Russia Archives - The Next Billion Seconds

mpesceAugust 4, 2022August 3, 2022

Episode 6.15 Palmer Luckey Goes to War

At the age of 19, Palmer Luckey founded Oculus, bringing a comatose VR industry back to life. Will he to do the same for defense with his new startup, Anduril – and has he solved Australia’s submarine problem? A wide-ranging interview covering everything from the search for the ‘ultimate’ gaming display to the future of warfare.

“Rebooting the Arsenal of Democracy” is Anduril’s own statement about what they’re about.

And an article about the XL-AUV project Anduril is doing with the ADF.

Palmer Luckey is speaking in Sydney on the 18th of August, 2022 – book your tickets here.

mpesceMay 12, 2022May 11, 2022

Episode 6.05 Briefing: Feeding the Feed

The pandemic has produced numerous supply chain issues, some impairing our ability to manufacture fertiliser. Could this mean we won’t be able to grow all the food we need?

Read the article from Bloomberg Quint that inspired this briefing.

Read this article from ABC about how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could spark a food crisis.

mpesceApril 28, 2022April 27, 2022

Episode 6.03 2022 Predictions: We ask the experts

We turn to the experts – Jason Calacanis, Sally Dominguez, Ramez Naam, Drew Smith, Mark Jeffrey and Tony Parisi – to learn their predictions for the future of work, sustainable energy, transportation, cryptocurrencies and the metaverse.

mpesceApril 3, 2019April 3, 20191 Comment

Episode 3.05 Brave New Wars with John Robb

Social media has been weaponised and is now used against nations as a tool of war – invisible, subtle, and dangerously destabilising. John Robb has spent over a decade studying how these new networks represent the new powers – and the new engines of war.

Some of John’s best writing goes to his Patreon supporters…

John writes the amazing Global Guerrillas blog – you should check it out.

John’s book Brave New War is quite good, too.

Mark and John, December 2018. (photo credit: Dan Lynch)

mpesceAugust 22, 2018August 21, 20181 Comment

Episode 2.10 Vaporised Media with Rob Tercek

Returning guest Rob Tercek shows how software turned newspaper into web pages – vaporising business models that kept us well informed.

In his 2016 tour-de-force Vaporized: Solid Strategies for Success in a Dematerialized World, Rob looked at how software replaces hardware.

Printing presses are hardware. Newspapers – they’re hardware too.

So what happens when something vaporises? Here’s Rob:

We’re living in a time of vaporised media – and we got here suddenly, with no preparation, or any clear plan on how to make this work for us.

How do we stay well informed as news organisations find their dollars taken instead by search engine giants Google and Facebook?

Rob talks about “the Gerasimov Doctrine” – using the collapse in the media to wage a sort of covert war against a government – and here’s an article Rob recommends in this episode, exploring that whole topic.

Also highly recommended is the Peter Pomerantsev book Nothing is True and Everything is Possible, about how this has become the new reality for Putin’s Russia. Read more in this article from The Guardian.

Listen here — or on iTunes.