The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast

An AI Chatbot Built to Fight Disinformation with Matt Skibinski

Large language models can be corrupted by disinformation seeded online, causing them to repeat false claims as fact. But NewsGuard COO Matt Skibinski offers a solution: N

Russia, China, and the 2026 U.S. Elections with Darren Linvill

Russia's influence campaigns aimed at the 2026 U.S. midterms seek, ultimately, to undermine confidence in the vote, not to change votes themselves. In this episode, Darre

Don't be Fooled by the Domestic Politics of Foreign Assistance with Rachel A. George

Washington keeps misreading the politics of foreign aid, and that misunderstanding is reshaping U.S. power. Rachel A. George of Stanford University breaks down why Americ

Russia vs. 'Pam' with Jessica Huseman

The gap between imagined and actual threats to elections is vast.  Where the public is focused on hacking electronic voting machines, the actual threat, says Votebeat Edi

Special Edition: Mark Jacobson on Effective Election Disinformation

Election interference doesn’t have to change votes to be effective.  The long history of Russian efforts to target specific communities in the United States mirrors domes

“We were here and we can come back again,” with Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson

Hostile information activity is no longer just about false claims, but about intimidation, disruption, and shaping the conditions in which politics and policy unfold. In

Everything Old is New Again: Russian Election Interference with Dustin Volz

Foreign election interference aims to weaken trust in democracy more than to change vote counts.  New York Times reporter Dustin Volz takes us inside his recent reporting

Deepfakes and Disinformation with Katelyn Chedraoui

AI deepfakes don’t have to be flawless. They have to look believable enough to make you react. We spoke with CNET reporter Katelyn Chedraoui about where deepfakes are now

AI and Radicalization in Closed Loops with Simeon Dukić and Natalie Vela

AI chatbots may be quietly reinforcing conspiracy thinking, extremist narratives, and harmful beliefs through private, personalized conversations designed to keep users e

What Really Scares Authoritarians with Scott Fisher and Graig Klein

Authoritarian regimes from Moscow to Beijing fear losing control of their own information eco-systems—more than military exercises, more than economic sanctions, and more

The Propaganda Manual of the Ukraine War with Thomas Kent

Russia and Ukraine are fighting more than battles on Ukrainian soil, they are fighting a war for minds, and other governments are still playing catch-up. Thomas Kent of t

The AI Disinformation Incident Repository with Sam Stockwell and Broderick McDonald

AI disinformation is no longer just about deepfakes. It is now about poisoned search results, chatbot hallucinations, meme-driven propaganda, and a fast-growing economy b

TikTok is a Potent Weapon of CCP Political Warfare with Michael Sobolik

TikTok is a potent tool for the Chinese Communist Party’s psychological warfare against the United States. In this conversation, the Hudson Institute’s Michael Sobolik hi

AI Powered Community Notes on X with Alexios Mantzarlis

AI is already writing more than half of X’s helpful Community Notes, and that changes everything about who gets fact-checked, what gets fact-checked, and what happens whe

'Working the Political Engine': Revolutionary War-Era Propaganda with Robert Parkinson

Propaganda was foundational to America's independence, from the direct appeal of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense to the black-propaganda of Benjamin Franklin’s scalp hoax.  B

'Assume that everything you're seeing is paid for' with Jason Beeferman

That post you saw about Polymarket odds?  It very well may have been sponsored—paid for by the company that stands to gain the most from your wager.  Only the influencer

Special Edition: Operation Cornflakes

In the realm of disinformation and political warfare, few operations stand out as prominently as Operation Cornflakes. This unique campaign, launched during World War II,

Special Edition: Propaganda and the American Revolution

The Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776, was more than a formal announcement of separation from Britain, it was a masterful piece of propaganda. By artic

The Bulgarian Elections with Sopo Gelava

We started noticing it in 2024: an inside-outside game in which American political actors seed divisive issues that are then exploited from abroad.  But there are also in

Active Measures with Sean M. Wiswesser

Some look at the U.S. elections in 2016 and 2020 and see issues of partisan contention.  Sean M. Wiswesser--a national security professional with 30 years of experience i