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Angry Planet

Matthew Gault and Jason Fields

Conversations about conflict on an angry planet. Created, produced, and hosted by Matthew Gault and Jason Fields

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August 10 · 1 hr 5 min
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 Craven Where lost boys fly The Nancy Mace skeleton key From West Point to the Citadel “The gentleman soldier” Army engineers as public relations campaign Bernarr Macfadden Masculinity, American style The Scabbard and the Blade Officers 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.
July 3 · 54 min
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 economists If we must fight, fight this way “It’s a China story” Rare earth minerals, magnets, and the weaponization of trade What’s the goal of our trade war? The Hormuz of it all The trade war against China isn’t going great China’s delicate dance Trade war as precursor to kinetic war Some 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.
June 19 · 1 hr
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 expert Losing Vietnam after such perfect precision Man 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 power Dumb bombs to precision weapons “It’s a dismal record of failure.” NATO in Kosovo What are America’s definable political goals? Iran’s political goals Iran says seized tanker in Gulf of Oman, as US ‘disables’ two ships Punishment, denial, and decapitation The fragmenting GCC Pape as Casandra Breaking 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.
June 5 · 59 min
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 propaganda Real 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 solution How AI is supercharging our chosen reality tunnels The cycle of uprising and repression in Iran The structure of Iran’s internet and how its blackouts work Domestic intranet as an alternative form of communication AI-generated Lego propaganda videos Iran Reframed Explosive Media’s deep connections to the Islamic Republic Politics 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.
May 8 · 1 hr
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 rehearsal Billy Graham in the Hermit Kingdom 19th century Protestant missionaries in Korea Presbyterians in the untamed northwest Untangling the history of a self-made godking The Kim Song Ju nativity Women without names Attending church during the Fire and Fury period The Soviet era Leading from beyond the grave Kim 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.
April 10 · 1 hr 3 min
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 range The 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 Khamenei What is it like to live nextdoor to Iran? There’s a reason no one is standing up for Iran Why 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 history Air 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.
March 27 · 54 min
Neutralizing Iran’s Nuclear Material During a War Is ‘Nearly Mission Impossible’
America went to war in Iran, we’re told, because the idea of the country developing nuclear weapons was intolerable. Nukes are complicated and technical weapons that require scientists and experts to build, maintain, and manage. Highly enriched uranium (HEU) is core to the design and unless all of Iran’s HEU is accounted for the threat of it becoming a nuclear power will linger. So what would it take to get rid of Iran’s stockpile HEU? François Diaz-Maurin is on Angry Planet today to answer that question. Diaz-Maurin is editor for nuclear affairs at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists where he recently published an article outlining what it would take for US troops to neutralize Iran’s highly enriched uranium. How a civil engineer becomes a nuclear journalist “You can’t bomb away nuclear material.” “Technically, it’s nearly Mission Impossible.” How much highly enriched uranium (HEU) was left after last year’s strikes? Moving HEU around Iran What we can learn from satellite photos and the International Atomic Energy Agency Why 60%? Managing scuba tanks full of gaseous toxins in a war zone Why blowing up the cylinders won’t work “Let me throw something weird at you.” Downblending versus exporting We’re living in the third nuclear age Deterrence works and that’s, maybe, not great? Trump may send US troops to neutralize Iran’s highly enriched uranium. There are no good options Netanyahu says Iran no longer has uranium enrichment capacity Iran willing to dilute uranium stockpile as fresh protests erupt Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
March 13 · 1 hr 2 min
The ‘AI as Nuclear Weapons’ Obsession
