Angry Planet

Matthew Gault and Jason Fields
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Conversations about conflict on an angry planet. Created, produced, and hosted by Matthew Gault and Jason Fields 781951 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. Oct 19

    Dreams of War in Space

    Air Force Secretary Troy Meink casually dropped the news that America had space-based weapons during the keynote address at a cyber conference. “We are increasing readiness against existing threats, and the United States has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action,” he said. But what, exactly, are those space weapons? Why has space become so important for war? How do we fight up there and what are the consequences? On this episode of Angry Planet, Bleddyn Bowen and Cameron Hunter return to the show to answer all my questions about war in space. Bowen is a professor of astropolitics at Durham University and Hunter is a researcher at the University of Copenhagen. Both are deeply knowledgeable about deterrence, lasers, missile defense systems, and the Fallout video game series. EMPs, jammers, and kineticsWhy missile defense (mostly) doesn’t workGPS and GLONASS and BeiDou and GalileoIntelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance from SpaceRumsfeld in spaceCan lasers work?What are we fighting for up there?The historic folly of Golden DomeMoscow and Beijing’s Perspective on U.S. DefenseSome Fallout talk SecAF announces on-orbit space control weapons The ambivalent nuclear politics of Fallout video games Original Sin: Power, Technology and War in Outer Space War in Space: Strategy, Spacepower, Geopolitics Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  2. Oct 2

    Human Decisions Are Behind Every ‘Rogue’ AI

    A lot of people are afraid right now. I’ve lost track of the times OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta have announced they lost control of their AI. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wants to “pace the frontier” and Bill Gates is warning there’s a non-zero chance that AI will kill billions. The US military has embraced AI and it’s leading to grave mistakes. In Ukraine, an AI-controlled drone has killed three people. Something is bothering me about all these stories and it’s not the thought that artificial intelligence could wipe out humanity. It’s the distance AI has given human designers from the consequences of their actions. This week on the show Eryk Salvaggio stops by to talk about intentionality, design, AI doom, and the messy way we’re all talking about this new technology. Salvaggio is a Gates Scholar at Cambridge University. A bad frame from the jumpDefining AIWhat the Hugging Face attack was and wasn’tWho’s accountable?Our anthropomorphic media narrativeDesign vs intentionalityLanguage loses its magicSpin not marketingGeopolitical stakesPrompts and outputsThe future of regulation Rogue AI didn’t breach Hugging Face, human decisions did US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say Inside the US ‘Kill Chain’ that Destroyed an Iranian School Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  3. Aug 10

    The Cult of the American Military Academy

    Journalist Jasper Craven joins the show today to talk about his new book God Forgives, Brothers Don’t. The book is a deep dive into the history of the American military academy and how it has shaped the country’s conception of manhood. Craven’s investigation led him from Valley Forge to West Point, uncovered a strange 20th century Joe Rogan who changed his name so it sounded like a lion’s roar, and landed him multiple interviews with Graham Platner. A brief history of Jasper CravenWhere lost boys flyThe Nancy Mace skeleton keyFrom West Point to the Citadel“The gentleman soldier”Army engineers as public relations campaignBernarr MacfaddenMasculinity, American styleThe Scabbard and the BladeOfficers versus enlisted“Send me”“What the military does is create powerful bonds between men.” God Forgives, Brothers Don’t The Complications of Graham Platner’s Veteran Identity Battle of the Sexes Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  4. Jul 3

    If You Must Fight a Trade War, Fight to Win

    The world I grew up in no longer exists. The decades after World War II were boom times for free trade lovers. During the Pax Americana it seemed that most diplomatic problems could be solved by exporting blue jeans and lowering the cost of consumer goods for everyone. But in 2026 trade is a serious weapon and economic policy seems less a path to prosperity and more a weapon for waging war. On this episode of Angry Planet, Chad P Bown is here to talk about his new book How to Win a Trade War. Bown is a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and co-authored the book with journalist Soumaya Keynes. The book is a brisk walk through a history of economic conflict full of humor and history. The world according to nerd trade economistsIf we must fight, fight this way“It’s a China story”Rare earth minerals, magnets, and the weaponization of tradeWhat’s the goal of our trade war?The Hormuz of it allThe trade war against China isn’t going greatChina’s delicate danceTrade war as precursor to kinetic warSome thoughts on robotics and AI Buy How to Win a Trade War Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  5. Jun 19

    Iran Won Because America Is Stuck in the ‘Smart Bomb Trap’

