The Cognitive Crucible - Information Professionals Association

Latest Episodes:

#236 Michael Lissack on Anticipatory Agents Dec 16, 2025

Show notes

The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association.

During this episode, Michael Lissack discusses Anticipatory Agents in Causal Bubbles–a unified theoretical framework that reconciles Quantum Bayesianism (QBism), Robert Rosen's theory of Anticipatory Systems, the causal bubbles interpretation of quantum mechanics, and pragmatic constructivism through Hans Vaihinger's philosophy of 'as if.'

Recording Date: 2 Dec 2025

Research Question: Michael Lissack suggests an interested student or researcher examine how can the continuous process of asking "what gives this symbol, sign, or phrase meaning?" (synecdoche) against the background of the "information abyss" lead to a developed sense of understanding?

Resources:

Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
Anticipatoryagents.com
Anticipatory Agents in Causal Bubbles: Reconciling Quantum Bayesianism, Rosen's Anticipatory Systems, and Pragmatic Constructivism by Michael Lissack
WHAT SCIENTIFIC TERM OR CONCEPT OUGHT TO BE MORE WIDELY KNOWN? Ashby's Law of Requisite Variety by John Naughton
Destruction and Creation by John Boyd (1976)
W. R. Ashby, "Requisite variety and its implications for the control of complex systems," Cybernetica, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 83–99, 1958.

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio: Michael Lissack, the founder and director of the Second Order Science Foundation, has dedicated his academic career to understanding how individuals and organizations can learn and adapt in a rapidly changing world. Lissack's work focuses on the intersection of cognition, communication, and technology, and he has developed innovative approaches to knowledge management, organizational learning, and leadership development. Lissack was the president of American Society for Cybernetics, founder of the Institute for the Study of Coherence and Emergence, and founding editor of the journal Emergence. He has taught at several universities throughout the world, including Erasmus in the Netherlands and Tongji in Shanghai. He holds a D.B.A. in complex systems from Brunel University and Henley Management College.

About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain.

For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org.

Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

#235 Rob Thelen on the US Army IWAR Initiative Dec 11, 2025

Show notes

During this episode, COL Rob Thelan discusses the US Army's Information Warfare (IWAR) Branch. IWAR aims to integrate the IO (Information Operations) and PSYOP (Psychological Operations) communities into a unified, conventional force branch. Other topics include: U.S. lagging behind adversaries like China and Russia in IO funding and the need to break down "stovepiping" within the U.S. information operations community; the State Department's Global Engagement Center and filling the void with respect to mis/dis-information; and military public affairs evolution.

Recording Date: 19 Nov 2025

Research Question: Rob Thelan suggests an interested student or researcher examine: Where else are we falling behind our adversaries and how do we make up ground – especially with respect to operations in the information environment?

Resources:

Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
- #106 Mike Taylor on the Global Engagement Center
Art of War by Sun Tzu
The Fire of the Dragon: China's New Cold War by Ian Williams

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio:

Colonel Robert M. Thelen is currently the chief of staff of the Department of the Army Strategic Operations Directorate (DAMO SO). Previously, he was the Department of State Senior Military Advisor to the Bureau of Public Diplomacy and Global Public Affairs office of Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI). Colonel Thelen completed a War College Fellowship at the Near East South Asia Strategic Studies Center at National Defense University. Prior to War College he was assigned to the Joint Staff J39 (Deputy Director for Global Operations DDGO) as Chief Special Activities Division (SAD). He was also assigned to the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) J39 Information Operations (IO) Division as the Chief of Special Activities. He also served at the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) J39 Information Operations (IO) Division after earning a Master Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He previously served as the G7 Information Operations Officer for the Second Infantry Division, stationed at Camp Red Cloud, Republic of Korea. He was also assigned to Fort Hood's III Armored Corps as a G35 Future Operations IO Planner and deployed to Afghanistan in 2013 where he lead an international team of IO planners for the Future Operations G35 of the ISAF Joint Command (IJC). Before joining III Armored Corps, COL Thelen served with the U.S. Army Forces Command's Operations Division Watch team where he was instrumental in establishing the IO section within the G-3/5/7.