AI enthusiasts love to say that the technology is as revolutionary and important as nuclear weapons. Even the Trump administration has adopted the metaphor. The President and the Department of Energy have repeatedly referred to the development of AI in the US as “Manhattan Project 2.0.” But is the buildout of LLMs and machine learning systems really as important as the development of the atom bomb? And what are the lessons from the atomic age that AI scientists should then learn? Do we need an AI Non Proliferation Treaty? An AI International Atomic Energy Agency? On this episode of Angry Planet, Ankit Panda comes on to talk about the uses and limitations of the “AI as nuclear weapons” metaphor. Panda is an expert in nukes and a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He’s been sharing his extended thoughts on the AI-nuclear connection at his Nukesletter Substack. Stanislav Petrov AI as nuclear weapons Why nuclear weapons resonate with people in the AI field The Strategic Air Command story That time we spilled nuclear material all over Greenland and Spain NNSA and Anthropic AI as the next Manhattan Project A massive infrastructure project Fissile material as silicon What’s the AI version of an NPT and IAEA? AI and nuclear are both dual use On AI winters What AI is actually being used for, what it might be used for The socialization around AI will change. AI Arms and Influence: Frontier Models Exhibit Sophisticated Reasoning in Simulated Nuclear Crisis Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
March 4 · 1 hr 22 min
A Killer True Crime Fandom & Islamic State’s Digital Caliphate
Things have gotten very surreal in the dark corners of the internet. AI-generated prophets are preaching jihad in Facebook groups, Minecraft servers host digital caliphates, and school shooting fandoms gather to study their heroes and plot how to up beat their score. It’s a double bill on this episode of Angry Planet as two experts from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a nonprofit that studies and works to mitigate violent extremists, discuss the brave new world of online-born violence. First up is Milo Comerford, the co-author of a study about nihilistic violence. Then we’ve got Moustafa Ayad to talk about how the Islamic State is circumventing bans and pushing its message on social media. Staying sane on the internet Violence without ideology The Comm 764 True Crime Community Saints Culture When fandom becomes a killing An aesthetics driven movement Online and offline have merged Moderation is impossible You don’t have to hand it to ISIS Broken text posting Copyright strikes and the Islamic State Facebook professional as the gold standard AI resurrects dead influencers Jihad influencers Even IS is obsessed with the Epstein files Virtual caliphates in Roblox and Minecraft “We must be careful about what we pretend to be.” Once again, it all comes back to 4chan Saying nice things about twitter dot com Beyond Extremism ‘The Comm’: The Group Linked to a Nationwide Swatting Rampage How the True Crime Community generates its own killers Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
February 20 · 1 hr 5 min
When Americans Became ‘Splendid Liberators’
America spent most of the 19th century at war with itself. It conquered its western expanse then collapsed into civil war. Once the North beat the South, partisan politics consumed the country for a generation. A string of assassinations, progressive firebrands, and civil service reforms burned people out on domestic politics and a bored and febrile nation began to search for meaning beyond its borders. It noticed the Spanish Empire was awfully close. In Splendid Liberators, award winning journalist Joe Jackson chronicles the beginning of the American myth of the “good war.” He’s on the show today to talk to us about Teddy Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and a general who lay in state at the Alamo. Recurring patterns in American history Roscoe Conkling jumpscare Remnants of the Spanish-American War in South Carolina What did liberty mean in the 19th century? Clara Barton, Leonard Wood and the dual American personality The first modern concentration camps The Battleship of Maine When Congress used to fight, physically Drones won’t win a war The US in the Philippines ‘The water cure’ American historians facing reality in the Philippines Teddy, finally Laying in state at the Alamo Buy Splendid Liberators A Defense of General Funston Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
February 6 · 55 min
Puffins, Zyn, and ‘Polar War’
