The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast

In their first episode back since election day 2024, Mark Jacobson and Jim Ludes take stock of the impact of foreign disinformation and generative AI in the U.S. election, turn their attention to various efforts to fight back, including for-profit companies and education, and then dive into the sabotage campaign Russia appears to be running across Europe, most recently taking the form of undersea cable cutting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Voting in the 2024 U.S. election concludes this week with a race still too close to call. Steven Lee Myers, correspondent for The New York Times, joins hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson for a discussion of the foreign and domestic disinformation plaguing American politics. Those attacks include a sustained Russian effort to cast doubt on the integrity of American democracy while both Russia and Iran look intent to stoke political dissension, and possibly even violence, in the period after election day. This is the companion podcast to The Active Measures Newsletter No. 307.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's Active Measures Newsletter Podcast, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson discuss new reporting on disinformation targeting Spanish-language voters in the United States; anti-Semitic disinformation on the Spamouflage network; big trends in disinformation targeting Western Democracies, Russia undermining public health efforts in Africa, and what to make of EU election results and Moldova's referendum.The companion podcast to the Active Measures Newsletter No. 305.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Graphika Chief Intelligence Officer Jack Stubbs joins Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson for a discussion of the Spamouflage campaign and Graphika's most recent report "The #Americans."  Stubbs explains Graphika's most recent reporting, the evolution in the network's tactics, and the fine-line between informing the public and needlessly doing the work of adversarial information warriors.  In addition, Ludes and Jacobson unpack Thomas Rid's review of internal Russian documents, exposing the lies Russian propagandists tell themselves and their masters, as well as Josh Goldstein and Renee DiResta's piece on the sophistication of Russia's campaigns in 2024.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Best-selling author Annalee Newitz joins hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson for a discussion of Newitz's new book, Stories are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind. The discussion races from early cold warrior Paul Linebarger and his other life as a science-fiction author, to similarities between psyops and advertising, and the transfer of these technologies between military and civilian entities, culminating in a lengthy discussion of whether or not disarmament of munitions of the mind can be achieved. Ludes and Jacobson also share their top stories of the week--including the arrival of foreign governments using AI generated content to target Americans on the eve of election 2024.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's Active Measures Newsletter Podcast, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson discuss the recent report from the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center documenting "synchronized shifts" in three consecutive U.S. presidential elections in which Russian assets sought to denigrate Democratic candidates within 90 days of election day. They then discuss a Tech Policy Press report on how the U.S. government struggles to counter these threats, before welcoming Paul Fagan, Director of Democracy Programs at the McCain Institute for a conversation about the new task force report he led, "Defending American Democracy in the Digital Age."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Active Measures Newsletter Podcast, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson unpack the viral, dangerous misinformation about immigrants and family pets in Springfield, Ohio; take a look at the disinformation targeting Latino voters in Michigan; and discuss new reporting about the leader of RT, on the one hand, and, on the other, the effort by former U.S. Senator Gordon Humprhey to build a social media channel that speaks directly to the Russian people.  All that and more as we celebrate the 300th edition of the Active Measures Newsletter!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, New York Times reporter Julian E. Barnes joins Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson for an in-depth conversation of the multiple indictments announced late last week by the U.S. Department of Justice exposing the scheme by Russian state-media to funnel $10 million to American right-wing influencers peddling divisive and anti-Ukrainian messages to American audiences.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson discuss the investigation of American citizens working for Russian state media; the potential of 'Green Cicada,' a newly identified AI-enabled network on X, to achieve strategic surprise in the information-space; legal and financial consequences for those using synthetic media in campaigns; Russia's likely use of "gendered disinformation" in the 2024 U.S. campaign; and the surrender of social media companies who were expected to police disinformation on their networks themselves while one of their owners uses his platform to stoke violent riots in a key NATO ally.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Special guest David Klepper, the intelligence reporter on the national security team for the Associate Press, joins Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson to discuss his recent reporting. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence recently briefed reporters on the actions of Russia, China, and Iran in the run up to the 2024 elections.  Each has an interest--but each is approaching the election in their own way.  In Russia's case, that includes the use of unwitting Americans to spread divisive messages. And as the Olympic flame fades, Klepper discusses the ways Russia has sought to sew division in the shadow of the Paris Olympics.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.