The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast

23:14

“We were here and we can come back again,” with Jim...

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/10/03

Hostile information activity is no longer just about false claims, but about intimidation, disruption, and shaping the conditions in which politics and policy unfold. In this week’s episode, Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson provide a wide-ranging update on current foreign malign influence efforts, from suspected break-ins at Finnish lawmakers’ homes to Russia’s growing use of cloned media outlets and AI-assisted deception. They also examine how Australia, Britain, and the United States

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31:00

Everything Old is New Again: Russian Election...

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/09/26

Foreign election interference aims to weaken trust in democracy more than to change vote counts. New York Times reporter Dustin Volz takes us inside his recent reporting on U.S. intelligence tracking current foreign efforts to influence America’s election. The Russians are still sewing chaos; the Chinese are attacking down-ballot races, and the Iranians—locked in an intense fight with the United States—emerge as the wild card as we head into the mid-term elections. Hosts Jim Ludes

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33:05

Deepfakes and Disinformation with Katelyn Chedraoui

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/09/19

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 tools have gotten very good, very fast—not “seven fingers” good, photorealistic good. That’s especially unsettling because a bad actor doesn’t need to create the

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33:06

AI and Radicalization in Closed Loops with Simeon...

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/09/12

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-Semitism, misogyny, and anti-migrant narratives, revealing how some systems become increasingly agreeable as conversations continue—sometimes shifting from resistance to validation in just a few turns

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34:10

What Really Scares Authoritarians with Scott Fisher...

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/09/05

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 of a tremendous opportunity for Western democracies to hold their authoritarian rivals at risk—either by threatening to break the regime’s monopoly on information, demonstrating the

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33:10

The Propaganda Manual of the Ukraine War with Thomas...

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/08/29

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 powerhouse, appealed to Speaker Mike Johnson’s Baptist roots to unlock U.S. aid, and built an international campaign around kidnapped Ukrainian children to drive an International Criminal Court indictment

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35:12

The AI Disinformation Incident Repository with Sam...

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/08/22

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 next information war may be won before the truth even has a chance to catch up. Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also discuss evidence of Russian and American voices in the up-coming Alberta independence

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29:59

TikTok is a Potent Weapon of CCP Political Warfare...

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/08/15

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 about national security. The discussion also covers the potential for crisis scenarios where the CCP could manipulate information during conflicts, such as a hypothetical situation involving

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32:18

AI Powered Community Notes on X with Alexios Mantzarlis

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/08/08

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 “recovering fact checker,” breaks down the surprising rise of AI-written notes, why bots sometimes outperform humans, and the bigger danger hiding underneath the numbers: a moderation

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27:32

'Working the Political Engine': Revolutionary War-Era...

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/08/01

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 in shaping independence. The patriots even consolidated early control over sources of news and information creating a strategic weapon that the British struggled to counter—a feature of

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30:48

'Assume that everything you're seeing is paid for'...

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/07/25

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 Politico, have blown the doors off the story, identifying influencers and nearly 500 social media posts they created in exchange for payment—without disclosing that arrangement to their

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12:43

Special Edition: Operation Cornflakes

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/07/18

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 unravels the intricacies of Operation Cornflakes, examining how it worked, its historical context, and the lessons it offers for understanding modern information warfare.See omnystudio.com/listener for

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7:24

Special Edition: Propaganda and the American Revolution

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/07/04

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 framed the revolution not just as a political struggle, but as a moral imperative--and the legacy of that framing resonates to this day.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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30:40

The Bulgarian Elections with Sopo Gelava

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/06/27

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 domestic. But the phenomenon is not just happening in the United States, and Sopo Gelava argues persuasively in an assessment of Russian efforts in Bulgaria’s recent election, that the

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30:38

Active Measures with Sean M. Wiswesser

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/06/20

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 called 'active measures.' On this week's podcast, Wiswesser recounts Russia's tactics and the continuing danger to Western democracies. Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also highlight recent Russian sabotage

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33:08

Fighting Disinformation and Protecting the...

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/06/13

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 Professor Katie Kedian makes a similar point about countering disinformation in American public life today. She emphasizes the need for a nuanced understanding of the legal frameworks surrounding disinformation, the potential role of social media regulation, and the impact

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31:41

CISA Dismantled with Former U.S. Representatives Tim...

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/06/06

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, and Iran. At a time when America’s adversaries are penetrating our network infrastructure and using advanced technology to deepen our partisan divisions, one-third of CISA’s staff is gone, the

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6:49

Honoring the Fallen: A Memorial Day Tribute

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/05/23

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 operations personnel who have given the final full measure since the Korean War and honor all who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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35:40

Tracking Foreign Language Disinformation with Martina...

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/05/16

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 audio content being generated on radio stations across the country. The result is Verdad.app, an incredible tool for researchers and a wake-up call about the sheer volume of

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32:33

Disinformation, Accountability and Democracy with...

The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast ·

2026/05/09

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 as speech, but rather a preparatory act preceding harm—a reframing of the challenge that opens the door to a wide-range of interventions. Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also talk about U.S. and

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