The Tonic Accord

In this short episode, Drew and Alex give their thoughts on the protests, violence and political crackdowns that are taking place in both Cuba and in South Africa.

Between 1830 and 1998, Canadian governments and churches separated more than 150,000 native children from their parents and placed them in mandatory boarding schools. Children were forced by the schools to cut their hair, forget about their cultural heritage and traditions, and were banned from speaking their native languages. There were reports of sexual and physical abuse, and some of the children even committed suicide. Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that this effort amounted to “a cultural genocide." Over the last month, Canadians have discovered hundreds of unmarked graves belonging to children who may have died at the schools due to disease or neglect; some were even been killed. It is estimated that close to 4,100 children vanished from the schools nationwide, but numbers could be even closer to 10,000. In this episode, Drew and Alex discuss this atrocity, what it looks like for a nation like Canada to reconcile with its past, and why the United States needs to do the same. They also discuss recent Catholic Church burnings around Canada that are a reaction to the discovery of these unmarked graves. Is justice served with an eye for an eye?

Eminent Domain is the right given by the constitution for the government to seize private property for public use, with payment of compensation. For example, the government can take someone's private property to make room for a new highway or a bridge, as long as it is defined as being for public use or for the “public good.” In this episode, Drew and Alex break down when this has worked and whether it is the right stance. They look into the interstate highway system during the 1950’s and how eminent domain was used to build highways in urban centers; they also touch on how locations like Dodgers stadium were built under this guise. They also discuss how this process can backfire, how it indirectly hurts minority communities, and where and how this idea can and can’t work.

Conspiracies have become more prominent these days and some are more dangerous than others. This episode from May of 2020 goes over Occam’s Razor and how it can help use logic and common sense to cut through some cooky conspiracy theories. Occam’s Razor is a philosophical and problem solving method that states that “entities should not be multiplied without necessity.” In simpler terms, this means that the more assumptions one has to make, the less likely the explanation is to be true. In this episode, Drew and Alex discuss popular political conspiracies and discuss how Occam’s Razor can help determine their feasibility. First, they take Occam’s razor to cut into some whacky theories like “Flat Earth” and “Ancient Aliens.” Then, they also relate the theory back to relevant ones such as the many conspiracies surrounding the origins of the Coronavirus in Wuhan, as well as the conspiracies around Bill Gates and vaccinations. Later, the two mention the popularity of political conspiracies by the political party that is out of power and also discuss some Cold War conspiracies that ended up to be true.

It has been almost two weeks since Haiti’s president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in his residence by armed forces. Usually this amount of time would have given authorities time to solve the assassination, but in this case there are still many questions to answer. In this short episode, Drew and Alex react to this hit job and try to figure out why it happened and who did it. There have been many moving pieces, including a link with a Haitian doctor in Florida. Also, according to the AP, “officers found a hat with the logo of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, 20 boxes of bullets, gun parts, four license plates from the Dominican Republic, two cars and correspondence, among other things, in Sanon’s house in Haiti. Twenty-six former Colombian soldiers are suspected in the killing and 23 have been arrested, along with three Haitians.” Did the DEA do the hit? Was it a drug cartel? Powerful enemies inside Haiti? Or just a successful coup by dissatisfied citizens?

A schism is a division that usually occurs between a group of people that belong to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. In this episode, Drew and Alex discuss what a political schism is, why they may happen, and then they discuss some that have occurred in history. They cover a range of schisms that go back centuries, these include -

The Firehose of Falsehood is every autocrat’s dream and it was crafted by the Soviet Union to sow chaos and division without direct force. According to researchers at the RAND Corporation, it describes a phenomenon where a nation’s leading class flood the news and information cycle with so much misinformation that it doesn’t matter if it is right or wrong, it merely confuses the population and causes chaos. It creates political cynicism and a pure distrust in discourse. “While the bulk of firehose claims are false or misleading or even mutually contradictory, a skilled propagandist may salt the mix with statements that are partly valid, lending apparent plausibility to the rest.” In this episode, Drew and Alex look into how Donald Trump may have used this tactic better than most and it eroded the shared truths that were prevalent in the US. They look into the COVID-19 pandemic, the “Big Lie” and more. They also look into the current situation in Brazil and how this can also relate to the firehose of falsehood. Some questions posed in the episode are -

The Tonic Accord is off this week following the holiday weekend. However, this “Tonic Rewind” episode remains relevant as not all sources of news and information are created equally and the rise of misinformation is a prevalent issue. From February 2021 - With the issues of misinformation and fake news escalating around the world, Drew and Alex decide to have some fun and rank some of their favorite and least favorite news sources. From S tier (the best) to F tier (the worst) they rank publications such as the Economist, Fox News, the Blaze, the Associated Press, BBC, OANN, and more. Will Info Wars make the top tier or fall to the bottom? Which publication will make the S tier?

