The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast - The Pell Center at Salve Regina University

Latest Episodes:

The New Era of Digital Repression with Steven Feldstein & Shreya Joshi Feb 14, 2026

Show notes

As anti-government protests in Iran ratcheted-up in the waning days of 2025, the Iranian government cracked-down harshly, using physical violence against their own people and shutting down the internet in the country. Steven Feldstein and Shreya Joshi of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace put Iran’s actions in a broader global context of digital-repression where regimes fight the population by controlling the flow of information. Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also discuss the Trump administration’s overt efforts to shape political debate in Europe before turning their attention to the deployment of StarLink terminals to Iran.

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Inauthentic 'Fan Pages' with Shawn Eib and Eric Nelson Feb 07, 2026

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Somebody is growing a network of pages across social media targeting professional sports franchises in the United States and the star athletes they employ with rage bait, spam, and AI slop that undermines the multi-billion dollar sports industry. This week, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson discuss the operation of these networks with Shawn Eib and Eric Nelson of Alethea, the private firm whose research identified their presence. Also on the docket: informal information networks in Venezuela and one Russia-linked network’s exploitation of the content of the Epstein files.

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Migrant Warfare with Karen-Anna Eggen & Jyri Lavikainen Jan 31, 2026

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Before it became a Europe-wide phenomenon, Russia's use of migration as a weapon was a test-case stressing the borders between Russia and its two arctic neighbors: Norway and Finland. On this week's episode of the podcast, Karen-Anna Eggen (Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies) and Jyri Lavikainen (Finnish Institute for International Affairs) share their research detailing Russia's efforts to weaponize human migration. Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also review new reporting on the potential for agentic AI to disrupt defense planning and democracy, itself.

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Special Edition: Russia's Support for American Separatism Jan 24, 2026

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"Russia is our friend?" It was a strange refrain for tiki-torch wielding protesters in 2017, but it exposed the reality that for some American white-nationalists, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is a role model as the last defender of white Christendom. In this special edition of the podcast, host Jim Ludes reviews the American separatism Russia encouraged in 2016, the Putin regime's ties to American extremists, and its political, ideological, and geo-strategic goal: eviscerating American power.

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Protecting America's Elections with RI Secretary of State Gregg Amore Jan 17, 2026

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Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore discusses the threat of foreign malign influence to American elections, Trump administration cuts to federal programs to support local election officials, and the enduring value of civics education and critical thinking in an era of ubiquitous disinformation. Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also highlight continued, bipartisan Congressional support for U.S. international broadcasting and the real-time case study of what happens when the United States lacks an international information apparatus amidst political disturbances in a country like Iran.

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Alliance Strategic Communications with Janis Sarts Jan 10, 2026

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On the first episode of the new year, Janis Sarts, Director of the NATO Strategic Communications Center of Excellence discusses the current information challenges facing the North Atlantic alliance, Russia's current use of these tools, and the transition from an ecosystem dominated by social media platforms to one dominated by artificial intelligence. Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also highlight disinformation spilling out of the U.S. strike in Venezuela and the actions of the Trump administration to sanction EU counter-disinformation officials and researchers.

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Special Edition: The U.S. Response to the East German Protests of 1953 with Jim Ludes Jan 03, 2026

Show notes

In June of 1953, civil disturbances hit East Germany--and the Eisenhower administration faced a choice: make good on the rhetoric of 'liberation' or adopt a more restrained approach. According to host Jim Ludes, President Eisenhower and his team adopted the latter approach, restraint, seeking to exploit the uprisings for advantage in the Cold War without encouraging anyone to take needless risks or discrediting the protests themselves by endorsing them from Washington.

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Special Edition: Edward Bernays and "The Engineering of Consent" with Mark Jacobson Dec 27, 2025

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In this special edition of the podcast, host Mark Jacobson revisits the classic work of Edward Bernays whose 1928 book, Propaganda, argued that democracy required managed perception and was effective precisely because it bypasses conscious reasoning. Bernays wrote at a time when newspapers were the dominant form of communication, when radio and film were still nascent, but the clear implications of his work for our current world of algorithmically controlled media are numerous.

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2025: A Year in Active Measures with Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson Dec 20, 2025

Show notes

It's been a dynamic year of growth for the Active Measures Newsletter Podcast. With great guests and a ton of news, each week we've had more to talk about than time to do it. So as the year winds down, hosts Mark Jacobson and Jim Ludes name their "final four"--the biggest stories from the Active Measures Newsletter in 2025. Artificial Intelligence, Sabotage in Europe, America’s Unilateral Disarmament, and more contend for the biggest story of the year.

Mark and Jim have their pick. What's yours?

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts!

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A Matter of Trust with L. Gordon Crovitz Dec 13, 2025

Show notes

“They’re burning all the witches,” sang Taylor Swift on the album “reputation,” a lyric with meaning about modern-day witch hunts, cancel culture, and, in fact, disinformation. In this week’s episode of The Active Measures Newsletter Podcast, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson break down the recent attack on Taylor Swift’s actual reputation and the self-harm done to America’s reputation by its new national security strategy. Then, they welcome L. Gordon Crovitz, co-CEO of NewsGuard, for a great conversation about the current threat-landscape, America’s unilateral disarmament in this fight, the prospect for corralling social media and AI platforms, and the enduring value of good local news.

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