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, Paul Buvarp contrasts disinformation as a human demand-side problem with the typical supply-side perspective. Additional discussion threads include thinking about online and real-world environments as differently as forests and tropical environments are different, how young people view TikTok and news consumption, bypassing traditional information filters, and Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety.

Recording Date: 1 Apr 2025

Resources:

• Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
  • #212 Libby Lange on Algorithmic Cognitive Warfare
• The spread of true and false news online by Soroush Vosoughi, Deb Roy, Sinan Aral
• Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
• The Paradox of Democracy: Free Speech, Open Media, and Perilous Persuasion by Zac Gershberg and Sean Illing

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio: Bio: Paul M. H. Buvarp, Ph.D., is a senior researcher at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (ffi.no/en), specialising in disinformation and foreign interference in digital media. His work explores the phenomenon through the lenses of media theory, sociology, and philosophy. He is also part of the research team monitoring and analysing attempts to interfere with Norwegian elections. Paul holds a doctorate degree in International Relations from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. He has published numerous academic articles, reports, and essays, and regularly gives lectures and talks in Norway and internationally.

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.

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, JD Maddox discusses new influence opportunities borne out of necessity. JD suggests that listeners consider radical-sounding concepts for, such as letters of marque, indemnification, task-based organization, public-private operations, and new authorities as viable influence pathways for today’s strategic landscape.

Recording Date: 31 Mar 2025

Resources:

• Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned or Related
  • #110 Sean McFate on The New Rules of War
  • #220 Tom Kent on US International Broadcasting and Soft Power
• Lord’s Resistance Army (Central Africa)
• The Kherson Ruse: Ukraine and the Art of Military Deception
• Letters of Marque
• US Agency for Global Media

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio: J.D. Maddox is an expert in political warfare, and an academic, writer and former political candidate. He has served as a Central Intelligence Agency branch chief, deputy coordinator of the U.S. Global Engagement Center, advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and as a U.S. Army Psychological Operations team leader. He is the founder of Inventive Insights LLC, and the Vice President of Technology and Innovation at Deft9 Solutions, and currently consults on Operations in the Information Environment to government organizations, and consults to commercial and political organizations on strategic communications. He's an adjunct professor of national security studies at George Mason University's Schar School, teaching Disinformation and Policy Responses, and he’s an adjunct professor at Tulane University, where he teaches Open Source Information Analysis. He also recently initiated "Tab D," a biweekly report highlighting U.S. adversaries' narrative vulnerabilities.

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.

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, Carrick Longley discusses Large Language Models (LLM) and influence. Key topics include:

• LLM 101
• Usage and changes in prompt engineering
• Improving influence resonance and speed
• The recent DeepSeek model controversy
• Bias in foundational models and
• Software development

Recording Date: 26 Mar 2025

Research Question: Guest suggests an interested student or researcher examine:

Resources:

• ZenithFlow
• Company of One by Paul Jarvis
• Reddit: Local LLama

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio: Dr. Carrick Longley is the Founder and CEO of ZenithFlow, a company pioneering privacy-first AI solutions for strategic communications. A former Marine Corps SIGINT and Technical IO Officer with a Ph.D. in Information Sciences, he leads the development of StoryForge, an advanced platform that transforms raw data into compelling narratives. Through ZenithFlow's local-first AI approach, Dr. Longley is revolutionizing how organizations leverage artificial intelligence to create impactful messaging while maintaining complete data privacy and control.

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.

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, Tom Kent returns to the Cognitive Crucible to share his concerns related to the United States recent withdrawal from international broadcasting. Topics include: US soft power, abandoning pro-democracy initiatives, impact on international relations, international broadcasting structure inefficiencies, and language services cost and logistics

Recording Date: 25 Mar 2025

Resources:

• Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
  • #10 Tom Kent on Striking Back
  • #105 Tom Kent on Persuasion in the Developing World
  • #177 Tom Kent on How Russia Loses
• US agency for Global Media (USAGM)

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio: Thomas Kent teaches and consults on Russian affairs, journalism, and the problems of propaganda and disinformation. President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty until 2018, he now teaches at Columbia University and consults for governments, NGOs, and news organizations. He is a senior fellow for strategic communication of the American Foreign Policy Council and an associate fellow of Slovakia’s GLOBSEC. Previously, he was Moscow bureau chief for The Associated Press, head of AP’s international news coverage, and editor for standards and ethics. His first book, Striking Back: Overt and Covert Options to Combat Russian Disinformation, was published in 2020, and his second, “How Russia Loses,” in 2023. He is now working on a new book, on the propaganda lessons of the Ukraine war.

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.

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, Dr. Josh “Bugsy” Segal asks the provocative question: Are We Losing the War? Josh discusses the importance of understanding the impact of the nation's investments in soft power assets and programs, emphasizing the need for a strategic approach and a broader national security context. He expresses concerns about the challenges in reaching the desired audience for information operations and the need for the US to adapt and innovate in the face of increasing influence from China and Russia. Lastly, the discussion touches on the current administration's agenda of cutting costs, the threat posed by adversaries, and the importance of nurturing relationships–particularly in the context of disinformation and subversive narratives.

