Spy Balloons Over Montana, Post-Fascist Populism on the Brink & Larry Hogan’s Moral Dissonance

In this episode, Alex starts by discussing his irritation with the Former Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan. After years of criticizing Trump, Hogan has now gone into the zone of moral dissonance and has said he would support the Republican candidate no matter what. Alex ponders this and wonders why this is happening because this will not help Hogan gain any support, he is closer to Biden than Trump on politics. Next, Alex goes into the Chinese Spy Balloon that was found 60,000 feet above Montana. He goes into what it means, why it hasn’t been shot down yet, and why he supports mutual surveillance if it stops conflicts. Finally, Alex looks into the state of populism (mainly right-wing populism) in Europe. He is skeptical, yet also optimistic, and thinks that it is slowly waning due to a myriad of factors. One example Alex discusses involves a recent presidential election in the Czech Republic where a moderate, institutionalist, beat the Trumpian populist.