Greenland fever has faded for now but it will return. The world’s polar region, you see, is pretty damn important. As the planet heats and the ice melts, what was once an impassible warren of ice and snow has become a geopolitical opportunity. On today’s Angry Planet, we host journalist Kenneth R. Rosen who just published the book Polar War. He’s spent the past few years among the ice and snow, embedding with troops, yearning for snus, and smoking cigarettes with morticians in the long dark. Rosen knows what makes the Arctic so important and can see the truths that undergird the obsession with Greenland. Getting bombastic and angry about Greenland “We already have Greenland” How is Turkey “near Arctic?” The Greenland obsession as proof of climate change What makes a good Arctic force Accession to NATO Servicing subs in the Arctic Trying to embed on a nuclear submarine Mispronouncing place names The most powerful navy in the world doesn’t have an icebreaker Spies in the polar regions “It should have been an article.” Smoking under a tree in the dark Snus vs Zyn The death drive of the penguin Buy Polar War: Submarines, Spies, and the Struggle for Power in a Melting Arctic US Army Poorly Prepared for Arctic Operations: Finnish Troops Forced Them to Surrender During Exercises in Norway Can we just appreciate the fact State secrets were just leaked on this sub? Life Aboard a Nuclear Submarine as the US Responds to Threats Around the Globe Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
January 30 · 1 hr 24 min
Online Culture Is the Whole Culture
There was a time, just before the pandemic, when folks would say “Twitter isn’t real life” as a means of dismissing the horrors of social media. This was a cope, a way to ignore the worst political and cultural actors who now dominate our psychic landscape. Now those people are in charge and they’ve manifested Twitter into real life in a way previously thought impossible. The White House is posting Stardew Valley memes about whole milk. A Customs and Border Patrol official is asking people if they’re triggered when they respond with empathy to the murder of a woman. Laura Loomer, one of the most online gargoyles to ever live, is a serious policy player in administration. The Secretary of War has a video game tattoo. How did we get here? Michael Senters, a PhD candidate at Virginia Tech, is here to explain how online culture became the culture. It’s all for the posts A YouTuber comes to town What, exactly, does it mean to be terminally online? The right goes all in on identity politics The pandemic drove us all crazy Turns out the post-modernists were correct Posting yourself into a different form or reality Survival tips for the extremely online Depraved art and Hearts of Iron IV Deus Vult? Video games as propaganda We should have been harder on the online Nazis John Romero will make you his bitch A brief history of Something Awful Fighting the performance regime How Fraud Swamped Minnesota’s Social Services System on Tim Walz’s Watch Six Prosecutors Quit Over Push to Investigate ICE Shooting Victim’s Widow Do you have stairs in your house? Fuck You And Die: An Oral History of Something Awful Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
January 16 · 1 hr 2 min
How We Thought the First Year Would Go
Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com On January 28, 2025, I sat down with Aram Shabanian to talk about how we thought the first year of the Trump administration would go. I put the audio in a vault and didn’t listen to it until now. We focused on geopolitics and the American military and our hit rate for predictions was about fifty percent. Domestically, it’s been much worse than I expected. Abroad it’s been much weirder than I expected. The bit about America seeking violence though? Right now that feels spot on. Hegseth’s reforms got worse for women (vindicated) Conscription is not back (wrong) The yearning for violence when the gloves come off (vindicated) All the episodes that weren’t produced Sicarioifciation continues apace The bigger problem was that people felt bad The dangers of boredom “Drugs won the war on drugs and then looted the armories.” Against burning it all down Greenland is still on the table The ceasefire didn’t last and war did not spread to Europe (wrong) Elon Musk is out (vindicated) X is still around, but it IS producing on-demand CSAM (wrong?) WWIII and mass riots didn’t happen (wrong) Martin O’Malley 2028? The Cult of Sicario Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
January 9 · 52 min
On Spectacles of Cruelty