Colonel Thelen has had a long and diverse military career, bringing a plethora of military experience to the Department of State. While still a junior in high school, he enlisted in the Illinois Army National Guard as a photo journalist. Four years later, he attended Officer Candidate School and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant after graduating from Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Relations. He then relocated to Washington, D.C., where he pursued a career with the federal government while continuing to serve in the Virginia Army National Guard's 29th Infantry Division as the Commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, as well as an aide-de-camp to the Commanding General. COL Thelen was transferred to Atlanta, Georgia where he joined the Georgia Army National Guard and the 124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. In 1997 he was mobilized, deployed and attached to the 1st Infantry Division 2-2 Infantry in Bosnia-Herzegovina, serving as the Task Force 2-2 Public Affairs Officer. He remained on active duty through the Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) program where he served in Stuttgart, Germany with the European Command J37 NATO Exercise Branch and performed Operations Center duties during the Kosovo Campaign. Following this assignment, he returned to Atlanta and served in the G-3/5/7 Training Division at the U.S. Army Forces Command and the Executive Officer to the 2-star senior Army National Guard Advisor. He was then selected to serve as the Battalion S3, Assistant Professor of Military Science (APMS) at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) ROTC program, and then as the Coordinator for the Georgia National Guard's State Partnership Program with the Former Soviet Republic of Georgia. During this time he also commanded the 124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. After command, he attended Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and was then assigned as the Brigade S3 Plans officer at the 48th Infantry Brigade. COL Thelen was then assessed to active duty as an Information Operations officer and continues to serve.

COL Thelen is married to Alexis (Layton-Moore) and has three children, Jake, Rachel and Robert, Jr. He has owned and operated a real estate investment firm and is an active member of the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association.

For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org.

Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post

#234 Robert Thibadeau on a Million Identities and Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Oct 07, 2025

Show notes

During this episode, Bob Thibadeau returns to the Cognitive Crucible and discusses the fundamentals of computational cognitive neuroscience and privacy. He asserts that everyone should manage a million identities on an embodied chip, share these identities selectively, and change them frequently.

Recording Date: 29 Sep 2025

Resources:

Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
- #5 Robert Thibadeau on Lies
The Internet Court of Truth
Robotaxies: Blackmail Comes of Age and the Need for Identity MegaChips (YouTube)
Fiat Lies are Genocide on the Human Race (YouTube)
Fiat Lies are Genocide on the Human Race (Medium)
Flashy Crypto Chipped: A Storage OEM View (YouTube)
Robert Thibadeau's Medium Site
Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (Wikipedia)
Heider and Simmel (1944) animation (YouTube)

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio: Professor Bob Thibadeau has been affiliated with Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science since 1979. His expertise is in Cognitive Science, AI, and Machine Learning. Prof Thibadeau is one of the founding Directors of the Robotics Institute. And, he is author of the book "How to Get Your Lies Back: The Internet Court of Lies." Watch his recent Liecourt.com or truthcourt.net trials at https://www.truthcourt.net/sponsor/thibadeau. "Fiat Lies are Genocide on the Human Race" is a brief summary of the book available on Medium.com. It is tried for its truthfulness off his TruthCourt.net sponsor page. or directly at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp-Q_Vqm7Eo. His "million identities to protect your privacy," also on Medium.com, is tried for its truthfulness at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyxTdFlmZY8.

For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org.

Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

#233 Orlandon Howard on Rethinking Strategic Communication Sep 30, 2025

Show notes

During this episode, Lt. Col. Orlandon Howard discusses rethinking strategic communication for U.S. military public affairs, exploring topics such as the PESO model and the balance between informing and influencing. The discussion centers around his recent article: "Communication Strategery: Rethinking Strategic Communication for U.S. Military Public Affairs."

Recording Date: 24 Sep 2025

Research Question: Orlandon Howard suggests an interested student or researcher examine: What cognitive (psychological and sociological) conditions typically exist among host nation populations that are associated with prevalent support for foreign military aims and operations?

Resources:

"Communication Strategery: Rethinking Strategic Communication for U.S. Military Public Affairs" by Orlandon Howard
PESO model
Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes (1973) by Jacques Ellul

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio: Lt. Col. Orlandon Howard serves as the public affairs officer (or PAO) for the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower & Reserve Affairs and the U.S. Army G-1 at the Pentagon. He has previously worked as a public affairs coach-trainer, public affairs operations officer, Army brigade combat team PAO, marketing operations officer, and as a Fellow with FleishmanHillard, a New York-based public relations and marketing agency.

For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org.

Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

#232 John Pennell on Russia's Actions in Ukraine and Syria Sep 16, 2025

Show notes

During this episode, Dr. John Pennell discusses his book and Ph.D. research: Assessing Russia's Actions in Ukraine and Syria, 2014–2022 Implications for the Changing Character of War.