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has turned 100 and it has been wildly successful in ways that the Soviet Union would have envied. When the Soviet Union imploded in 1991, many pundits thought that China would be next. Instead, the CCP has been flexible, agile, and ruthless; embracing capitalism but locking down freedom of speech and expression. After the G7 summit, President Biden worried that democracies would even be able to compete and keep up with China. In this episode, Drew and Alex focus on Hollywood and China’s growing pressure on Hollywood studios to censor “ideas and themes” that the CCP deems “offensive.” They talk about the recent story where John Cena mentioned that Taiwan was a country and had to relentlessly apologize to China because his new “Fast & Furious” movie was filmed and opening in China. This illustrates a growing trend where China has the size and clout to basically control what Hollywood studios can release. This is because China is now the second biggest consumer of Hollywood films in the world and has kept theaters open, while many in the west were closed due to COVID-19. Not only have critical characters and themes in Hollywood movies been changed to appease the CCP, but Drew and Alex worry that younger kids in the west will grow up with a flawed view of China. Cinema is about entertaining, but it is also about criticism and symbolism; if themes are censored, Hollywood will lose its magic. What can be done? Can Hollywood push back? Or is it too late?

The United States military is about halfway done with withdrawing the last of its 3,500 American troops from Afghanistan. Over the last two decades, the country has been hit by massacres and violence almost daily. A recent index by Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security ranks Afghanistan as the second-worst country to be a woman, just behind Yemen. However, since the US government has helped the Afghan government fight the Taliban, one positive is that Afghan women have gained some more rights and educational opportunities. Unfortunately, with this withdrawal of troops and a lack of mandate from the government in Kabul, the Taliban has taken over 12 regions over the last few months and is circling in on Kabul. General Scott Miller, the US general responsible for the movement of troops out of Afghanistan, worries that the Kabul government could fall in as little as six months after the US leaves. In this episode, Drew and Alex discuss and debate what could happen next. Should the US stay or should it go? Is a viable government even possible in this divided and rural country?

In this episode, Drew and Alex give their analysis on the New York City Primary, as well as the bizarre life and death of John McAfee, the man who innovated antivirus software, yet died living like Joe Exotic. The New York City primary has so far been a rebuttal on the progressive agenda. Eric Adams, an ex-Republican (now current centrist democrat) and former NYC police officer, is currently in first place; while Andrew Yang, the social media god of the 2020 presidential election, already dropped out. Drew and Alex go into why this may be. They also look into “Ranked Choice Voting” or RCV, which in theory forces discussion and moderation, over voting for a fringe candidate. In RCV, voters rank their top choices for candidates — first through fifth — rather than selecting just one candidate. If there isn’t a majority, “the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and voters who picked that candidate as their first choice will have their second choice votes count. This process continues until there is a majority winner.” Drew and Alex spar over whether this is a better alternative to the current system. They also discuss why Andrew Yang did so poorly, and why Eric Adams’ success could serve as a strong message to the Democratic Party. Later in the episode, Drew and Alex talk about John McAfee. He launched the world's first commercial anti-virus software in 1987, yet turned out to be a controversial figure. His growing paranoia caused him to run from US authorities in Belize, where he allegedly killed one of his neighbors, set up curfews, and patrolled the beaches with his own security force. He also got interested in cryptocurrencies to the point where the US government was pursuing him for illegal transactions. McAfee eventually ended up in a Spanish jail where he died last week due to what Spanish authorities called “suicide.” Several months ago, McAfee was quoted saying “Know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine…” Inevitably, Drew and Alex entertain some of the conspiracies around his death, as well as criticize his paranoid yet extravagant lifestyle.

