Angry Planet

• The US Government’s AI Grand Bargain

  The White House is portraying the race to adopt AI as an existential crisis. It’s the next Manhattan Project, they say, a technology so important it will require an unprecedented build out of energy infrastructure and massive data centers. But the Manhattan Project was a government-led technological drive whereas AI is led by salesmen and corporations.What could possibly go wrong?On this episode of Angry Planet, Ben Buchanan is here to tell us about the government’s role in fostering AI. Buchanan was an AI advisor during the Biden administration where he helped write the policy that paved the way for private-public partnerships between DC and AI companies. Now he’s a professor at John Hopkins and, though he’s still an AI advocate, he’s got concerns. Slop, public land use, and autonomous weapons. We get into it all on this episode of Angry Planet.AI as an arm’s raceNukes are cheaper than AIGovernment’s role in the construction of AI infrastructureWhat are the stakes of the AI competition between the United States and China?“More powerful AI systems will enable more powerful cyber operations.”“It’s the hardest thing we do as a species.”Turning over federal lands to data centersHow Trump is shooting himself in the foot regarding AI“We’re just chasing power all across the country.”“We’re going to be building data centers for a very long time.”How the AI expert uses AI“There’s a long list of concerns.”Accident reports and autonomous weaponsThe AI Grand BargainBen BuchananDOE on federal lands for data centersAnthropic Has a Plan to Keep Its AI From Building a Nuclear Weapon. Will It Work?DoD Direction 3000.09 Autonomy in Weapons SystemsSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Deadwood: The Town that Made the Wild West

  Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.comThis week on Angry Planet we’re taking a break from the horrors of the present to explore horrors of a past distant enough now that they’re entertaining. But then, America found those horrors pretty entertaining at the time, too. Even when it was still a thriving community and a going concern, the town of Deadwood, South Dakota, was the subject of dimestore novels and tall tales.Peter Cozzens is here with us to talk about his new book Deadwood: Gold, Guns, and Greed in the American West. Cozzens is a historian who has written 17 books that focus on the U.S. Civil War, the Wild West, and the American Indian Wars. His latest work is all about Deadwood and the wild cast of characters who inhabited it. Come sit with us a spell and learn about the real Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, and Al Swearengen.“Power comes to any man who has the color.”Black Elk and how the West Was LostConflicting perceptions of Wild Bill HickockProfessional gamblersCreating Calamity JaneSoftening George Hearst“In the West, women didn’t wear underwear.”Deadwood burnsHow history becomes a dime store novel“The most diabolical town on the face of the earth.”Deadwood: Gold, Guns, and Greed in the American WestSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Learning to Love the Stagnant Order

  Is your Empire feeling less than fresh? Does it feel like the modern world’s best days are behind it? Do conquest and global power politics not hit as good as they used to? Welcome to the Age of Stagnation, a time when the fruits of the Industrial Revolution can be enjoyed but not replicated.It’s making us all a little crazy, especially world leaders. With us today on the show is Michael Beckley, a political science professor at Tufts University and his career includes stretches at the Pentagon, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the RAND Corporation. To hear Beckley tell it, stagnation might not be such a bad thing. If we can avoid repeating the worst mistakes of the 20th century and let go of a “number go up” mind set, then maybe we can all learn to enjoy a long age of stabilization.The diminishing returns of the Industrial RevolutionWinners and losers in the Age of AscentMoore’s Law sputters outStabilization isn’t so bad. “We’re some of the luckiest people who’ve ever lived.”Shenanigans and shithouseryAI isn’t “ready” yetWhy conquest doesn’t work anymoreChina as a paper tiger in the age of stabilizationAmerica’s unique advantages“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” - Mike TysonThe Stagnant OrderI Tried the Robot That’s Coming to Live With You. It’s Still Part Human.Michael BeckleySupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• ‘Goliath’s Curse’ and the Surprising Benefits of Societal Collapse

  We’re obsessed with apocalypses, big and small. We fantasize about what the future might look like after the fall of society and fear the coming tribulation. Rome fretted about decline until its end. Stories of the Sea Peoples terrified the monarchs of the Late Bronze Age. During the 30 Years’ War, Europeans imagined Armageddon had finally begun.But a funny thing happens after the collapse: things tend to get a little better for everyone.Luke Kemp is here to hold our hands through the end of the world as we know it. Kemp is a researcher at Cambridge’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and the author of the book Goliath’s Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse.Beauty in collapseMatthew’s AI testThe Doctor Doom mask“Collapse was good for most people.”Sea People’s mentionedWhy a Goliath and not a Leviathan?Down with Thomas HobbesFear of a mass panic driving collapse“Emergency powers have a very funny tendency to stick around”The problem with guns, germs, and steelThe Tree of EvilOn the purpose of human sacrificeDoctor Doom is the belle of the ballAre we ending on a high note?Buy Goliath’s CurseCentre for the Study of Existential RiskThe rewards of ruinSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Yes, US Strikes On Alleged Drug Traffickers Are Illegal. That Won’t Stop Them

  Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.comThis week on Angry Planet we have returning guest and former judge advocate Dan Maurer. The last time he was on the show, Maurer walked us through the consequences of a Supreme Court ruling that asked the question: is it illegal for the President to order SEAL Team Six to kill people? It was a surreal question that now feels more pressing.A US Carrier Strike Group is moving into South American waters to support America’s highly kinetic War on Drugs. Military lawyers might have advised the Trump administration that extra-judiciously executing alleged criminals in international waters is, in fact, illegal. But Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is no fan of military lawyers and fired the Judge Advocate General (JAG) of both the Army and the Air Force. The Pentagon plans to turn as many as 600 of the remaining military lawyers into immigration judges.The second Trump administration is perverting the law and sidelining anyone that might tell them it’s a bad idea. Since he was last on the show, Maurer has retired from the Army and is now a professor at Ohio Northern University’s college of law. He’s here to tell us how bad things are and how much worse they might get.The terminal parent metaphorA story that only ends one wayWhat’s a JAG?Hegseth’s JAG hateLaw as perversionAre these strikes legal? “No.”“It can be lawful, but not moral.”Legally speaking, you can’t be a combatant and a criminal.When Truman tried to take over the steel industry.Can state authorities arrest the feds?Life after Trump timeAre Military Lawyers Being Sidelined?Defining ‘Rebellion’ in 10 U.S.C. § 12406 and the Insurrection ActOn Treason and Traitors“Anna, Lindsey Halligan Here.”Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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