'Assume that everything you're seeing is paid for' with Jason Beeferman

That post you saw about Polymarket odds?  It very well may have been sponsored—paid for by the company that stands to gain the most from your wager.  Only the influencer making the post didn’t have to disclose their financial interest.  Political Reporter Jason Beeferman, with his colleagues at Pol…

Special Edition: Operation Cornflakes

In the realm of disinformation and political warfare, few operations stand out as prominently as Operation Cornflakes. This unique campaign, launched during World War II, aimed to exploit the German postal system to disseminate black propaganda. In this special edition of the podcast, Mark Jacobson…

Special Edition: Propaganda and the American Revolution

The Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776, was more than a formal announcement of separation from Britain, it was a masterful piece of propaganda. By articulating grievances and affirming universal rights, it sought to unify the colonies and garner international support. The document…

The Bulgarian Elections with Sopo Gelava

We started noticing it in 2024: an inside-outside game in which American political actors seed divisive issues that are then exploited from abroad.  But there are also internationally fueled narratives that often spur domestic voices. We've described it as a “dialogue” between actors foreign and do…

Active Measures with Sean M. Wiswesser

Some look at the U.S. elections in 2016 and 2020 and see issues of partisan contention.  Sean M. Wiswesser--a national security professional with 30 years of experience in intelligence, foreign service, and defense--sees an outright attack on American democracy by Russia, using an old playbook call…

Fighting Disinformation and Protecting the Constitution with Katie Kedian

During the Cold War, President Eisenhower used to caution people that in confronting the Soviets, the United States needed to be careful that we didn’t destroy the very thing we sought to preserve.  GW Law Visiting Associate ProfessorKatie Kedian makes a similar point about countering disinformatio…

CISA Dismantled with Former U.S. Representatives Tim Roemer and Reid Ribble

In 2018, President Donald Trump signed into law legislation creating the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).  Yet former Congressmen Tim Roemer (D-IN) and Reid Ribble (R-WI) warn that President Trump has since gutted the very same agency despite rising threats from Russia, China, a…

Honoring the Fallen: A Memorial Day Tribute

As long as humanity has etched images into stone and told stories to others, we have honored and remembered heroes so that their names would live forever.  In this Memorial Day edition of the Active Measures Newsletter Podcast, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson read the names of U.S. psychological …

Tracking Foreign Language Disinformation with Martina Guzmán

Anyone who has ever tried to study disinformation is well-familiar with the firehose of falsehoods—there’s just so much content on so many platforms and in so much media that it’s virtually impossible to track it all. But Martina Guzmán figured out a way to use AI to help sift through all of the au…

Disinformation, Accountability and Democracy with Alan Jagolinzer

Over the last 18 months, the Trump administration has characterized efforts to counter disinformation as attacks on free speech, going so far as refuse visas to European fact-checkers. But the founder and chair of the Cambridge Disinformation Summit, Alan Jagolinzer, sees disinformation not simply …