal with Russia ASAP or they will clean their hands of all parts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Later, Alex talks about why countries like Costa Rica and Nicaragua are about to see an immigration/humanitarian crisis. This is because migrants seeking asylum in the ...

‘Amazon Prime But With Humans’ — Privatizing Deportations (+ the Retribution Era is Beginning)

In this episode, Alex focuses on the Trump Administration needing to convince the public that its mass deportation campaign is happening. Though it has deported high profile individuals, deportations are down from 2024. Congress is likely to pass a bill that would nearly double ICE’s budget over the next decade and it looks like the entity wants to deport way more people. The acting ICE director has said that they want to privatize some aspects of deportations and compared the reforms to Amazon ...

A Kafkaesque Crisis: Trump Sides with El Salvador, Ignores the Courts & Threatens to Send US Citizens to CECOT

In this episode, Alex talks about Katy Perry (and others) going into “space” for about ten minutes. Then he talks about the prices, heat, traffic, and payment plans that plagued this year's Coachella events. For the rest of the episode, Alex talks about why the Trump Administration is on a collision course with the Supreme Court. A district court ordered the administration to return Abrego Garcia, the man wrongfully deported to CECOT in El Salvador. But after Trump met with President Bukele in t...

A White Genocide in South Africa That Doesn't Exist (+ Why Trump is Obsessed With it)

In this “car podcast”, Alex sits in his car after a run and talks about Trump’s weird obsession over white genocide in South Africa. Trump cut off aid to South Africa but granted special refugee status to white, Afrikaner, South Africans. The problem with all of this is that the South African government is not taking land from Afrikaners and is not killing them. Alex talks about how this is a false theory that has empowered white nationalists in South Africa and around the world. It seems like T...

The Lack of Plan is the Plan: QAnon, Tariffs, Trade Wars & Making a Pencil Takes a Village!

Alex thinks that the lack of a clear plan involving Trump’s tariffs is part of the plan. He also talks about how there are parallels between the QAnon movement and Trump’s base denying the flaws of his chaotic tariff regime. Both seem to trust the man over logic and whatever shared reality is left. Alex brings up these topics because on the day his “Liberation Day” tariffs were set to go into effect, he paused a majority of tariffs for 90 days (though he has kept the 125% tariffs on China and th...

The Sunday Scaries: Tourism to the US Plummets, Soft Power Implodes & Tariffs on Penguins and Ukraine (but not Russia)

Neo-Nazi Movements Reemerge as the FBI Looks Away (+ Zelensky Eyes Elections)

In this episode, Alex is worried about the FBI. Groups like the Base are growing and mobilizing as Kash Patel is no longer focused on them. The Base has gone global and is calling for the creation of an ethno-state in Ukraine and is hoping they can de-stabilize peace talks. Putin is now backing them and hoping they can help to cause chaos. The Neo-Nazi movement called The Base has called on people from around the world to attack Ukrainian sites of interest, this movement is from the US and the c...

An Own Goal: Are We Making China Great Again?

In this episode, Alex focuses on how Trump’s trade war could help China course correct after its COVID-19 failures and internally focus on decoupling from the West. He also talks about how Trump is already botching his tariff message because he can’t commit to durable investment in US firms since he is focusing on short term negotiations with some of the trading partners. For the tariffs to “work” Trump must commit to a durable strategy and not just threaten countries to renegotiate while tankin...

Laura Loomer Returns to the Oval Office & France's Marine Le Pen Dilemma

In this episode, Alex talks about the stock market taking a dive over Trump’s tariffs (the worst since March 2020) as anxiety deepens and China retaliates. He also talks about why the radical conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer is returning to the Oval Office to convince Trump to fire National Security Council officials that she has deemed “disloyal.” Finally, France is set to have a democratic dilemma as Marine Le Pen, the far-right politician and front-runner for the 2027 election, has been barre...

Silly President, Tariffs Are for the 1800s!

