The Modern Scholar Podcast

Derek Reveron, a national security expert and professor at the U.S. Naval War College, teams up with John E. Savage, a distinguished computer science scholar at Brown University. They dive into the intricate relationship between cybersecurity and national security. The duo discusses the dual nature of technology as both a challenge and an opportunity, examines the ethical implications of AI in the field, and reflects on the importance of interdisciplinary education. They also share valuable insights on cognitive biases in decision-making and essential reads for understanding human behavior.

Dr. Julia Irwin is the T. Harry Williams Professor of History at Louisiana State University, and the Co-Editor of the Journal of Disaster Studies. Her research focuses on the place of humanitarian aid in twentieth-century U.S. foreign relations, and we will be talking about her second book, Catastrophic Diplomacy: U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance in the American Century (2023) on the show today!

Dr. Kathy Peiss is the Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professor of American History (emerita) at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Information Hunters: When Librarians, Soldiers, and Spies Banded Together in World War II Europe, published by Oxford University Press in 2020. Other books include Cheap Amusements: Working Women and Leisure in Turn-of-the-Century New York (1986), Hope in a Jar: The Making of America’s Beauty Culture (1998), and Zoot Suit: The Enigmatic Career of an Extreme Style (2011). She has also served as a consultant to museums, archives, and public history projects, and appeared in the documentary films New York, Miss America, and The Powder and the Glory.

Michael Kilpatrick is a farmer, presenter, inventor, and leader whose mission is to help farmers apply business principles and practical solutions to grow their businesses and simplify their lives. He has managed large organic farms and businesses, consulted for industry experts, and spoken at dozens of conferences. In 2004 Michael launched a highly diversified, year-round vegetable farm with his brother, which soon grew (no pun intended) until it encompassed several hundred acres and had more than twenty employees, selling produce to farmer’s markets, CSA, co-ops, and wholesale buyers. These days Michael continues to be actively involved in the market farming industry, managing the Farm on Central in Carlisle, Ohio, and he is a leader working to equip others. He is the creator and host of the Thriving Farmer Podcast, he is a farming consultant, and he serves on the City Council in Carlisle, working to improve his local community and pave the way for a successful and thriving small business ecosystem.

Dr. Jared Tracy is the deputy command historian for the US Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he researches and publishes on the history of propaganda, psychological operations, and other facets of special operations. Dr. Tracy served six years in the Army himself, received his MA in History from Virginia Commonwealth University and his PhD in History from Kansas State University. His writing has appeared in Military Review, NCO Journal, Southern Historian, and Veritas: Journal of Army Special Operations History. He is also the author of Victory through Influence: Origins of Psychological Operations in the U.S. Army, recently released from Texas A&M University Press, which received an honorable mention for the 2023 Master Corporal Jan Stanislaw Jakobczak Memorial Book Award sponsored by the U.S. Military History Group.

Dr. Max Smeets, a Senior Researcher at the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich, is an expert in military cyber-force development. He discusses the complexities nations face in building military cyber capabilities and the evolution of military cyber operations. Smeets unpacks the P, P, T, I, O framework and highlights the critical role of workforce and infrastructure. He also delves into the use of cyber proxies, the myths surrounding cyber operations, and the importance of balancing work with insightful reading.

Shelby Fleming holds a BFA in Studio Art from the Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville and an MFA from the University of Arkansas School of Art with an emphasis in Digital Fabrication. She serves as the Fabrication and Robotics Lab Coordinator at the Fayetteville Public Library in Northwest Arkansas. In her first year she has assisted with over 1800 patron projects, offered 240 STEAM based programs to the public, and assisted in coordinating the Fayetteville Public Library’s first ever Maker Faire.

Happy New Year, and welcome to SEASON 5! It’s no secret that we are very interested in the publishing process here on The Modern Scholar Podcast, and I am very excited for today’s episode because we have an opportunity to explore a very interesting and very important part of that process—cover design. I have Scott Levine and William Oates with me today—Scott is the art director and William is a graphic designer, both at Cornell University Press. They are going to take us behind the scenes today, to help us all learn a little bit more about how the wonderful cover on your favorite book is designed and produced.

Dr. Luke Truxal is an American military historian who focuses on the application of American air power during the Second World War. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of North Texas in 2011 and 2018. His teaching fields include Europe in the twentieth century, United States history, United States military history, and United States political history in the twentieth century. Truxal’s main research interest is the air war in Europe from 1942 to 1945. He is the author of Uniting against the Reich: The American Air War in Europe (Kentucky 2023). He is also an assistant editor for the scholarly web journal Balloons to Drones. He previously published “Bombing the Romanian Rail Network,” in the Spring 2018 issue of Air Power History. He is currently researching the air war over Romania from 1942 to 1944 with a particular emphasis on American and Soviet coordination and joint operations.

Dr. Raymond James Raymond is a retired British diplomat. He is an adjunct professor in the department of social sciences, United States Military Academy, adjunct fellow of the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy, Newport, Rhode Island, and professor emeritus of government and history at the State University of New York campus at Stone Ridge. He is the author of Elite Souls: Portraits of Valor in Iraq and Afghanistan, recently released from the U.S. Naval Institute Press, and this book is the subject of our conversation today!