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

Latest Episodes:

Everything Old is New Again: Russian Election Interference with Dustin Volz Sep 26, 2026

Show notes

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 on U.S. intelligence tracking current foreign efforts to influence America’s election. The Russians are still sewing chaos; the Chinese are attacking down-ballot races, and the Iranians—locked in an intense fight with the United States—emerge as the wild card as we head into the mid-term elections. Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also look at the remarkable speech by UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham announcing the formation of a new, information defense agency.

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Deepfakes and Disinformation with Katelyn Chedraoui Sep 19, 2026

Show notes

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—and what gives them so much potential as vehicles for disinformation. Her point was simple and unsettling: AI image and video tools have gotten very good, very fast—not “seven fingers” good, photorealistic good. That’s especially unsettling because a bad actor doesn’t need to create the perfect fake. They just need something that makes you angry, scared, or confused long enough to cloud your judgment. That can be a video; a robocall; a text about a polling place changing. Sometimes the most effective deception is also the most mundane. And then there’s the bigger problem: AI isn’t only making fake things harder to spot. It’s also making real things easier to doubt. Co-hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also discuss the recent U.S. indictment of Russian intelligence agents accused of recruiting for active measures—including ‘wet work’ in the United States, and the threat AI may pose to authoritarian regimes.

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AI and Radicalization in Closed Loops with Simeon Dukić and Natalie Vela Sep 12, 2026

Show notes

AI chatbots may be quietly reinforcing conspiracy thinking, extremist narratives, and harmful beliefs through private, personalized conversations designed to keep users engaged. Simeon Dukic and Natalie Vela of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue discuss research testing 10 chatbots across anti-Semitism, misogyny, and anti-migrant narratives, revealing how some systems become increasingly agreeable as conversations continue—sometimes shifting from resistance to validation in just a few turns. They explore the risks of sycophancy, hyper-personalization, and companion-style AI; why conspiracy reinforcement may be more common than direct incitement to violence; which models performed best at interrupting escalation; and why current safety frameworks and regulations fail to account for harms that are iterative, cumulative, and conversational. Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also reflect on the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

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What Really Scares Authoritarians with Scott Fisher and Graig Klein Sep 05, 2026

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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 than diplomatic isolation. That’s the conclusion from new research by Scott Fisher and Graig Klein who see in the data evidence of a tremendous opportunity for Western democracies to hold their authoritarian rivals at risk—either by threatening to break the regime’s monopoly on information, demonstrating the capability to do so, or actually doing it. Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also discuss the recent surge in Russian hybrid warfare in Europe and the latest analysis of the migrant crisis at Ceuta, Spain.

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The Propaganda Manual of the Ukraine War with Thomas Kent Aug 29, 2026

Show notes

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 the American Foreign Policy Council explains how Ukraine turned a chaotic communications system into a wartime information powerhouse, appealed to Speaker Mike Johnson’s Baptist roots to unlock U.S. aid, and built an international campaign around kidnapped Ukrainian children to drive an International Criminal Court indictment against Putin and his children’s affairs commissioner. Kent explains why humor, truth, and a clear narrative can be just as powerful as military hardware when you’re trying to rally allies and sustain morale. On the other side, Russia’s most effective messaging may not be about "Nazis" or other false claims - it’s the darker, more persuasive message that Russia is unbeatable and that stopping it could trigger World War III. Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also discuss DCI John Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow and mark the 100th episode of the podcast.

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The AI Disinformation Incident Repository with Sam Stockwell and Broderick McDonald Aug 22, 2026

Show notes

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 built to exploit chaos. Sam Stockwell and Broderick McDonald from the Alan Turing Institute unpack the new playbook - and why the next information war may be won before the truth even has a chance to catch up. Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also discuss evidence of Russian and American voices in the up-coming Alberta independence referendum as well as a new example of information laundering from the current war with Iran.

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TikTok is a Potent Weapon of CCP Political Warfare with Michael Sobolik Aug 15, 2026

Show notes

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 highlights how TikTok's algorithm can shape public opinion in the U.S., particularly among younger audiences, and raises concerns about national security. The discussion also covers the potential for crisis scenarios where the CCP could manipulate information during conflicts, such as a hypothetical situation involving Taiwan. Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also discuss other reporting about Russian actors trying to rhetorically divide Germany, again, while China has become active in exploiting the emerging divide over America’s future AI infrastructure.

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AI Powered Community Notes on X with Alexios Mantzarlis Aug 08, 2026

Show notes

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 when “the community” starts looking a lot more synthetic. Alexios Mantzarlis, co-founder of Indicator and a self-described “recovering fact checker,” breaks down the surprising rise of AI-written notes, why bots sometimes outperform humans, and the bigger danger hiding underneath the numbers: a moderation system that can look healthier on paper while quietly losing human participation, language diversity, and political coverage. Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also unpack the recent migrant crisis in Ceuta, Spain, and increasing evidence of adversarial manipulation.

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'Working the Political Engine': Revolutionary War-Era Propaganda with Robert Parkinson Aug 01, 2026

Show notes

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. Binghamton University Professor of History Robert Parkinson reveals the hidden power of newspapers, pamphlets, and even fake news in shaping independence. The patriots even consolidated early control over sources of news and information creating a strategic weapon that the British struggled to counter—a feature of the revolutionary era that might seem familiar today. Hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson also highlight the contemporary vulnerability of authoritarian regimes to information attacks and, relatedly, the cost of killing the Voice of America.

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'Assume that everything you're seeing is paid for' with Jason Beeferman Jul 25, 2026

Show notes

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 making the post didn’t have to disclose their financial interest. Political Reporter Jason Beeferman, with his colleagues at Politico, have blown the doors off the story, identifying influencers and nearly 500 social media posts they created in exchange for payment—without disclosing that arrangement to their followers. In addition, hosts Jim Ludes and Mark Jacobson highlight reporting on China’s struggles with foreign malign influence campaigns and Russia’s propaganda efforts in Africa.

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