Angry Planet

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com The Pentagon has been trying to pivot to the Pacific for years now. Under President Donald Trump 2.0, who is focused on China, it just might happen. It’s a complicated body of water with dozens of players and a bloody history. One where Beijing is increasingly asserting itself. Here to walk us through some of it is Angry Planet producer and Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporter Kevin Knodell. He’s just back from the Philippines where he spent two weeks reporting on a joint exercise between the U.S. and its allies in the Pacific. Fort Elizabeth Hawaii troops forge alliances in Philippines Army, allies ponder Pacific role Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com Recorded 5/7/25 India and Pakistan have been unhappy neighbors since 1947 and Britain’s decolonization of the subcontinent. They’ve fought four wars and there have been countless skirmishes. As Indian jets streak over Pakistani skies and that Muslim nation threatens retaliation, it’s unclear if this is war or just another blip between nations that plain don’t like each other. Joining us is Sushant Singh, a man with a background that includes academic, journalist and 20-year veteran in the Indian army. He’s written an article on the situation in Foreign Affairs, and brings us up to date. More than 20 killed after gunmen open fire on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com Great power competition has gotten old for President Donald Trump—never one for a fair fight. He’s looking for a little great power collusion instead, dividing the world with his best buds, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. This kind of thing isn’t new, though, Stacie Goddard, a professor at Wellesley, tells us, in fact it’s the 1800s on repeat. Well, look how that turned out… World War I, anybody? BTW, check out her terrific article on this in Foreign Affairs magazine. The Rise and Fall of Great-Power Competition The Concert of Europe Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com Conquest is back baby! Eastern Europe, Taiwan, Greenland, Canada? It’s all on the table—and maybe up for grabs. Here to help us sort through this new age of empire building is University of Chicago political scientist Michael Albertus. Those Were The Days The Coming Age of Territorial Expansion Land Power: Who Has It, Who Doesn’t, and How That Determines the Fate of Societies Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com Turkey’s president has grabbed a bit more power for himself with the recent arrest of the mayor of Istanbul. The mayor was thought to be one of the few politicians who could challenge Erdogan. Steven Cook will take us through it. Talking about authoritarians is one of the things we do here, so strap in for another tale of turmoil on an angry planet. kagi.com Turkey Can’t Live With, or Without, Erdogan Ukraine Has Written a Folk Song About Its Drone Turkey and Israel are becoming deadly rivals in Syria Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com Special for our international listeners, did you know you can now buy a pathway to U.S. citizenship for the low, low price of $5 million sent directly to the U.S. treasury? For decades America’s immigration policies were a boon to its national defense. No one has better intelligence on a rival country than a fleeing dissident with firsthand knowledge. Times have changed. Gil Guerra of the Niskanen Center is here to talk all about those changes. It’s an episode packed with bizarre anecdotes and interesting tidbits about how America runs now. You’ll learn why evangelical Christians are turning their back on refugees, why China won’t accept deportation flights, and how to navigate the Darien Gap using short form video posts. Op-ed: Trump’s gold card visa, explained Domestic debate, global strategy: Revisiting immigration in U.S. foreign policy China owns 380,000 acres of land in the U.S. Here's where Weapons of Mass Migration Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com For mercenaries, death is a business. It’s all about finding the right market. Wagner and other Russian mercenary groups have found willing markets in Africa. Journalist John Lechner spent years in Africa among the mercenaries and he’s on the show today to tell us about what he learned. Lechner tells us how Wagner’s men think the U.S. media killed Prigozhin, why every theater (or market) is different, and the training regimen of a fresh convict recruit. It’s all in his new book Death Is Our Business: Mercenaries and the New Era of Private Warfare. The threats change…but the mercenaries stay the same. The Tip of Russia’s Spear Death Is Our Business Pardoned for Serving in Ukraine, They Return to Russia to Kill Again