Introducing The Center Edge

In this short intro episode, host Evan Swarztrauber lays out what this podcast is and what it isn't. The show is about the technology and telecommunications policy fights that will define the next decade — from AI and antitrust to wireless spectrum, broadband, drones, satellites, and the national security questions that increasingly cut across all of it.The center is where tech policy actually gets made, when bipartisan coalitions  can agree on something specific enough to move. The edge is where the rhetoric often lives: the hyperbolic arguments and edge cases that dominate the  conversation in Washington. Repealing net neutrality was going to kill the Internet. Touching Section 230 will end free speech. If Washington does, or does not, do exactly what I want, then China wins and America loses. The Center Edge takes the edge cases seriously without letting them eat the whole conversation.Guests will include the regulators who hold real levers of power at the FCC, FTC, Commerce, and elsewhere; members of Congress and the staffers who actually write the bills; founders, investors, and operators inside the technology industry; and the scholars and advocates shaping the public debate. Some episodes will go deep on a specific issue. Others will pull back and ask bigger questions about where this all is going. The goal is for listeners to come away with a better understanding of the debate, a better sense of why it matters, and a better calibrated read on the next round of headlines coming out of Washington.About the host. Evan Swarztrauber is Principal at CorePoint Strategies, a tech and telecom policy consulting firm he founded in 2025, and a Senior Fellow at the Digital Progress Institute. He previously hosted The Dynamist for the Foundation for American Innovation, and served as a policy advisor at the FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai and then-Commissioner Brendan Carr.Coming up first. Episode 1 is a sit-down with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr — covering the agency's national security push on Chinese-made drones and Wi-Fi routers, the recent EchoStar / AT&T / SpaceX spectrum transactions, the emerging direct-to-device satellite market, and the evolving role of the FCC under his tenure.Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Leaving a quick review helps new listeners find the show — it takes thirty seconds and it actually matters.Get in touch. Reach out to Evan with feedback, ideas, or suggestions for future guests.The Center Edge is sponsored by the Digital Progress Institute, a bipartisan tech policy think tank in Washington. The show is produced by Vulgate Media. Special thanks to Joel Thayer and Nick Degani at DPI for making this show possible.