The Jacob Shapiro Podcast

What if the money in your pocket wasn’t a tool for freedom, but a mechanism for control? Inflation, surveillance, and financial exclusion actively shape who can save, speak, or participate in the global economy. Alex Gladstein joins the show to examine money as a human-rights issue, exploring how new digital tools are being used in places where traditional financial systems fail or are weaponized. Alex reframes money as a human-rights issue - tracing how digital currencies are reshaping power at the margins: enabling dissidents, protecting savings, and creating escape hatches from broken systems. It’s not about speculation or hype... it’s about sovereignty, repression, and what freedom actually looks like in a digitized global economy.--Timestamps:(00:00) - Introduction(00:17) - Bitcoin as Freedom Money(01:46) - The Need for Freedom Money(04:04) - Global Financial Repression(10:12) - Bitcoin's Resilience and Privacy(20:00) - Case Studies and Real-World Impact(23:03) - Bitcoin and the Future of Nation States(25:01) - The Cost of War and National Debt(25:36) - The Role of Banks in Government Spending(27:06) - Bitcoin's Potential to Empower People(27:36) - Dictators vs. Bitcoin(28:51) - The Rise of Stablecoins(29:43) - Bitcoin vs. Altcoins(38:13) - Ethereum's Flaws(40:39) - Bitcoin's Impact on Oppressed Nations(44:43) - The Future of Bitcoin and Dictatorships--Referenced in the Show:Alex Gladstein: https://alexgladstein.com/Freedom Money Essay – https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/why-bitcoin-is-freedom-money/--Jacob Shapiro Site: jacobshapiro.comJacob Shapiro LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacob-l-s-a9337416Jacob Twitter: x.com/JacobShapJacob Shapiro Substack: jashap.substack.com/subscribe --The Jacob Shapiro Show is produced and edited by Audiographies LLC. More information at audiographies.com--Jacob Shapiro is a speaker, consultant, author, and researcher covering global politics and affairs, economics, markets, technology, history, and culture. He speaks to audiences of all sizes around the world, helps global multinationals make strategic decisions about political risks and opportunities, and works directly with investors to grow and protect their assets in today’s volatile global environment. His insights help audiences across industries like finance, agriculture, and energy make sense of the world.--

Elohim Monard joins The Jacob Shapiro Podcast to discuss Latin America. A massive geopolitical integration in LatAm is quietly underway, fueled by a "Trumpian" rightward shift sweeping from the Southern Cone to the Rio Grande. As traditional alliances fracture, a new "practical ideology" is emerging to unite the hemisphere through hard-fist security tactics and aggressive economic pragmatism. But beneath this surface-level alignment lies a volatile paradox: a burgeoning "low-intensity war" targeting non-state actors as a pretext for permanent emergency. From the weaponization of fentanyl to state-sanctioned privateers, the line between regional stability and calculated chaos is vanishing. Latin America has suddenly returned to the center of the global board (contrary to major predictions) and the struggle for its future is no longer a civil war... but a high-stakes play for total hemispheric control.--Timestamps:(00:00) - Introduction(00:52) - Current Geopolitical Climate in Latin America(02:18) - Upcoming Elections and Political Shifts(03:36) - The Rise of Right-Wing Politics(07:20) - Brazil's Political Landscape and Lula's Role(11:37) - Economic Dependencies and China's Influence(23:01) - Strategic Infrastructure and Future Developments(27:59) - US Investment in South America(28:36) - Venezuela and Letters of Marque(30:43) - US-Venezuela Tensions Escalate(32:28) - Trump's Foreign Policy Strategy(37:16) - Potential War Against Non-State Actors(46:22) - Future of US-Venezuela Relations(50:46) - Conclusion--Referenced in the Show:Conversando de Pol ítica: https://www.conversandodepolitica.com/--Jacob Shapiro Site: jacobshapiro.comJacob Shapiro LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacob-l-s-a9337416Jacob Twitter: x.com/JacobShapJacob Shapiro Substack: jashap.substack.com/subscribe --The Jacob Shapiro Show is produced and edited by Audiographies LLC. More information at audiographies.com--Jacob Shapiro is a speaker, consultant, author, and researcher covering global politics and affairs, economics, markets, technology, history, and culture. He speaks to audiences of all sizes around the world, helps global multinationals make strategic decisions about political risks and opportunities, and works directly with investors to grow and protect their assets in today’s volatile global environment. His insights help audiences across industries like finance, agriculture, and energy make sense of the world.--