In this end of the week short episode - Drew and Alex talk about the recent Supreme Court decision involving the NCAA. The Court unanimously sided with former college players in a dispute with the NCAA over compensation issues. According to ESPN, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the court's opinion, which "upheld a district court judge's decision that the NCAA was violating antitrust law by placing limits on the education-related benefits that schools can provide to athletes.” This doesn’t give the green light for college athletes to be paid, but it does recognize that the NCAA cannot continue with their current practices. Justice Brett Kavanaugh also wrote a concurring opinion that pushed a harder line which said this is only the beginning. Drew and Alex also talk about recent reports from Iranian state TV that said that Iran’s sole nuclear power plant, Bushehr, had undergone an unexplained temporary emergency shutdown. Russia helped get this plant up and running, and Bushehr is fueled by uranium produced in Russia, not Iran, and is monitored by the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency. This comes at an interesting time as President Joe Biden wants to renegotiate an entrance into the Nuclear Deal and a low turnout national election just produced a hardliner named Ebrahim Raisi as Iran’s new president. He is listed by many western countries as an extremist and he may prove to be a roadblock in any attempts to revitalize the Nuclear Deal.

Juneteenth is a new federal holiday in the United States that sheds light on the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. It is also known for celebrating African-American culture. Last week, the Senate Bill 475, called the "Juneteenth National Independence Day Act," was passed with a 415-14 vote. However, some Republican elected officials voted against the act, citing a worry that two “Independence Day” holidays within a month could distract or divide. In reality, it seems like another unnecessary fight in the culture war. In this episode, Drew and Alex use the debate over Juneteenth to discuss “Critical Race Theory.” CRT is a decades-old academic concept that studies racism through the lens of it being a social construct. This is opposed to something tied solely to an individual, and the lingering effects it has within society. In many ways, this method of study looks at the idea that racism isn’t a universal construct, but instead created by systems, policies, and institutions. Proponents of this theory would argue that to create a better future we need to be able to have a comprehensive discussion about our past. While this theory is mainly involved in academic research in universities, Republicans, led by Donald Trump, decided it would be the next fight in the culture war. Now, many states including Idaho, Texas, Florida, and Arkansas, have banned the teaching of CRT in the classroom. It seems like Republicans like Ron DeSantis are fear mongering about CRT mainly to appeal to a fear of national pride and lost patriotism. Drew and Alex discuss and debate whether this method of study is as toxic as some claim, whether it should be taught in schools, and why this lens of study could be important for moving forward.

Deepfakes are a phenomenon in which an existing image or likeness of a person is replaced with someone else’s image. This technology used to only linked with Snapchat or Instagram, but now it is becoming more nefarious. Last month, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Dutch Parliament had an online call with Leonid Volkov, Alexi Navalny's chief of staff. This man turned out to be a deepfake video of Volkov, meaning it wasn’t really him. To make matters worse, only 30% of companies surveyed by tech experts say they are prepared for deepfake threats. In this episode, Drew and Alex worry about what is next. While this technology used to be funny and meaningless, it could be the next threat to democracy and the truth. According to “Venture Beat,” the number of deepfakes on the web increased 330% from October 2019 to June 2020, impacting close to 60,000 people. Drew and Alex imagine what could happen if a deepfake of Donald Trump called for violence, or the fear of deepfake technology could stop citizens from listening to their leaders. Later in the episode, they turn their attention to Apple in China. Two decades ago, Apple thought it could change China by bringing their American values to China, instead many experts worry that China is managing to change American companies. Now Apple, a company considered to be at the forefront of protecting consumer privacy, has opened their market to China and the backlash could be coming. User data, including iCloud, is currently stored in Chinese data facilities. In the past, Chinese officials couldn’t access the data due to encryption keys that Apple was assumed to possess. Unfortunately, Chinese firms want to open this data up for state organizations and let them use these same systems. This would mean that many Apple users' information could be vulnerable to the Chinese government. Drew and Alex worry that Apple has become one company with two distinct markets and policies. Should western companies put profits ahead of their pure standards?

