ReConsider

Latest Episodes:

The LA Times Teaches Us How to Elect a Sheriff Sep 18, 2020

Show notes

Sheriffs have a frankly _weird_ job... and a very important one. Robert Greene, editorial writer for the LA Times focusing on criminal justice, shares with us how to educate yourself to vote well for your Sheriff. We cover the history of Sherifffing in California, how elections have gone in the past, how that's changing nation-wide, and how you can do the research yourself to really understand who you're voting for. Sheriffs have a massive impact on policing policy in your county, so this year is an incredible opportunity for most of us to use the ballot box at the local level to make a difference!

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Does the US Fight Rational Wars? With Richard Hanania of Columbia U Sep 11, 2020

Show notes

Xander and Erik are bigtime Realists--we assume international relations are fairly rational. What if this model is flawed, and even biased? Richard Hanania, of Columbia University's Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, makes his case that international relations are more like politics than we Realists would like to admit. Watch Erik actively ReConsider (with considerable anguish) his entire model of global politics makes sense!

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[Special] This November, Vote for Your Sheriff! Sep 07, 2020

Show notes

Since the killing of George Floyd, Americans have used the soap box to demand reform to policing and the criminal justice system. In November, we will use the ballot box. But you may not even _know_ that your Sheriff is up for election, and they have a massive impact on policing in your county! On this episode of ReConsider, Xander and Erik break down why voting for your Sheriff is important in shaping law enforcement policy in the United States, how you can have an outsized impact in those elections, and why most of us don't know much about this option.

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Surely Mail-In Voting or Trump and DeJoy Will Rig the Election... Right? Aug 28, 2020

Show notes

Mail-in voting will lead to massive fraud and allow the Democrats to steal the election.

Er, I mean: DeJoy's elimination of USPS sorting machines will disrupt voting this year so much to let Trump steal the election.

Which conspiracy is your favorite?

Do either of them hold water? Xander and Erik explore in GREAT depth:

-Historical voter fraud in the United States

-The risk of voter fraud with larger-scale mail-in voting

-What DeJoy is actually doing at the USPS

-How that compares to past Postmasters General

-Whether anyone is actually in a serious position to steal the election

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Xander appears on Perch Perspectives with Jacob Shapiro Aug 10, 2020

Show notes

Xander recently appeared on the Perch Perspectives podcast, with Jacob Shapiro. Xander and Jacob have worked together as geopolitical analysts and consultants for a number of years, and recently Xander joined Jacob's new company, Perch Perspectives, as the vice president of analysis. Perch consults business on geopolitical risk that, as we're seeing, is increasingly impacting the global economy in ways that we haven't seen at least for the last 30 years.

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Operation Legend and the Portland Paramilitary Deployment Aug 07, 2020

Show notes

Paramilitary troops in Portland, Oregon, threw protesters in unmarked vans and tear-gassed so aggressively that they hit the Mayor of the city. "Operation Legend" is set to roll out to many other cities in the US--possibly whether they like it or not.

Is Portland going to be repeated in Chicago and Detroit? We give you the full story and the context to be able to rise above the (very) aggressively partisan portrayals of Portland.

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COVID-19: Risks Beyond the Death Rate Jul 31, 2020

Show notes

A lot of peoples' perspectives about Coronavirus risks center around the Case Fatality Rate (CFR). Pretty low for young folks, so you're safe, right? For both individuals and society, there are risks beyond the CFR we should know. It could save lives.

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The Hong Kong National Security Bill Jul 15, 2020

Show notes

Has Hong Kong been "lost?" Are their civil rights obliterated? What the heck just happened with the National Security Law? Lots of context needed, and provided in this episode.

Xander and Erik go deep into the history of Hong Kong from the very beginning, and unfold HK's laws and relationship with Beijing since the 80's, to understand what led up to this seminal moment.

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Dr Campt Returns to Help Us Have Better Conversations About Race Jun 24, 2020

Show notes

OK, you're fired up. What now? Dr. David Campt returns to give all of us a powerful guide and spiritual teaching to take our energy to fight racism, and turn that energy into a lifetime of effective conversations with white Americans to make the world a better place for our fellow black citizens.

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Libertarian VP Candidate Spike Cohen on The Big Issues of 2020 Jun 22, 2020

Show notes

Spike Cohen, the Libertarian Party's candidate for Vice President of the United States, shares his ticket's platform on police violence, and militarization, racial inequality, pandemic responses, civil rights (and their violations), the economy, the fed, and... well, everything.

Join us for a deep, thorough conversation on some radically different ideas about how to solve the most pressing issues for the United States in 2020.

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