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PODCAST

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks

BKBT Productions

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks is the tech podcast about humans. Hosted by George K and George A, this podcast examines AI, infrastructure, technology adoption, and the broader implications of tech developments through both guest interviews and news commentary.Our guests bring honest perspectives on what"s working, what"s broken, and new ways to examine the roles and impacts of technology in our lives.We challenge conventional tech industry narratives and dig into real-world consequences over hype

technology

All Episodes

41:02

AI vs Human writing and what it means for our thinking

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2026/02/02

What happens when AI-generated text masquerades as human research?Kimberly Becker, PhD, a corpus linguist joins the show this week to talk about her study comparing human-written versus AI-generated abstracts in high-stakes healthcare research.The findings reveal something unsettling about how LLMs may potentially reshape scientific communication. ChatGPT's outputs showed higher informational density, formulaic patterns, and a lack of hedging, the linguistic uncertainty that marks careful scientific

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39:51

Protecting data as the critical supply line for AI...

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2026/01/26

We need to stop treating our data like something to be stored and more like a mission critical supply lines.Andrew Schoka spent his military career in offensive cyber, including stints in the Joint Operations Command and Cyber Command. Now he's building Hardshell to solve a problem most organizations don't even realize they have yet.Here's the thing: AI is phenomenal at solving problems in places where data is incredibly sensitive. Healthcare, financial services, defense—these are exactly where AI

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35:54

Securing nuclear energy systems on all fronts with...

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2026/01/19

Are we sleepwalking into a security crisis that makes ransomware look quaint?Nuclear security expert Audrey Crowe joins the show to talk about the convergence of grey zone warfare, critical infrastructure, and nuclear security. This isn't your parents’ Cold War nuclear threat, this is about adversaries who've figured out they don't need missiles when they can manipulate our infrastructure through cyber operations, disinformation, and coercion that lives in the murky space below armed conflict.While

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35:44

Why future applications of AI will need higher...

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2026/01/12

What if the real AI revolution isn't about better models—but about unlocking the data we've been sitting on?Mike McLaughlin—cybersecurity and data privacy attorney, former US Cyber Command—joins us to discuss something most people miss in the AI conversation: we're building the infrastructure for a completely new asset class.The conversation moves past today's headlines and LLM limitations into what becomes possible when we solve the data access problem:Research acceleration at unprecedented scale

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34:46

Translating security and tech concepts for the...

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2026/01/05

When did we stop asking how things work? Rich Greene joins the show to talk about his new podcast Plaintext with Rich, and we get into something that matters more than any tech: curiosity itself.Rich spent 20 years in Special Operations before becoming a SANS instructor. Now he's taking complex tech topics and breaking them down for people who need to understand, not just use.There's a tension building between the tech sector and society at large. AI promises to make everything easier, and maybe it

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2:06

Stay sharp, stay real: Wishing you a kickass 2026!

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2025/12/29

Wishing you a very happy and prosperous New Year!We'll be back in 2026!

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7:19

Happy Holidays! Our listeners are the greatest gift!

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2025/12/22

It's a holiday week, so turn off this podcast!But if you'd like to tune in all the same, then we're here to say think you. You, the listeners, have been the greatest gift this season as we've made this turn in our format from security to looking more broadly at the human impact of technology.You've stuck with us. We've gotten a lot of great messages of support, and we love the direction of the show and love that you love it!Happy holidays from BKBT! May your time off be peaceful and energizing for

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43:39

Best Of: Confronting big tech's abuses as a question...

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2025/12/15

We're off this week, deep into planning and scheduling for next year. Please enjoy this Best Of episode, originally released in October.Hannah Storey, Advocacy and Policy Advisor at Amnesty International, joins the show to talk about her new brief that reframes Big Tech monopolies as a human rights crisis, not just a market competition problem.This isn't about consumer choice or antitrust law. It's about how concentrated market power violates fundamental rights—freedom of expression, privacy, and

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33:28

Looking ahead to the next year in tech and human impact

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2025/12/08

2025 was hella weird. The AI revolution is here whether we asked for it or not. This week, George K and George A reflect on the year and what it means for 2026.At AWS re:Invent, George A watched a machine create a custom fragrance and marketing campaign in real-time from a voice prompt. What does that portend for product prototyping, and scaled manufacturing?Could voice and natural language finally replacing typing as the primary interface? We're watching the biggest shift in human-computer

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43:03

Why leveling up is about fixing your own "broken...

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2025/12/01

What if your biggest career obstacle isn't external—it's the “broken code” running in your own head?Rachelle Tanguay joins the show to unpack the difference between consuming self-help content and actually doing the uncomfortable work of rewiring your internal programming.From advising deputy ministers to coaching professionals across sectors, she's seen what happens when high-performers hit the wall between knowing what to do and actually being able to execute.This conversation cuts through the

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40:45

How Expertise becomes a blind spot in technology...

