In this special bonus episode, Dave interviews author Peter Pomerantsev about his new book "How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler." The book explores the work of Sefton Delmer, a journalist who developed unique ways to destabilize Hitler's propaganda programming. Their conversation was recorded on October 28, 2024, at Bird In Hand Books in Baltimore, Maryland.

Pomerantsev is the author of two other books on disinformation and propaganda, "Nothing Is True and Everything is Possible," and "This Is Not Propaganda." He is currently based at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

Pomerantsev also delivered a TED Talk at TEDxMidAtlantic in Washington, D.C. in June 2024.

Links:

TED Talk (2024)

How To Win an Information War (2024)

This Is Not Propaganda (2019)

Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible (2014)

The term "October Surprise" has come to mean any kind of shock that might upend a November election. But the original October Surprise was in 1980, when Ronald Reagan's campaign operatives conspired with the fundamentalist Iranian regime to keep 52 American hostages in Tehran until after the presidential election of 1980 — all but ensuring a loss for incumbent candidate Jimmy Carter.

This is the account provided by author Craig Unger, who has been following the "October Surprise" story since 1991, and during that time has been able accumulate evidence to confirm that yes, the October Surprise really happened. This almost unbelievable story is documented in his new book, "Den of Spies: Reagan, Carter, and the Secret History of the Treason That Stole the White House, " recently published by Harper Collins.

Craig joins Dave for a fascinating discussion of this complicated history, and its implications on American politics today.

Purchase: Den of Spies

Follow Craig Unger on X

No joke: Peter Thiel envisioned PayPal as a way to challenge to the global political order. And that vision is just now coming into place in 2024. In this election cycle, cryptocurrency interests have surpassed $120 million, surpassing even big oil, in trying to capture candidates from both political parties. This episode features a recording of a Twitter (X) space recorded on September 12, 2024 exploring this set of topics. The space was coordinated by Jake Donoghue, and includes several leading crypto critics: me, David Gerard, Mark Hays, John Reed Stark, and Mark R. Smith.

Follow on X: @JDonoghueAuthor, @JohnReedStark, @DavidGerard, @AmScream, @Miercoles_Hays, @davetroy

Jake Donoghue Twitter Space

Peter Thiel at Libertopia 2010

The secretive Catholic sect Opus Dei seems to be popping up everywhere. But what is it? Many people are familiar with it from depictions in fiction like "The Davinci Code," but the reality is both more mundane and in many ways, more sinister.

Dave is joined by financial journalist Gareth Gore, who got into the story by covering the failure of Spanish bank Banco Popular. He found that the bank led to a rabbit hole — and in the center of it was Opus Dei. Part classic authoritarian mind control cult, part spiritual organization, part fraud, and part geopolitical powerhouse, Gore's new book "Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church" is a page-turning account of one of the most influential groups in the last 100 years.

Generative Artificial Intelligence has topped tech headlines for the last two years, but it's possible we may be reaching a limit of what can be achieved using current approaches. Concerns about reliability and now, return on investment for the countless billions invested in the sector, may put AI's short-term future in doubt.

Dave interviews AI expert Gary Marcus, a psychologist, cognitive scientist, and author, known for his research at the intersection of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence. He's also a professor emeritus of psychology and neuroscience at New York university.

While both Gary and Dave notably have a pro-tech stance, they also want to ensure that we build tools that work well, are sustainable, and are ethically sound. They explore this topic and more in a wide ranging discussion.

Gary Marcus: X Substack TED

GenAI: Too Much Spend, Too Little Benefit? (Goldman Sachs)

The Hardware Lottery by Sara Hooker

KAN: Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks (multiple authors)

Keywords: AI, LLMs, OpenAI, GenAI, Gary Marcus, ROI, truth, System 1, System 2, Kahneman, hardware lottery, Sara Hooker.

It's shaping up to be the hottest July on record, and things couldn't be more strange in the political realm. From multiple bombshell rulings from the Supreme Court to widespread speculation about whether Joe Biden should step aside after his halting debate performance, it feels like things couldn't get any crazier. Yet, that's entirely possible.

Dave talks with Jack Bryan, director of the film ACTIVE MEASURES and creator of the podcasts AMERICAN PSYOP and LAWYERS, GUNS, and MONEY about what's happened, what's at stake, and where things might go next. Recorded during the July 4th holiday, at the beach in Delaware.

Keywords: SCOTUS, Immunity, Chevron, SEC, Jarkesy, debate, Biden, convention, institutions, rule of law, democracy, autocracy, authoritarianism, Trump, fascism.

For decades, a highly entrepreneurial group of researchers, scientists, and journalists has been at the center of the movement to “disclose” the existence of extraterrestrial visitors to Earth — and they’ve scored what may be their biggest legislative victory yet.

The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed in December, includes a provision that requires the federal government to provide any and all records on UAP.

Activists hope that a deluge of new UAP information will be disclosed later this year — smack in the middle of election season. The new law requires that all UAP-related records created more than 25 years ago must be made public — unless personally blocked by President Biden.

Dave talks with researcher Jack Brewer and veteran journalist Art Levine in two separate interviews, to hear each of their perspectives on what's going on. It's a rich, detailed conversation you won't want to miss.

Is a UFO Hoax a Ticking Time Bomb for Biden by Dave Troy, Washington Spectator

Spaceship of Fools by Art Levine, Washington Spectator

AARO Historical Report (March 2024)

Expanding Frontiers Research

Keywords: Danny Sheehan, NDAA, Robert Bigelow, Brandon Fugal, Skinwalker Ranch, Luis Elizondo, Hal Puthoff, Russell Targ, Institute of Noetic Sciences, Christopher Mellon, Timothy Mellon, RFK Jr., Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Noosphere, Vladimir Vernadsky, Vladimir Putin, KGB, UFO, UAP, Noosphere.

American society seems to be devolving into two bitterly opposed and diametrically polarized camps. Not just around politics, but around culture as well.

Jonathan Stray studies conflict, and tries to identify ways in which we can learn to conflict with each other more productively. He is a researcher at the Center for Human Compatible AI at the University of California Berkeley, where his work looks at a range of scientific and academic study of conflict and online behaviors.

He talks with Dave about his work, why Americans are so divided, and what we might do about it. They also discuss where some of his funding comes from, and the messy world of think tanks.

Keywords: conflict, polarization, social media, online interaction, CHAI, Center for Human Compatible AI, Jonathan Stray, Better Conflict Bulletin, University of California Berkeley, Mercatus Center.