Deepfakes and Disinformation with Katelyn Chedraoui

AI deepfakes don’t have to be flawless. They have to look believable enough to make you react. We spoke with CNET reporter Katelyn Chedraoui about where deepfakes are now—and what gives them so much potential as vehicles for disinformation. Her point was simple and unsettling: AI image and video to…

AI and Radicalization in Closed Loops with Simeon Dukić and Natalie Vela

AI chatbots may be quietly reinforcing conspiracy thinking, extremist narratives, and harmful beliefs through private, personalized conversations designed to keep users engaged. Simeon Dukic and Natalie Vela of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue discuss research testing 10 chatbots across anti-Se…

What Really Scares Authoritarians with Scott Fisher and Graig Klein

Authoritarian regimes from Moscow to Beijing fear losing control of their own information eco-systems—more than military exercises, more than economic sanctions, and more than diplomatic isolation.  That’s the conclusion from new research by Scott Fisher and Graig Klein who see in the data evidence…

The Propaganda Manual of the Ukraine War with Thomas Kent

Russia and Ukraine are fighting more than battles on Ukrainian soil, they are fighting a war for minds, and other governments are still playing catch-up. Thomas Kent of the American Foreign Policy Council explains how Ukraine turned a chaotic communications system into a wartime information powerho…

The AI Disinformation Incident Repository with Sam Stockwell and Broderick McDonald

AI disinformation is no longer just about deepfakes. It is now about poisoned search results, chatbot hallucinations, meme-driven propaganda, and a fast-growing economy built to exploit chaos. Sam Stockwell and Broderick McDonald from the Alan Turing Institute unpack the new playbook - and why the …

TikTok is a Potent Weapon of CCP Political Warfare with Michael Sobolik

TikTok is a potent tool for the Chinese Communist Party’s psychological warfare against the United States. In this conversation, the Hudson Institute’s Michael Sobolik highlights how TikTok's algorithm can shape public opinion in the U.S., particularly among younger audiences, and raises concerns a…

AI Powered Community Notes on X with Alexios Mantzarlis

AI is already writing more than half of X’s helpful Community Notes, and that changes everything about who gets fact-checked, what gets fact-checked, and what happens when “the community” starts looking a lot more synthetic. Alexios Mantzarlis, co-founder of Indicator and a self-described “recoveri…

'Working the Political Engine': Revolutionary War-Era Propaganda with Robert Parkinson

Propaganda was foundational to America's independence, from the direct appeal of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense to the black-propaganda of Benjamin Franklin’s scalp hoax.  Binghamton University Professor of History Robert Parkinson reveals the hidden power of newspapers, pamphlets, and even fake news …

'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…