On the last Angry Planet of 2025, novelist and Marine Corps veteran Phil Klay returns to reflect on a year of spectacle and cruelty. Between the Pentagon’s boat strikes and the administration’s constant barrage of grotesque memes, it feels like America is a crueler and cruder place. For better and worse, the Presidency sets a moral standard for the country and Trump has lowered that standard. Klay wrote about all this in a piece at The New York Times and he’s here with us today to talk through it. “It’s too easy to condemn.” The project is spectacles of cruelty “You’re not supposed to be joining a gang of thugs.” What is this doing to us as a nation? The lust for cruelty and domination Klay’s review of Hegseth’s first year War vs. Defense “Read long things.” Living in the Hell of opinions Ending on a high note What Trump Is Really Doing With His Boat Strikes Trump Admin’s Racist Halo Memes Are ‘A New Level of Dehumanization of Immigrants’ Trump has accused boat crews of being narco-terrorists. The truth, AP found, is more nuanced Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 19, 2025 · 1 hr 9 min
Google’s Former CEO Is Dancing in Ukraine
Earlier this year journalist Ben Makuch caught a glimpse of Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, dancing at a club in Kyiv. It was a surreal moment, a snapshot of a tragic war that the West thinks is defining the future of conflict. Tech executives have flocked to Ukraine, courting the country in an attempt to get at a resource more precious than gold: data. Makuch was just there and has written about what he saw for The New Republic and he’s on the show today to talk about it. Some light smoking banter Ben’s timeline Google’s CEO dancing in a bar in Kyiv Ukraine as laboratory for war tech The JSOC era is over In defense of the majestic American turkey The great America vs China speculation War, cheaper On the actual frontline Wheat fields of fiber optic line The buzz of the drone Life in the bloodlands The human suffering of living in Ukraine FPV-made propaganda “Never underestimate human innovation when it comes to killing other humans.” What’s Erik Prince doing in Ukraine? New York Times on Military Reform The Medieval—and Highly Effective—Tactics of the Ukrainian Protests Who Is St. Javelin and Why Is She a Symbol of the War in Ukraine? ‘Cope Cages’ on Busted Tanks Are a Symbol of Russia’s Military Failures ‘Unauthorized’ Edit to Ukraine’s Frontline Maps Point to Polymarket’s War Betting Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 12, 2025 · 48 min
‘Capitalism Is a Series of Regime Changes’
Another week and another Angry Planet about the horrifying systems that rule our lives. Is there a depressive theme running through the work right now? Possibly. I promise we’ll soon replace it with rage. This week on the show we have Sven Beckert to talk about his new book Capitalism: A Global History. Beckert is a professor of history at Harvard and his tome is an attempt to capture the entire history of an economic system in one book. It’s a doorstop, but it’s also readable and clear-eyed. Some come with me on a journey that runs through the plantations of South Carolina to the tech markets of Shenzhen. Cotton as an entry point to the history of capitalism The economic big bang Industrial Revolution as mutation “It’s still being born.” Human data is oil to be fracked The Quaker Oats metaphor “The market is God.” Ascribing morality to economics When Gary Hart ushered in Neoliberalism “Capitalism is a series of regime changes.” Moments of great change offer opportunities Capitalism: A Global History The Old Order Is Dead. Do Not Resuscitate. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 6, 2025 · 54 min
The US Government’s AI Grand Bargain
The White House is portraying the race to adopt AI as an existential crisis. It’s the next Manhattan Project, they say, a technology so important it will require an unprecedented build out of energy infrastructure and massive data centers. But the Manhattan Project was a government-led technological drive whereas AI is led by salesmen and corporations. What could possibly go wrong? On this episode of Angry Planet, Ben Buchanan is here to tell us about the government’s role in fostering AI. Buchanan was an AI advisor during the Biden administration where he helped write the policy that paved the way for private-public partnerships between DC and AI companies. Now he’s a professor at John Hopkins and, though he’s still an AI advocate, he’s got concerns. Slop, public land use, and autonomous weapons. We get into it all on this episode of Angry Planet. AI as an arm’s race Nukes are cheaper than AI Government’s role in the construction of AI infrastructure What are the stakes of the AI competition between the United States and China? “More powerful AI systems will enable more powerful cyber operations.” “It’s the hardest thing we do as a species.” Turning over federal lands to data centers How Trump is shooting himself in the foot regarding AI “We’re just chasing power all across the country.” “We’re going to be building data centers for a very long time.” How the AI expert uses AI “There’s a long list of concerns.” Accident reports and autonomous weapons The AI Grand Bargain Ben Buchanan DOE on federal lands for data centers Anthropic Has a Plan to Keep Its AI From Building a Nuclear Weapon. Will It Work? DoD Direction 3000.09 Autonomy in Weapons Systems Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nov 21, 2025 · 51 min