Taliban Bureaucrats Hate Working Online All Day, ‘Miss the Days of Jihad’ Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A lot of the people designing America’s technology and close to the center of American power believe some deeply weird shit. We already talked to journalist Gil Duran about the Nerd Reich, the rise of the destructive anti-democratic ideology. In this episode, we dive into another weird section of Silicon Valley: the cult of Rationalism. Max Read, the journalist behind the Read Max Substack, is here to help us through it. Rationalism is responsible for a lot more than you might think and Read lays out how it’s influenced the world we live in today and how it created the environment for a cult that’s got a body count. Anselm: Ontological Argument for God’s Existence READ MAX! The Zizians and the Rationalist death cults Pausing AI Developments Isn’t Enough. We Need to Shut it All Down - Eliezer Yudkowsky’s TIME Magazine piece Explaining Roko’s Basilisk, the Thought Experiment That Brought Elon Musk and Grimes Together The Delirious, Violent, Impossible True Story of the Zizians The Government Knows AGI is Coming | The Ezra Klein Show The archived ‘Is Trump Racist’ rational post Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com The Israeli military is using AI products from Microsoft to conduct its war in Gaza. Off the shelf AI products powered by the tech company’s Azure cloud computing system and OpenAI are helping the IDF sort through data, translate Arabic, and even pick targets. But AI translations aren’t perfect and these systems often make mistakes. What happens when the consequences are life and death? Associated Press global investigative reporters Garance Burke and Michael Biesecker are part of a team that broke the story about Israel’s use of Microsoft’s commercial AI in a war. They’re on the show today to help us sort through it all. How US tech giants supplied Israel with AI models, raising questions about tech’s role in warfare As Israel uses US-made AI models in war, concerns arise about tech’s role in who lives and who dies Microsoft workers protest sale of AI and cloud services to Israeli military Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com We’re living in a bizarre age of technofascism. The richest man who has ever lived, a man who dreams of colonizing Mars with his children, is America’s CEO. Donald Trump, the man people voted for, is just the chairman of the board. What does Elon Musk believe? Is there a playbook for DOGE? How bad are things going to get? On this episode of Angry Planet journalist Gil Duran, author of The Nerd Reich newsletter, walks us through what’s coming. Over on The Shatter Zone, journalist and former Angry Planet guest Robert Evans has published a document that Democratic think tanks are passing around. It gives extra context to Duran’s reporting. All the major players and themes we talk about in this episode are there: Curtis Yarvin, Nick Land, the Butterfly Effect. If you want to understand why so many federal workers are getting fired and the Silicon Valley ideology that’s infected D.C., then give us a listen. The Nerd Reich AI Video of Trump Sucking Musk's Toes Blasted on Government Office TVs Trump’s AI Gaza Video Is the Tip of a Horrifying ‘Gaz-A-Lago’ Iceberg Techno-Fascism Comes to America Curtis Yarvin Says Democracy Is Done. Powerful Conservatives Are Listening. 'Reboot' Revealed: Elon Musk's CEO-Dictator Playbook Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com President Donald Trump wants to build an American Iron Dome. He even signed an executive order to make it happen. It’s a terrible idea, one we’ve tried before, and one that will make America less safe. In this episode, Joseph Cirincione returns to the program to detail his personal history with complicated and costly missile defense systems. Project 2025 and Trump Are Cooking Up a Recipe for a New Nuclear Arms Race The Iron Dome for America Executive Order The national missile defense fantasy—again Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture Why the US General In Charge of Nuclear Weapons Said He Needs AI Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is the interim head of USAID, for however much longer the agency lasts. For 60 years, the massive bureaucracy was a vehicle for American soft power abroad. Trump, Elon Musk, and all their creatures don’t like it. It might soon be gone. Nicole Widdersheim is the deputy Washington director of Human Rights Watch with a long history of humanitarian work. She’s here on Angry Planet today to walk us through this new era of the American Empire. Defense, diplomacy, developmentCongressionally approved rice to North KoreaAt USAID, Waste and Abuse Runs DeepHow China’s “Belt and Road” actually worksThe end of