Recording Date: 4 Sep 2025

Research Question: John Pennell suggests an interested student or researcher examine:

How can we better inform the American public about the information space; focusing on informing the American public about threats from adversaries and discerning fact from fiction.
How Russian information operations has evolved since 2022; studying the evolving Russian information operations since 2014, including the shift in approach in 2022, as well as the influence of non-state actors like criminal syndicates and drug cartels in the information space.

Resources:

Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
- #151 Daniel Runde on Chinese Soft Power
- #230 Randy Rosin on Warfare is Informational; the Case for a New DoD Information Paradigm
Assessing Russia's Actions in Ukraine and Syria, 2014–2022 Implications for the Changing Character of War By John A. Pennell

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio:

Dr. Pennell is a highly accomplished, retired US senior foreign service officer (Minister-Counselor rank), with 20+ years of executive-level experience leading multidisciplinary, interagency, and joint teams to oversee US cooperation programs across Africa, Eurasia, the Indo-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East. He has deep expertise in irregular warfare, strategic competition, public diplomacy, strategic communications, and countering hybrid threats including in high-threat, gray-zone, and/or active combat environments.

He's currently a Senior Diplomacy Fellow with Narrative-Strategies, Senior Strategic Advisor with Pax Strategies LLC, and Senior Practitioner (pro bono) with the US Department of Defense's Irregular Warfare Center (IWC) in the intelligence, operations in the information environment, and emerging tech networks. He's also a subject matter expert reviewer (pro bono) for National Defense University's Joint Forces Quarterly (JFQ) and an International Advisory Board Member of Ukraine Foundation, a Swiss-based organization focused on peace processes and conflict resolution in Ukraine.

In addition to being a lifetime member of the Information Professionals Association (IPA), he's a member of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs (BCFA), Foreign Policy for America (FP4A), Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA), and National Security Leaders for America (NSL4A).

He has a PhD in War & Defense Studies from King's College London and Masters degrees from the National War College and American University. His book on Russia's irregular warfare activities in Syria and Ukraine is available from Bloomsbury, Amazon, Waterstones, etc. You can also visit his website.

For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org.

Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

231 Tod Rathbone Sep 09, 2025

Show notes

During this episode, Tod Rathbone discusses trends related to digital marketing and why it matters including: the evolution of live media, digital ad tracking, AI's impact on marketplaces and media, identity mapping and platform challenges, AI and online safety, challenges of digital information management, and infrastructure vulnerabilities.

Recording Date: 2 Sep 2025

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio:

Tod Rathbone is a seasoned marketing strategist and agency leader with over four decades of experience guiding global brands and creative organizations through transformation and growth. He currently serves as a fractional Chief Strategy Officer for Infinity Marketing Team and Reed Art Department.

Previously, Tod was Global Chief Strategy Officer at WONGDOODY, where he built and scaled the strategic offering that helped transform the agency from a $25M regional shop into a $200M global digital innovation company. He also served on the 4A's Board of Directors, contributing industry leadership at the national level. His earlier leadership roles at Publicis Sapient, Razorfish, and Band Digital spanned brand strategy, digital transformation, and innovation for Fortune 100 clients including Samsung, Nestlé, and Apple.

Known for shaping agencies into engines of growth and cultural relevance, Tod combines deep expertise in brand building, digital innovation, and creative strategy with a proven track record of scaling businesses, inspiring teams, and delivering award-winning client work.

For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org.

Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

#230 Randy Rosin on Warfare is Informational; the Case for a New DoD Information Paradigm Sep 02, 2025

Show notes

During this episode, Randy Rosin returns to the Cognitive Crucible to support his assertion that warfare is informational and the US Department of Defense needs an entirely new information paradigm.

Recording Date: 28 Aug 2025

Resources:

Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine by Norbert Wiener
Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos by Seth Lloyd
The Bit and the Pendulum: From Quantum Computing to M Theory--The New Physics of Information by Tom Siegfried
The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood by James Gleick

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio: Dr. Randy Rosin was formerly a faculty member of the National Intelligence University in Bethesda, Maryland. He taught courses in propaganda, foreign information and cyber strategy, cyber threat intelligence, denial and deception, and leadership. He is a 32-year active-duty Army veteran who has served in combat arms, psychological operations, information operations, as a middle eastern foreign area officer, and in human intelligence operations. Notably serving as the information operations chief in Iraq, at US Central Command, and as the Senior Defense Official and Defense Attaché in Yemen. His research interests are in the intersection of technology and manipulative communication and on the development of information-based theoretical frameworks in military applications. Currently he teaches critical thinking courses in the Honors College at Montana State University.