Deadwood: The Town that Made the Wild West
Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com This week on Angry Planet we’re taking a break from the horrors of the present to explore horrors of a past distant enough now that they’re entertaining. But then, America found those horrors pretty entertaining at the time, too. Even when it was still a thriving community and a going concern, the town of Deadwood, South Dakota, was the subject of dimestore novels and tall tales. Peter Cozzens is here with us to talk about his new book Deadwood: Gold, Guns, and Greed in the American West. Cozzens is a historian who has written 17 books that focus on the U.S. Civil War, the Wild West, and the American Indian Wars. His latest work is all about Deadwood and the wild cast of characters who inhabited it. Come sit with us a spell and learn about the real Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, and Al Swearengen. “Power comes to any man who has the color.” Black Elk and how the West Was Lost Conflicting perceptions of Wild Bill Hickock Professional gamblers Creating Calamity Jane Softening George Hearst “In the West, women didn’t wear underwear.” Deadwood burns How history becomes a dime store novel “The most diabolical town on the face of the earth.” Deadwood: Gold, Guns, and Greed in the American West Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nov 14, 2025 · 59 min
Learning to Love the Stagnant Order
Is your Empire feeling less than fresh? Does it feel like the modern world’s best days are behind it? Do conquest and global power politics not hit as good as they used to? Welcome to the Age of Stagnation, a time when the fruits of the Industrial Revolution can be enjoyed but not replicated. It’s making us all a little crazy, especially world leaders. With us today on the show is Michael Beckley, a political science professor at Tufts University and his career includes stretches at the Pentagon, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the RAND Corporation. To hear Beckley tell it, stagnation might not be such a bad thing. If we can avoid repeating the worst mistakes of the 20th century and let go of a “number go up” mind set, then maybe we can all learn to enjoy a long age of stabilization. The diminishing returns of the Industrial Revolution Winners and losers in the Age of Ascent Moore’s Law sputters out Stabilization isn’t so bad. “We’re some of the luckiest people who’ve ever lived.” Shenanigans and shithousery AI isn’t “ready” yet Why conquest doesn’t work anymore China as a paper tiger in the age of stabilization America’s unique advantages “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” - Mike Tyson The Stagnant Order I Tried the Robot That’s Coming to Live With You. It’s Still Part Human. Michael Beckley Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nov 7, 2025 · 1 hr 4 min
‘Goliath’s Curse’ and the Surprising Benefits of Societal Collapse
We’re obsessed with apocalypses, big and small. We fantasize about what the future might look like after the fall of society and fear the coming tribulation. Rome fretted about decline until its end. Stories of the Sea Peoples terrified the monarchs of the Late Bronze Age. During the 30 Years’ War, Europeans imagined Armageddon had finally begun. But a funny thing happens after the collapse: things tend to get a little better for everyone. Luke Kemp is here to hold our hands through the end of the world as we know it. Kemp is a researcher at Cambridge’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and the author of the book Goliath’s Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse. Beauty in collapse Matthew’s AI test The Doctor Doom mask “Collapse was good for most people.” Sea People’s mentioned Why a Goliath and not a Leviathan? Down with Thomas Hobbes Fear of a mass panic driving collapse “Emergency powers have a very funny tendency to stick around” The problem with guns, germs, and steel The Tree of Evil On the purpose of human sacrifice Doctor Doom is the belle of the ball Are we ending on a high note? Buy Goliath’s Curse Centre for the Study of Existential Risk The rewards of ruin Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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