USAID will screw over American farmers Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com How 1999's WTO Protests Influenced the Policing of Protests TodayWhite goodsHow to make a T-shirtHow much would the iPhone cost if it were made in America? Goodbye Globalization: The Return of a Divided Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com Between the idea and the reality falls the shadow. Marine Corps veteran J.D. Vance will soon be vice president. Pete Hegseth, a man with a Crusader Kings tattoo who doesn’t want women to serve in combat roles, is probably going to be confirmed as secretary of defense. Over New Years, two members of the U.S. military committed domestic terror attacks. Today on Angry Planet we get into the highs and lows of the American military with Marine Corps vet and author Phil Klay. Crusader KingsTrump, Hegseth and the Honor of the American MilitaryAsking Pete Hegseth how many pushups he can do during a confirmation hearingThe Cult of ‘Sicario’Anguish and Anger From the Navy SEALs Who Turned In Edward GallagherSen. Ted Cruz insulted a ‘woke, emasculated’ U.S. Army ad. Angry veterans fired back. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com It’s hard to read the mind of a dictator, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying. When Russian President invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, there were a million columns, videos and podcasts explaining “the real reason” for such a “crazy” move. Well, anyone who tells the story from February 2022 is missing decades of Russian interference in Ukraine, with low points coming during the Orange Revolution of 2005 and then in 2014. The Euromaidan protests ended with the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych and Russia’s annexation of Crimea. But what made Putin take that next step eight years later? Lucian Kim is a journalist with vast experience in the region, working in Berlin and as NPR’s bureau chief in Moscow. If you can trust anyone to know what brought the world to war, it’s him—hell, he wrote a book on the subject: Putin’s Revenge: Why Russia Invaded Ukraine. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com This week on Angry Planet writer David Faris joins us to talk about his time in Syria and life in America. The McDonald’s bombing in Beirut Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com This week Angry Planet turns its attention to Canada. Global News investigative journalist Stewart Bell joins us to walk through his two latest pieces and give Matthew a crash course on Canadian history. What do outlaw motorcycle gangs, extrajudicial assassinations, an Indian separatist movement, and a resurgent Islamic State all have in common? Canada. Bell is here to explain it all. what makes a True Believer ISIS arrests are spiking in Canada and youths are driving the resurgence Investigation: Visas have become an Indian foreign interference tool Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, I talked to Kollen Post about how and why Silicon Valley markets their drones as “battle tested in Ukraine.” We recorded it on Thanksgiving, Jason was busy spending time with his family, and Post and I went down some weird philosophical rabbit holes. ‘Battle-tested in Ukraine’ — How US drone makers turned Ukraine into a tagline to sell west Ukraine’s drones have a reputation for low cost. Buntar Aerospace wants to make them boutique How Palantir Is Using AI in Ukraine The Anduril merch store Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com North Korean troops are fighting alongside Russian ones in Ukraine. Bringing the two together hasn’t all gone smoothly. There are language barriers, cultural barriers, and a whole lot of Russian territory to recover. The results have been mixed, but the partnership points to a deepening of the special relationship between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation. On this episode of Angry Planet, Jenny Town is here to explain the deepening ties between Russia and North Korea. Town is a Senior Fellow and Director at the Stimson center and writes at 38 North. Is Kim Jong Un Preparing for War? First Look at North Korea’s Uranium Enrichment Capabilities Kaesong Industrial Complex: A Tortured History and Uncertain Future Quick Take: North Korea’s Coverage of Russian War Against Ukraine Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com The planet isn’t going to get any less angry. This week, Aram Shabanian comes on the show again to help us work through what the next Trump presidency may mean for America, Europe, and the rest of the world. Elon Musk joined Trump's call with Zelenskyy Musk joined a phone call between Trump and a Serbian leader The Donkey Kong painting Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.