Google’s Former CEO Is Dancing in Ukraine

About this episode

Ben Makuch discusses his experience witnessing Eric Schmidt dancing in Kyiv amidst the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the implications for war technology and data.

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…

People in this episode

Guest: Ben Makuch

Topics covered

• Ukraine
• Eric Schmidt
• war technology
• data
• conflict
• journalism

Keywords

• Google
• dancing
• Kyiv
• JSOC
• American turkey
• China speculation
• drone
• human suffering
• FPV propaganda

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Ukraine, Kyiv, China, Russia

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