For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org.

Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

#229 David Cook on Digital Discipline Aug 26, 2025

Show notes

During this episode, David Cook discusses his recent article: When Cell Phones Kill: Digital Discipline and the Future of SOF Obscurity. In addition to digital discipline in a national security context, David discusses cyber and AI threats and practical mitigation practices that private sector companies and citizens should be aware of.

Recording Date: 19 Aug 2025

Resources:

Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
- #222 JD Maddox on Emerging IO Opportunities
When Cell Phones Kill: Digital Discipline and the Future of SOF Obscurity by Dave Cook

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio: David Cook spent a decade in the US Army in both conventional and special operations units focused on the Middle East. After his time in the Army, David joined Congressman Darrell Issa as a fellow then National Security Advisor who handled covered his Foreign Affairs and Judiciary portfolio. David co-authored several strategic documents at Army OSINT Office and the Defense Intelligence Agency along with contributing to the most recent OSINT Strategy released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Most recently, David led the go-to-market efforts of a leading OSINT software company.

For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org.

Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

#228 Torvald Ask on the UnCODE System Aug 05, 2025

Show notes

During this episode, Torvald Ask discusses his 2023 co-authored paper: The UnCODE System: A Neurocentric Systems Approach for Classifying the Goals and Methods of Cognitive Warfare. The UnCODE System is an accessible and a practical tool for understanding and addressing cognitive warfare goals.

Recording Date: 1 Aug 2025

Research Question: Torvald Ask suggests an interested student or researcher examine how to measure the cognitive baseline of a population to figure out if they have been influenced positively or negatively.

Resources:

Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
The UnCODE System: A Neurocentric Systems Approach for Classifying the Goals and Methods of Cognitive Warfare by Torvald F. Ask, Ricardo G. Lugo, Stefan Sütterlin, Matthew Canham, Daniel Hermansen, Benjamin J. Knox
The Moloch Trap of Environmental Problems

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio: Torvald F. Ask is a Neuroscientist and co-founder of Gonzo Solutions. His research is focused within the fields of human factors in cybersecurity, cognitive security and cognitive warfare, cognitive control, psycho-neuro-immunology, and neurodevelopment. Ask holds a PhD in Information Security and Communication Technology from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He is currently affiliated with the Faculty of Health, Welfare and Organization at Østfold University College, Norway.

For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org.

Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

#227 Matthew Canham on Agentic AI and the Cognitive Security Institute Jul 29, 2025

Show notes

During this episode, Matthew Canham discusses agentic AI's potential to boost productivity by automating tasks and its anticipated influence on user interfaces, potentially creating new security vulnerabilities and opportunities for user manipulation. Matthew emphasized the importance of robust security measures to counteract such threats. He also touched on the "meaning crisis" in modern society, attributing it to increased free time and mental bandwidth, and its connection to rising rates of drug overdoses and suicides.

As executive director of the Cognitive Security Institute, Matthew discusses the Institute's growth since 2023, now with over 550 members, and its focus on community engagement and education. He highlighted initiatives like the Cyber Talent Exchange program, connecting job seekers with cybersecurity roles, and addressed AI's significant impact on the job market, leading to overwhelming application numbers.

Recording Date: 22 July 2025

Resources:

Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
Cognitive Security Institute
NYTimes: A.I. Sludge Has Entered the Job Search
The Cognitive Attack Taxonomy (CAT)
Crisis of Meaning John Vervaeke Youtube Series

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio: Dr. Matthew Canham is the Executive Director of the Cognitive Security Institute and a former Supervisory Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), he has a combined twenty-one years of experience in conducting research in cognitive security and human-technology integration. He currently holds an affiliated faculty appointment with George Mason University, where his research focuses on the cognitive factors in synthetic media social engineering and online influence campaigns. He was previously a research professor with the University of Central Florida, School of Modeling, Simulation, and Training's Behavioral Cybersecurity program. His work has been funded by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), and the US Army Research Institute. He has provided cognitive security awareness training to the NASA Kennedy Space Center, DARPA, MIT, US Army DevCom, the NATO Cognitive Warfare Working Group, the Voting and Misinformation Villages at DefCon, and the Black Hat USA security conference. He holds a PhD in Cognition, Perception, and Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and SANS certifications in mobile device analysis (GMOB), security auditing of wireless networks (GAWN), digital forensic examination (GCFE), and GIAC Security Essentials (GSEC).

For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org.

Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

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