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2025/11/24

Graeme Rudd spent years taking emerging technology into austere environments and watching it fail.He assessed over 350 technologies for a Department of Defense lab. The pattern was consistent: engineers solved technical problems brilliantly. Lawyers checked compliance boxes. Leadership approved budgets. And the technology failed because no one was looking at how humans would actually use it.So he went to law school—not to practice law, but because solving technology problems requires understanding

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35:10

Getting Addicted to the Process and Chasing Excellence

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2025/11/17

What happens when you go all in and bet on yourself?Taylor McClatchie, professional Muay Thai fighter with ONE Championship, joins the show to share how she did just that.She spent a decade in reproductive science, working in a lab. Then she walked away from it all to turn her pastime into her profession. Went 20-0 as an amateur. Made her pro debut at Madison Square Garden with a head kick knockout. Has competed 65 times—exceptionally rare for a North American woman in combat sports.This episode

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36:13

Re-thinking How AI Can Actually Drive Business Value

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2025/11/10

Eric Pilkington joins the show to cut through the noise around artificial intelligence and deliver some hard truths about what's actually working—and what's just expensive theater.AI isn't new; it's been around for 70+ years. The current generative AI boom is democratization, not innovation—and 95% of AI projects are still failing.Startups with no product, no customers, and no revenue raising $30-100 million. Companies are getting massive funding without a single dollar of revenue.The real AI

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44:40

A Biotech Innovation to Treat a Chronic Health...

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2025/11/03

Hunter Grad, CEO and founder of Ameliogenix, joins the show to talk about developing mRNA immunotherapies for cardiovascular disease. George K and George A sit down with Hunter to discuss: How a procrastinated university project turned into a biotech startup tackling the leading cause of death worldwide The novel application of mRNA technology to permanently reduce cholesterol levels through targeting proteins within the body rather than viral diseases What it takes to bootstrap a biotech company

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44:36

Confronting Big Tech's Abuses as a Question of Human...

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2025/10/27

Hannah Storey, Advocacy and Policy Advisor at Amnesty International, joins the show to talk about her new brief that reframes Big Tech monopolies as a human rights crisis, not just a market competition problem.This isn't about consumer choice or antitrust law. It's about how concentrated market power violates fundamental rights—freedom of expression, privacy, and the right to hold views without interference or manipulation.Can you make a human rights case against Big Tech? Why civil society needed

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41:57

What a Ransomware Attack on a Hospital Really Mean...

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2025/10/22

RE-ISSUE: This recording corrects for an audio overlap problem in the previous version of this interview at the 28:00 mark.Zach Lewis, CIO/CISO at University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis, joins the show to talk about his experience with a ransomware attack by the LockBit group.Zach takes us beyond the technical recovery into territory most people don't talk about: the gut-punch moment of finding the ransom note and the months of running on pure adrenaline while keeping his team from

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57:03

Can Ethical AI Democratize Therapy and Higher Quality...

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2025/10/13

Clinical psychologist, Dr. Sarah Adler, joins the show this week to talk about why “AI Therapy” doesn’t exist, but is bullish on what AI can help therapists achieve.Dr. Adler is a clinical psychologist and CEO of Wave. She's building AI tools for mental healthcare, which makes her position clear—what's being sold as "AI therapy" right now is dangerous.Chatbots are optimized to keep conversations going. Therapy is designed to build skills within bounded timeframes. Engagement is not therapy. Instead,

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36:59

So, Are We Gonna Cure Cancer or Just Double Down on...

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2025/10/06

This week George K and George A switch formats to tackle the AI revolution's messiest questions—from autonomous coding agents to digital actresses and deepfake scams.The hosts examine what happens when innovation moves faster than ethics. When Claude Sonnet 4.5 promises 30 hours of autonomous coding, what's the real trade-off between productivity gains and security fundamentals? When talent agencies want to represent AI-generated actresses, are we witnessing the death of human performance art or

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48:16

BEST OF: Sex & Tech: Privacy, Power, and Human...

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2025/09/29

The lads are traveling this week, so we're revisiting their interview with Savannah Sly, dominatrix and sex worker rights advocate. She joined the show to talk about privacy, power, and the nuances of human intimacy as generative AI takes hold.George K and George A talk to Savannah about: The current state of privacy for vulnerable communities and the real-world operational security challenges they face Practical steps individuals can take to protect their digital identities when dating online

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40:51

Are We Building a Star Trek Future or One that Looks...

Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks ·

2025/09/22

This week George K and George A switch formats to consider the deeper questions behind recent tech headlines.The hosts dig into the philosophical tensions driving today's biggest tech stories. When does technological dependency become too dangerous to ignore? How do we distinguish between genuine innovation and elaborate pump-and-dump schemes dressed up as progress? What are the real costs when entire economies become intertwined with a handful of companies?They explore whether we're witnessing the

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