How Amazon Prime Predicted America’s Political Insanity

Popular entertainment often predicts political and social trends long before experts notice them. For example, Alpha House, an early Amazon Prime Video series, forecasts America’s frightening political insanity.

Alpha House was one of Amazon Studios’ earliest productions for the Prime Video service. At a glance, Alpha House appears to be a simple sitcom infused with political satire. In reality, Alpha House is a brilliant expose of America’s corrupt and increasingly insane political culture.

Like all good sitcoms, Alpha House uses a simple premise to find humor in complex realities. The premise is four Republican US Senators share a townhouse near the US Capitol in Washington, DC.

Interestingly, this premise comes from reality. Historically, many members of Congress have shared homes in the nation’s capitol.

How Alpha House Predicted Today’s Politics

Unlike most political shows, Alpha House digs deep into America’s political culture and institutions. It succeeds because Doonesbury cartoonist Gary Trudeau, who has a deep knowledge of politics, created the series.

Simply, Alpha House follows the daily activities of four US Senators played by brilliant character actors. The Senators are Gil John…