    Recorded in May. Join angryplanetpod.com to hear episodes early and commercial free. America’s war against Iran has gone on for more than two months and the United States has achieved none of its political objectives. American power has diminished, its munitions stockpile is low, and Iran now controls the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has all the cards. To hear Robert Pape tell it, this was all predictable. Pape is a political scientist who teaches at the University of Chicago and specializes in the use of violence to achieve political goals. He’s the author of Bombing to Win and a scholar of air power failures. On this episode of Angry Planet, Pape walks us through the uses of air power, why it never achieves victory on its own, and why the Pentagon keeps promising it will. How you become an air power expertLosing Vietnam after such perfect precisionMan as meme“You don’t learn this by real estate deals.”There has not been a single case in history where air power alone has succeeded.“Our power is declining as a result of this.”The persistent myth of winning through air powerDumb bombs to precision weapons“It’s a dismal record of failure.”NATO in KosovoWhat are America’s definable political goals?Iran’s political goalsIran says seized tanker in Gulf of Oman, as US ‘disables’ two shipsPunishment, denial, and decapitationThe fragmenting GCCPape as CasandraBreaking Trump in the Strait of Hormuz“This will end up being America’s worst defeat since Vietnam.”A grim prediction The Escalation Trap The Gulf States Just Voted on American Power From Kosovo to Iran: The Smart Bomb Trap and the Risk of Catastrophic Escalation Buy Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  6. Jun 5

    Navigating Reality and War During the Age of AI Propaganda

    On the morning of April 21, Trump posted an image of eight women on Truth Social, claimed they were Iranian dissidents set to be executed, and demanded that Tehran release them. Detractors, and several Iranian sources, claimed the women were AI-generated. A day later Trump claimed the women would no longer be executed and that he’d saved them. The truth is that the women are real and many are still in danger. Trump’s post made real Iranian women who protested the Iranian regime appear fake. The story speaks to a moment we’re in where it’s become impossible to parse truth from lies online. This was already difficult before AI-generated pictures and video. Now it feels impossible. On this episode of Angry Planet, Mahsa Alimardani is here to tell us the story. Alimardani is the Associate Director of Technology Threats and Opportunities at WITNESS. Eight real women turned into AI propagandaReal crimes bastardized into regime propaganda“We need to come to terms with the fact that our information environment is structurally different.”Content Credentials as a partial solutionHow AI is supercharging our chosen reality tunnelsThe cycle of uprising and repression in IranThe structure of Iran’s internet and how its blackouts workDomestic intranet as an alternative form of communicationAI-generated Lego propaganda videosIran ReframedExplosive Media’s deep connections to the Islamic RepublicPolitics as fandom, fandom as politics“Everything is becoming flattened.”“The onus on the person scrolling is a bit unfair.” Mahsa Alimardani’s LinkedIn The Real Iranian Women Protesters Trump Made Look Synthetic In the Room With Iran’s Social Media Savants How AI Content Detection is Being Weaponized in the Iran War Iran Is Winning the AI Slop Propaganda War Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  7. May 8

    Christianity Shaped North Korea’s Cult of Personality

    Kim Song Ju, the man who would become Kim Il Sung, was born to devout Presbyterian parents. Billy Graham’s wife was born to christian missionaries in China and went to high school in Pyongyang. American protestants once spread the gospel in northwest Korea and found fertile ground for their gospel message. Kim listened, learned, and used those teachings to shape a cult of personality that rules North Korea to this day. On this episode of Angry Planet I’m joined by Wall Street Journal China bureau chief Jonathan Cheng to talk about his new book Korean Messiah. Cheng’s work is an exploration of the origins of North Korea and Kim’s deep ties to American Christianity. Share Angry Planet as dress rehearsalBilly Graham in the Hermit Kingdom19th century Protestant missionaries in KoreaPresbyterians in the untamed northwestUntangling the history of a self-made godkingThe Kim Song Ju nativityWomen without namesAttending church during the Fire and Fury periodThe Soviet eraLeading from beyond the graveKim bombs his first public appearance Buy Korean Messiah Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  8. Apr 10

    Making the Case America Was Winning in Iran

    Recorded March 24, 2026. Subscribe at angryplanetpod.com to hear episodes first and commercial free. Last week an article published in Al Jazeera by an academic at the University of Doha in Qatar proposed something that felt crazy to some western war watchers: America and Israel’s strategy in Iran is working. On this episode of Angry Planet, author Muhanad Seloom is here to explain his position. Seloom is an assistant professor of international politics and security at the University of Doha. He’s also an Iraqi who lived through the Iran-Iraq war and both US invasions. From his perspective, the US has degraded Iran’s ability to hurt its neighbors in the long term and changed the regime. What comes next is a more complicated question. Why did this war even start?Setting aside morality and legality to look at ground truths“Iran is much weaker”Missile production, missile rangeThe highly enriched uranium is in one place“The regime has changed. Whether we like it or not, the regime has changed.”The case against the new KhameneiWhat is it like to live nextdoor to Iran?There’s a reason no one is standing up for IranWhy isn’t the GCC doing more?What happens if we pick up and leave?What’s the plan for what happens next?“It’s not easy to rise up.”Charging tolls on Hormuz“I have to say this: I am against the war in any way.”What about the JCPOA?A great unanswered question of historyAir campaigns don’t win wars…did America really lose in Afghanistan and Iraq?“War is hell.” Labelling Ethno-Political Groups as Terrorists The US-Israeli strategy against Iran is working. Here is why Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Conversations about conflict on an angry planet. Created, produced, and hosted by Matthew Gault and Jason Fields 781951 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Matthew Gault and Jason Fields
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2026
  • Episodes
    505
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © War College LLC
  • Show Website
    Angry Planet

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