Recording Date: 19 Feb 2025

Resources:

• Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
  • #213 Sviatoslav Hnizdovskyi on Countering Authoritarian Influence
  • #192 Josh "Bugsy" Segal on the American Maginot Line
  • #124 Dean Cheng on China, Space, and Information Operations
  • #24 John Davis on Modern Warfare, Teamwork, and Commercial Cognitive Security
• Deft9 Solutions
• Russia’s GRU Unit 29155
• The DOGE website

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio:

Dr. Joshua “Bugsy” Segal is the Co-Founder & Vice President for Strategy and Innovation at Deft9 Solutions. A veteran of over 30 years in national security policy, strategy and operations, and intelligence, both military and civilian, Dr. Segal is an internationally recognized expert in arms control, countering foreign malign influence, and counter-WMD. Dr. Segal spent over a decade as a member of U.S. multilateral arms control delegations in Geneva, Vienna, and The Hague, including the negotiations to finalize the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention and establish the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. After leaving the federal government and then retiring from the military, Dr. Segal serves as an advisor to senior DoD leaders on operations in the information environment and teaches OSINT tradecraft.

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.

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, Chris Greenway discusses the origins and evolution of BBC Monitoring, a service that gathers news from various sources. BBC Monitoring began in the 1930s as a response to the BBC's external broadcasts, with the initial focus on Arabic, Spanish, and Portuguese languages. The British government showed interest in monitoring, leading to a partnership with the BBC. By the height of World War II, the service had expanded to a thousand people and developed a relationship with American partners. Chris also discusses the significant role of open-source intelligence (OSINT) as well as products and services offered by BBC Monitoring.

Recording Date: 17 Feb 2025

Research Question: Chris Greenway suggests an interested student or researcher take part in a narrative assessment: have a look at Sputnik, or RT. What narrative are they trying to project to you? And can you “reverse engineer” those narratives to reveal the objective of the Russian government?

Resources:

• Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
  • #148 Kalev Leetaru on GDELT
• BBC Monitoring
• Sefton Delmer
• Black boomerang by Sefton Delmer

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio: Chris Greenway has worked for BBC Monitoring (BBCM) since 1981, helping the organisation’s users to understand the world and threats to international stability through coverage of global media. Joining the service in the shortwave era, he first worked at its signals-receiving station, providing colleagues with feeds from radio stations and news agencies around the world. Two years later he joined the editorial teams who compiled the regional editions of Monitoring’s daily newspaper, the Summary of World Broadcasts, working on the Soviet, East European, Middle East and Africa desks. That led to a total of eight years of postings to BBCM’s outstation in Nairobi, monitoring Africa, interspersed with duties back at BBCM’s UK HQ where he held various editorial and management posts. Since 2006, he has been part of a team coordinating the organisation’s daily global operations and output. Chris combines his work with a personal interest in the history of, and current developments in, broadcasting, media monitoring and international information warfare.

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.

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, Janne Riihelainen discusses the Information Operations Course funded by the European Union, which aims to enhance security by educating individuals on their role in providing security. Janne also expressed concern regarding the current cultural and political climate and risks related to uncertainty.

Recording Date: 17 Feb 2025

Research Question: Janne Riihelainen suggests an interested student or researcher study ways to identify good communication signals from the noisy information environment–especially as it relates to dialogue between the United States and the European Union.

Resources:

• EU Influence Operations Course
• Finnish National Strategy (Comprehensive Security)
• EU Cyber Citizen Initiative
• Joensuu, Finland
• EU vs Disinfo

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio: Janne Riihelainen is a non-fiction writer, communications expert and security policy columnist who has become known for his down-to-earth and accessible approach to writing about security policy. He is also one of the leading experts on information influence, training various actors to understand the current state of the information environment for their own operations. His book about security policy came out in 2017.

Janne’s stories have been published in numerous civil and military papers. I am interviewed regularly in Finnish media and have also been interviewed by Politico, CNN, NPR and Foreign Policy.

Jannes is an active and prominent debater on foreign and security policy in social media. I have a rare combination of competence and prestige with freedom of saying out loud things. I am not tied to any political party or other organization.

He is a partner in an ad agency and involved in commercial communication. He lives in Joensuu, small town in eastern Finland. The border of Russia is about 50 miles away.

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.

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, John Cappello emphasized the importance of collaboration and sharing experiences in the Western United States to combat disinformation and influence social dynamics. He suggested several research areas, including the use of disinformation in the Western Balkans, the impact of disinformation on trust in institutions, and effective strategies for countering disinformation. John also encouraged interested students or researchers to reach out to him for potential collaboration. He recommended the book "Parting the Curtain" by Walter Hickson for a better understanding of the challenges faced in the region.

Recording Date: 11 Feb 2025

Research Question: John Cappello suggests an interested student or researcher examine the disinformation tactics actors use within the Balkan region and which strategies have been successful to counter these efforts.

Resources:

• Balkan Security Network
• Halyard Mission Foundation
• Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War, 1945-1961 by Walter L. Hixson
• Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History by Robert D. Kaplan
• Tim Judah
• Noel Malcolm

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio: John Cappello, a 25-year veteran of the United States Air Force, is a founding partner and Chief Operations Officer of the Balkan Security Network (BSN). Specializing in defense and security issues, with a focus on hybrid warfare and information operations in the Western Balkans, his experience includes serving as Defense Attaché in Belgrade, Serbia, and U.S. Air Force Attaché in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Balkan Security Network specializes in defense and security information projects and disinformation analysis in the Western Balkans, providing fact-based news and analysis on these issues. BSN’s content is published across the region. John is also the president of the Halyard Mission Foundation. Founded in 2015 the goal of the Foundation is to educate, commemorate, and increase awareness of the Halyard Mission, the rescue of over 500 US airmen during WWII, and the role the Serbs played in the success of the mission.

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.