Politicology

Molly McKew (writer and lecturer on Russian influence and information warfare) joins Host Ron Steslow to examine twelve consequential days in U.S.-Russia relations and whether Washington is switching sides in Russia’s war on Ukraine.  They begin with the diesel deal, separating the real driver of soaring fuel prices from the Trump-Putin arrangement. Next, they examine the pressure campaign on Kyiv, from a refinery truce that costs Moscow almost nothing to disrupt intelligence sharing and reported throttling of Starshield service. Then they unpack Steve Witkoff’s visit to St. Petersburg, his effusive praise for Putin, the Lukoil asset sale, and the Graham Act waiver that dwarfs the diesel story.  Finally, they debate whether the language of "competition" obscures a fundamentally adversarial relationship, and how the way Americans talk about China became a partisan question. In Politicology+, unpack the death of a young scientist at a Siberian anti-plague institute and the Kremilin’s suspicious response. POLITICOLOGY+ Not yet a Politicology+ member? Don’t miss all the extra episodes on the private, ad-free version of this podcast. Upgrade now at politicology.com/plus. SPONSORS & PROMO CODES: https://bit.ly/44uAGZ8 Send your questions and ideas to [email protected] Check out Great Power: https://www.greatpower.us/ Ron Steslow on X: https://x.com/RonSteslow Molly McKew on X: https://x.com/MollyMcKew Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ron Steslow and Mike Madrid unpack the suspicious four-day push by some of the biggest AI companies begging to be regulated and why it’s less a safety awakening and more a bid to build a moat around who gets to control this technology.  Then, they turn to an essay by Franciscan sister Ilia Delio’s essay on why our fear of AI is really a fear of confronting what it means to be human. Read Ilia Delio: “We Will Not Be Killed By Machines. We Will Overthink Ourselves To Death.” https://iliadelio.substack.com/p/we-will-not-be-killed-by-machines?r=izyvx&utm_medium=ios  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hagar Chemali (former spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations) and Nick Anthony (Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute and a Fellow at the Human Rights Foundation) join host Ron Steslow to trace how the financial surveillance regime born after 9/11 is being rebuilt for programmable money. They begin with the machinery of financial surveillance: reporting, identification, blocking, seizing, and exclusion powers banks and payment companies wield on the government’s behalf, without warrants or recourse.  Next, they examine how private institutions became the system’s front line with millions of suspicious-activity reports a year, billions in compliance costs, and a public that wrongly assumes Fourth Amendment protection.   Then they turn to the shift underway, as stablecoins move those controls off intermediaries and onto individual digital dollars that can be frozen, seized, or burned coin by coin.  Finally, they weigh whether Americans still hold a right to transact privately, and what permissioned money would mean.  In Politicology+, they discuss an unspoken contradiction in the human rights movement: it backs sanctions that rely on centralized financial choke points while also championing Bitcoin, a currency built to erase that system.  POLITICOLOGY+ Not yet a Politicology+ member? Don’t miss all the extra episodes on the private, ad-free version of this podcast. Upgrade now at politicology.com/plus. SPONSORS & PROMO CODES: https://bit.ly/44uAGZ8 Send your questions and ideas to [email protected] Ron Steslow on X: https://x.com/RonSteslow Hagar Chemali on X: https://x.com/HagarChemali Nick Anthony on X: https://x.com/EconWithNick Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices