The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast
Is That a Drone?
In this week's Active Measures Newsletter Podcast, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson conclude the year and the first season of the podcast with a discussion of Romanian efforts to protect their presidential election from Russian interference; a look at Congress de-funding the U.S. Global Engagement…
31:00
Out-Russia Russia
In this episode of the Active Measures Newsletter Podcast, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson review the latest reporting on Chinese cognitive warfare, Russia's multi-pronged efforts to undermine Western support for Ukraine, the limits of fact-checking to counter disinformation, and the unprecedente…
28:31
Sabotage and Active Measures
In their first episode back since election day 2024, Mark Jacobson and Jim Ludes take stock of the impact of foreign disinformation and generative AI in the U.S. election, turn their attention to various efforts to fight back, including for-profit companies and education, and then dive into the sab…
29:20
Election Week with Steven Lee Myers
Voting in the 2024 U.S. election concludes this week with a race still too close to call. Steven Lee Myers, correspondent for The New York Times, joins hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson for a discussion of the foreign and domestic disinformation plaguing American politics. Those attacks include a s…
35:07
Democracy in the Crosshairs
On this week's Active Measures Newsletter Podcast, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson discuss new reporting on disinformation targeting Spanish-language voters in the United States; anti-Semitic disinformation on the Spamouflage network; big trends in disinformation targeting Western Democracies, Ru…
30:03
Spamouflage with Jack Stubbs
Graphika Chief Intelligence Officer Jack Stubbs joins Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson for a discussion of the Spamouflage campaign and Graphika's most recent report "The #Americans." Stubbs explains Graphika's most recent reporting, the evolution in the network's tactics, and the fine-line between inf…
35:04
"Stories Are Weapons" with Annalee Newitz
Best-selling author Annalee Newitz joins hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson for a discussion of Newitz's new book, Stories are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind. The discussion races from early cold warrior Paul Linebarger and his other life as a science-fiction author, to similar…
33:14
Synchronized Shifts
In this week's Active Measures Newsletter Podcast, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson discuss the recent report from the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center documenting "synchronized shifts" in three consecutive U.S. presidential elections in which Russian assets sought to denigrate Democratic candidat…
35:33
Cats and Dogs
This week on the Active Measures Newsletter Podcast, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson unpack the viral, dangerous misinformation about immigrants and family pets in Springfield, Ohio; take a look at the disinformation targeting Latino voters in Michigan; and discuss new reporting about the leader …
32:28
A Five Alarm Fire
This week, New York Times reporter Julian E. Barnes joins Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson for an in-depth conversation of the multiple indictments announced late last week by the U.S. Department of Justice exposing the scheme by Russian state-media to funnel $10 million to American right-wing influence…
33:57