Power gets loud when it’s insecure. Strategy becomes theater. And ideology sneaks in wearing policy jargon. The White House's newest U.S. National Security Strategy claims realism while quietly demanding dominance, preaching restraint while laying groundwork for escalation. Civilizational panic collides with imperial muscle, producing a document that wants everything, everywhere, all at once. Van Jackson, Professor of International Relations at Victoria University of Wellington, sits down with Jacob Shapiro to chat about how culture war thinking seeps into grand strategy, why “prioritization” turns into mission creep, and what this blueprint signals for allies, adversaries, and a world already stretched thin. If this is restraint, buckle up :)--Timestamps:(00:00) - Introduction(01:40) - Understanding National Security Strategy(02:23) - Critique of the Current Administration's Strategy(07:22) - Historical Context and Comparisons(13:14) - Primitive Accumulation and Geopolitics(16:47) - Latin American Policy and Imperialism(25:33) - Military Strategy and Global Implications(29:47) - China as a Pacing Threat(30:47) - Misconceptions in Military Strategy(31:52) - Potential Conflicts in Latin America(34:23) - US Military Intervention in Mexico(35:38) - Challenges of Addressing Drug Cartels(41:56) - Hegemonic Decline and National Security(48:24) - Global Reactions to US Strategy(53:58) - Brazil's Role in Latin America(56:53) - Concluding Thoughts--Referenced in the Show:Van Jackson - https://people.wgtn.ac.nz/van.jacksonNational Security Strategy 2025 - https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdfNSS (2002) - https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/nsc/nss/2002/NSC-68 (1950) - https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/NSC68--Jacob Shapiro Site: jacobshapiro.comJacob Shapiro LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacob-l-s-a9337416Jacob Twitter: x.com/JacobShapJacob Shapiro Substack: jashap.substack.com/subscribe --The Jacob Shapiro Show is produced and edited by Audiographies LLC. More information at audiographies.com --Jacob Shapiro is a speaker, consultant, author, and researcher covering global politics and affairs, economics, markets, technology, history, and culture. He speaks to audiences of all sizes around the world, helps global multinationals make strategic decisions about political risks and opportunities, and works directly with investors to grow and protect their assets in today’s volatile global environment. His insights help audiences across industries like finance, agriculture, and energy make sense of the world.--

Book episode! What happens when a policy meant to shape a nation reaches into the most intimate corners of a family’s life? Journalist Barbara Demick'sDaughters of the Bamboo Grove becomes a prism for a China where babies vanish, families fracture, and two identical lives grow up worlds apart. One twin speaks Mandarin, the other English. One hides in a bamboo grove; the other lands in Texas. Demick joins The Jacob Shapiro Show to explore the lives shaped, and misshaped, by China's restrictive one-child policy. Shapiro and Demick probe the emotional aftershocks of separation, the uneasy collision of two cultures when twins are reunited across continents, and the moral ambiguity of institutions that believed they were doing the right thing.--Timestamps:(00:00) - Introduction and Guest Introduction(00:46) - Discussing the Book: Daughters of the Bamboo Grove(02:04) - Barbara's Journey and Discoveries in China(05:15) - The Impact of China's One-Child Policy(11:28) - Adoption and Family Planning in China(21:21) - Cultural and Demographic Shifts in China(25:35) - Cultural Juxtaposition of Twins(26:35) - Impact of COVID on US-China Relations(27:35) - Adoption and Diplomatic Relations(28:31) - Challenges for Chinese and American Families(30:57) - Adoptees as Cultural Ambassadors(32:02) - Religious Influences in Adoption(34:42) - Economic Comparisons Between Families(39:18) - Psychological Trauma of Adoptees(45:13) -Author's Career and Future Projects(50:27) - Upcoming Book on Berlin--Referenced in the Show:Barbara Demick - https://www.barbarademick.com/Daughters of the Bamboo Grove - https://www.barbarademick.com/book/daughters-of-the-bamboo-grove/--Jacob Shapiro Site: jacobshapiro.comJacob Shapiro LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacob-l-s-a9337416Jacob Twitter: x.com/JacobShapJacob Shapiro Substack: jashap.substack.com/subscribe --The Jacob Shapiro Show is produced and edited by Audiographies LLC. More information at audiographies.com --Jacob Shapiro is a speaker, consultant, author, and researcher covering global politics and affairs, economics, markets, technology, history, and culture. He speaks to audiences of all sizes around the world, helps global multinationals make strategic decisions about political risks and opportunities, and works directly with investors to grow and protect their assets in today’s volatile global environment. His insights help audiences across industries like finance, agriculture, and energy make sense of the world.--

As global finance strains under shifting power structures, author and fintech thinker Emmanuel Daniel, founder of TAB Global, argues that the real disruption isn’t technological - it’s personal. This episode explores finance as a geopolitical arena where identity, data, and sovereignty reshape who holds leverage. What happens when individuals, not institutions, become the organizing unit of the monetary system? And how does that rewire cross-border power, trust, and risk? A provocative look at the future architecture of money.--Timestamps:(00:00) - Introduction (00:15) - Emmanuel Daniel's Book and Key Insights(02:44) - The Ice Metaphor in Finance(03:22) - The Evolution of Finance and Personalization(10:11) - Impact of Financialization on the Economy(25:31) - Cryptocurrencies and the Future of Finance(30:59) - The Spectrum of Tokenization(31:31) - Information as the Ultimate Token(32:44) - The Digital Nature of Money(33:40) - The Durability of Bitcoin and Ethereum(38:06) - The Role of AI and Open Source in Tokenization(42:23) - The Future of National Debt and Financialization(48:37) - The Impact of Financialization on Global Economies(58:48) - The Role of the US in Financialization(01:00:56) - The Tension Between Personalization and Intermediaries(01:03:38) - Concluding Thoughts and Future Implications--Referenced in the Show:Emmanuel's Website: https://www.emmanueldaniel.com/biography/TAB Global - https://tab.global/The Great Transition - https://www.emmanueldaniel.com/the-great-transition/--Jacob Shapiro Site: jacobshapiro.comJacob Shapiro LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacob-l-s-a9337416Jacob Twitter: x.com/JacobShapJacob Shapiro Substack: jashap.substack.com/subscribe --The Jacob Shapiro Show is produced and edited by Audiographies LLC. More information at audiographies.com --Jacob Shapiro is a speaker, consultant, author, and researcher covering global politics and affairs, economics, markets, technology, history, and culture. He speaks to audiences of all sizes around the world, helps global multinationals make strategic decisions about political risks and opportunities, and works directly with investors to grow and protect their assets in today’s volatile global environment. His insights help audiences across industries like finance, agriculture, and energy make sense of the world.--