In this episode, Alex has a little hope as Susan Crawford beat Brad Schimel in the Wisconsin judiciary race. He thinks this was a referendum on Elon Musk, but he isn’t sure if this is a sign that Republicans will face a tough battle in the midterms. Alex also talks about the “administrative error” that led to the Trump Administration deporting a man under protected status in the United States. For the rest of the episode, Alex talks about how Liberation Day has finally arrived and Trump has help...

Votes for Sale(?) in Wisconsin: A Referendum on Elon’s Approach

In this episode, Alex, a Packers fan and avid Cheesehead, is mad that Elon Musk is highly involved in the Wisconsin Supreme Court Election between a Trump-endorsed candidate, and an Obama-endorsed candidate. This will be the most expensive state judge race of all time. Alex talks about how it seems apparent that you can go to jail for giving someone water in a voting line in Georgia, but Musk can do a $1 million sweepstakes to get people to vote in Wisconisn.

Sunday Scaries: Liberation Day, Trump Warns of a Third Term & Myanmar's Earthquake on Top of a Civil War

In this episode, Alex is suffering from the Sunday Scaries so he decides to a service for his listeners and make that issue worse. He talks about Trump saying he is serious about running for a third term (though the logistics are complex and nearly impossible), he also talks about how Liberation Day (the day Trump has promised to fully enact all of the tariffs) is coming on April 2nd, and why the situation in Myanmar is worsening. As Myanmar’s authoritarian, military junta has called for aid aft...

Erdoğan Crossed the Rubicon & MAGA is Taking Notes

After mainly going after unsympathetic characters in Turkey, President Erdoğan has crossed the rubicon and jailed his main political opponent ahead of the 2028 presidential election. Alex talks about why this is troubling, why Turkish Democracy is crumbing, and how MAGA is using this same playbook.

Financing a Burrito as the Republic Cracks

In this episode, Alex rants about a myriad of topics related to the economy, Klarna teaming up with Door Dash to finance food delivery, JD visiting Greenland, why the process is the threat, and why Kristi Noem sucks.

Greenland is Trump's Crimea

In this episode, Alex talks about why he is starting to take Trump’s rhetoric involving Greenland more seriously. As JD and Usha Vance are set to visit Greenland, Alex worries that Greenland is Trump’s Crimea. He worries that Trump will use international security, minority opinion, and strategic necessity as pretexts to try and take the Danish territory.

The Group Chat Always Goes Downhill: 👊🏻 🇺🇸 🔥

In this episode, Alex worries about the concept of a dual state in an ossified or illiberal democratic system that is trying to still sell the guise of normalcy. Then he talks about the Signal group chat scandal that has unfolded over the last 24 hours. It seems likely that top cabinet officials in the Trump Administration accidentally added a journalist to their group chat. This wasn’t any group chat, they talked about classified information and leaked military operational information to someon...

The Gaza Ceasefire Was Destined to Fail & the US Ramps up Strikes in Yemen

In this episode, Alex starts by mentioning that at the time of the recording, Trump had a (not-so-perfect) phone call with Putin. Putin rejected the ceasefire but said he was willing to put a hold on the destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure. There are a lot of caveats to this and Alex does not think it sounds like Putin wants peace. For the rest of the episode, Alex talks about why the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has ended, why it was destined to fail, and what is next for this region ...

The Statue of Liberty Wants to Self-Deport: Trump Defies the Courts, Allies with El Salvador & Goes After the J6 Committee!

Spain's Stock Market Booms as Europe Rallies to Bolster Defense Spending (+ The Case Against Invading Canada)

In this episode, Alex starts by ranting about airports, travel, and his need to get back to Europe soon. Then he reacts to a well-written article by Elliot Cohen in the Atlantic that talks about why invading Canada is a bad idea and has failed in the past. For the rest of the episode, Alex talks about how Spain’s economy has been the envy of Europe but that may change as it is being pressured to bolster its military spending towards NATO security. Spain has put the lowest percentage of GDP towar...