Let's Know Things

This week we talk about the Merchant Marine Act, trade routes, and incentives.

We also discuss Wesley Jones, foreign competition, and artificial monopolies.

Recommended Book: The Quantum Thiefby Hannu Rajaniemi

Transcript

In 1920, the then-Senator for the state of Washington, Wesley Jones, who was also the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced the Merchant Marine Act as a method by which the American merchant marine cou...

This week we talk about the Democratic Republic of the Congo, malaria, and healthcare infrastructure.

We also discuss militants, Uganda, and the Bundibugyo virus.

Recommended Book: We Should Get Together by Kat Vellos

Transcript

Ebola, which is more formally called Ebola Virus Disease or Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever, is caused by an infection by a type of RNA virus called an orthoebolavirus.

There are six known species of orthoebolavirus, an...

This week we talk about oceanic surface temperatures, trade winds, and global climate change.

We also discuss the Polar Jet Stream, hurricanes, and climate models.

Recommended Book: Kleptopia by Tom Burgis

Transcript

Under normal circumstances, the Pacific Ocean’s average surface temperature, the distribution of heat across its vast expanse, is moderated by trade winds that blow east to west along the equator, which help move war...

This week we talk about Keir Starmer, Labour, and the Reform UK party.

We also discuss Tories, the Lib Dems, and two-party systems.

Recommended Book: Peakby K. Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool

Transcript

For more than 100 years, the British political system has been dominated by two parties: Labour and the Conservative Party, often called the Tories.

In practice, that means these two parties, which are center-left and center-right in the...

This week we talk about industrialization, antibiotics, and child mortality rates.

We also discuss corruption, instability, and progress.

Recommended Book: Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio

Transcript

Demographic transition is a social sciences theory that posits, based on all sorts of modern historical data, that societies tend to change, demographically, as they transition from a largely agrarian, low-industrial society, to t...

This week we talk about the Strait of Hormuz, oil, and Russia.

We also discuss Patriot missiles, expensive weapons, and peer rivals.

Recommended Book: Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff

Transcript

During 2025 and early 2026, about 20 million barrels of crude oil and other petroleum products was shipped through the Strait of Hormuz every day. That’s about a quarter of the world’s total seaborne oil, and essentially all ...

This week we talk about Orbán, Hungary, and reformers.

We also discuss Fidesz, Tisza, and illiberalism.

Recommended Book: I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin

Transcript

Hungary is a Central European country that was formed in the aftermath of WWI as part of the Treaty of Trianon, which—due to it having fought on the losing side of that conflict—resulted in the loss of more than 70% of it...

This week we talk about Project Glasswing, Anthropic, and Q Day.

We also discuss exploit markets, vulnerabilities, and zero days.

Recommended Book: The Culture Map by Erin Meyer

Transcript

In the world of computer security, a zero-day vulnerability is an issue that exists within a system at launch—hence, zero-day, it’s there at day zero of the system being available—that is also unknown to those who developed said sys...

This week we talk about modems, WiFi, and kinda sorta bribes.

We also discuss Huawei, government subsidies, and the FCC.

Recommended Book: Replaceable You by Mary Roach

Transcript

Many homes, those with WiFi connections to the internet, have two different devices they use to make that connectivity happen.

The first is a modem, which is what connects directly to your internet service provider, often via an ethernet jack in the wall that ...

This week we talk about cheap drones, energy resources, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

We also discuss the Strait of Hormuz, the war in Iran, and economic asymmetry.

Recommended Book: The Age of Extraction by Tim Wu

Transcript

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been pretty universally bad for everyone involved, very much including Russia, which going into the fifth year of this conflict, which it started by massing troops ...

This week we talk about the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and decapitation attacks.

We also discuss Venezuela, Iran, and the Platt Amendment.

Recommended Book: The Will of the Many by James Islington

Transcript

Cuba is a large island nation, about the same size as the US state of Tennessee, which formally gained its independence from Spain in late 1898, following three wars of independence, the last of which brought the US, Puert...

This week we talk about BYD, Tesla, and the Blade Battery 2.0.

We also discuss EVs, internal-combustion engines, and autonomous vehicles.

Recommended Book: Blank Space by W. David Marx

Transcript

Petroleum-powered vehicles, cars and trucks and SUVs of the kind that have become the standard since the mid-20th century, work by mixing fuel that you put in the tank when you fill up at the gas station with air, in the engine, and then creat...

This week we talk about Khamenei, Trump, and Netanyahu.

We also discuss Venezuela, Cuba, and cartels.

Recommended Book: Plagues upon the Earth by Kyle Harper

Transcript

Ali Hosseini Khamenei was an opposition politician in the lead-up to the Iranian Revolution that, in 1979, resulted in the overthrow of the Shah—the country’s generally Western government-approved royal leader—and installed the Islamic Republic, an ext...

This week we talk about Anthropic, the Department of Defense, and OpenAI.

We also discuss red lines, contracts, and lethal autonomous systems.

Recommended Book: Empire of AI by Karen Hao

Transcript

Lethal autonomous weapons, often called lethal autonomous systems, autonomous weapons systems, or just ‘killer robots,’ are military hardware that can operate independent of human control, searching for and engaging with targets ...

This week we talk about Trump’s tariffs, the Supreme Court, and negotiating leverage.

We also discuss trade wars, Greenland, and the IEEPA.

Recommended Book: Smoke and Ashes by Amitav Ghosh

Transcript

I’ve spoken on this show before about tariffs and about US President Trump’s enthusiasm for tariffs as an underpinning of his trade policy. Last October, back in 2025 I did an episode on tariff leverage and why the conce...

This week we talk about mass surveillance, smart doorbells, and the Patriot Stack.

We also discuss Amazon, Alexa, and the Super Bowl.

Recommended Book: Red Moon by Benjamin Percy

Transcript

In 2002, in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the US government created a new agency—the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, operating under the auspices of the US Department...

This week we talk about OpenAI, nudify apps, and CSAM.

We also discuss Elon Musk, SpaceX, and humanistic technology.

Recommended Book: Who’s Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler

Transcript

xAI is an American corporation that was founded in mid-2023 by Elon Musk, ostensibly in response to several things happening in the world and in the technology industry in particular.

According to Musk, a “politically correct” artifici...

This week we talk about the European Union, India, and tariffs.

We also discuss trade barriers, free trade, and dumping.

Recommended Book: The Kill Chain by Christian Brose

Transcript

A free trade agreement, sometimes called a free trade treaty, is a law that reduces the cost and regulatory burden of trading between two or more states.

There are many theories as to the ideal way to do international trade, with some economists and politi...

This week we talk about social networks, propaganda, and Oracle.

We also discuss foreign adversaries, ByteDance, and X.

Recommended Book: Rewiring Democracy by Bruce Schneier and Nathan E. Sanders

Transcript

In 2021, TikTok, a short-form video platform that’s ostensibly also a social network, though which leans heavily toward consuming content over socializing, was ranked the most popular website by internet services company Clou...