In this end of the week episode, Drew and Alex touch on some of the fascinating, hilarious, crazy, and fascinating political/cultural issues they have seen over the last week. They discuss:

Peru was something of a success story in Latin America. According to the Economist’s tracking, from 2001 to 2016, the poverty rate fell from 60% to 21% and the economy also grew at an average annual rate of 5.6%. The government also used a healthy mix of free market policies and export led growth, which was different from the protectionism seen in other countries in the region. Unfortunately, as of late, the country has become politically divided and has produced four presidents and eight finance ministers in five years. This instability has made long term change impossible and the pandemic only made it worse. As of June 2021, COVID-19 killed over 190,000 people and 3 million fell into poverty once again. Now Peru has a new left wing president named Pedro Castillo. He won just 50.2% of the vote, which is only around 70,000 more votes out of 17.5m cast. Castillo barely beat Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of Alberto Fujimori, the autocrat and corrupt leader who ruled in the 1990s. People believe Castillo has a weak mandate and will preside over a bitterly divided country. He also has applauded socialists like Evo Morales in Bolivia and Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, and he seems to sympathize with Communist Cuba. Now Keiko Fujimori is saying that the election was fraudulent and this likely won’t help the bitter division between urban and rural Peruvians. In this episode, Drew and Alex try to make sense of how a leftist and a right-wing candidate were the only options left, when there were eighteen candidates in the election. They also discuss what is next for Peru and whether the country can succeed, while also fending off the leftist policies that brought down Venezuela.

It took four elections over just two years to finally get a coalition to oust Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, Israel’s longterm Prime Minister. Finally, 60-59 majority was created that removed Netanyahu from his role. The new ruling coalition is a fragile partnership between the far-right, the left, and even an Arab Party. Naftali Bennett, head of the right-wing Yamina party, will be prime minister for the next two years, then the role will be transferred to Yair Lapid, head of the center-left Yesh Atid party. In this episode, Drew and Alex wonder if this fragile coalition will last. They discuss how Naftali Bennet is arguably further right than Netanyahu, and has said that he doesn’t want to change any of Israel’s policies involving Gaza. They also talk about Netanyahu’s push that the vote was fraudulent and how he is hoping to sew chaos and division that could lead to him returning to power. This coalition needs to focus on less divisive issues like health care, education, and infrastructure, if they want to stay popular and in power. Will this coalition work? Only time will tell.

The G7 is a global alliance made up of some of the world’s most important economic “big hitters,” this includes Canada, Germany, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Italy. This year, the U.K. hosted the summit and it marked some change because the United States returned to the table, not as a troll, but as an ally and friend. There was some unity over not only delivering vaccines to the world’s most vulnerable nations, but also holding corporations more accountable (via a global corporate tax). Unfortunately, while the G7 agreed that the Uighur situation in China was atrocious, it floundered over an actual solution on dealing with China. Even some G7 nations like Italy, the U.K., and France, have even welcomed some Chinese influence. Some scholars believe that this G7 was a frozen moment in time, removed from the past, but also not focused on the future. It was as if the last four years hadn’t happened… yet they did. In this episode, Drew and Alex look at what is next for the G7 countries, whether the Biden v. Putin summit will amount to anything, and how the US can work with its allies to deal with China.

Due to the pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics were postponed from the summer of 2020 and now are going to be taking place in late July of 2021. However, these summer games have become controversial. In May, 83 percent of those polled in Japan said that they didn’t want Tokyo to hold the Olympics. This is coming as Japan is experiencing a brutal fourth wave of COVID-19 and the nation has only vaccinated about 9% of its population with at least one dose. Though foreigner tourists won’t be allowed to attend the games in Tokyo, there are fears that unvaccinated athletes from other countries could turn this into a “super spreader” event. In this episode, Drew and Alex talk about the pros and cons of continuing with these games. The discuss how the Japanese government is contractually obligated by the International Olympic Committee to hold the games and they also may need them for a boost of national morale. Do they postpone the games again? Do they require that all athletes be vaccinated? Are the Olympics even worthwhile anymore?

In this quick episode, Drew and Alex try to understand why West Virginia’s senator, Joe Manchin, is still holding out against fellow Democrats’ desire to end the filibuster. His political ideology is being a “bipartisan centrist” but is that possible when the country is so politically divided? Is Manchin being naive? Or is he a man with a plan, who is looking to the future?