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With Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine — resulting in what’s become the first war to be largely televised and video-recorded — Ukraine has become Ground Zero for how technology is reshaping history’s narratives and the story of politics, war and conflict. I have two great guests to talk about how technology is shaping human history and how it will be told. Bryan Cunningham and Alex Deane are co-hosts of a wonderful new podcast called, “Hidden History, Happy Hour”, available on YouTube and all the major podcast platforms. As my regular listeners know,  my friend Bryan is a frequent guest on both this podcast and my leadership podcast, When It Mattered (I’ve added his previous appearances below) I’m also delighted to welcome Bryan’s co-host, Alex Deane, author of the bestselling non-fiction book, “Lessons from History: Hidden Heroes & Villains from the past & what we can learn from them.” The book inspired “Hidden History, Happy Hour”. Bryan Cunningham previous appearances: Techtopia, Ep. 12 — Flying Saucer Pilgrimage When It Mattered, Ep. 9 — A Deadly Fire Leaves Lasting A Legacy  Other episodes referenced in this podcast in the section on UFOs. WIM: Episode 55. Great-granddaughter of a SciFi pioneer spots a UFO / Alex Dietrich, US Navy Techtopia: Episode 13. Astrophysicist searches for aliens/Adam Frank, University of Rochester  Please like, rate, review, subscribe!

It’s no secret that Russia has become the world’s playground for ransomware groups —-  and that America is target #1. The threat of ransomware attacks on U.S. businesses and critical infrastructure recently took an ominous turn when a prominent Russian ransomware group named Conti — threatened to attack any nation or organization retaliating against Moscow for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Now, a groundbreaking new report titled Ransomware: A Technology Pandemic on the Brink, from New York-based crypto forensics and analytics firm Elementus (where I serve as Chief Strategy Officer), documents the full extent of the threat of Russian ransomware attacks. That’s the topic of my conversation with  Max Galka, CEO and founder of Elementus. Join Max and me on this journey into the dark world of ransomware attacks as we explore the extraordinary sums of money that have changed hands with ransomware groups — more than a billion dollars just in 2021 alone — and discuss the evolution in modus operandi and business models of ransomware-as-a-service franchises.  We also talk about the rise in double jeopardy attacks — where paying vast sums in ransomware does not prevent the attackers from leaking your breached data. And given that these ransomware groups are predominantly Russian, we consider the national critical infrastructure implications in light of the U.S. and allied push-back against Russian President Vladimir Putin for his brutal and unremitting attack on Ukraine. A data scientist by training and passion, and a former derivatives trader at Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse, Galka is a noted authority on ransomware attacks and has been widely cited in major news outlets including Security Boulevard, Politico, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, NBC News, and NYSE Floor Talk. Please Listen, subscribe and give a thumbs up at: https://bit.ly/GoodstoryPodcasts If you enjoyed this episode, do check out these other episodes: Techtopia, Ep. 22 — The Role of Technology in Human Trafficking / Anjana Rajan, Chief Technology Officer, Polaris. Techtopia, Ep. 17 — The Global Race to Secure 5G Networks Against Cyber Threats from China and other Geopolitical Adversaries / Rob Strayer, EVP, Information Technology Industry Council & Former Ambassador for Cyber Policy at U.S. State Department. Techtopia, Ep. 3 — Bitcoin and the boom in cryptocurrency investing / Perianne Boring, Founder and President, Chamber of Digital Commerce.

“Accountants with guns” — These are the special agents of the Criminal Investigation division of the Internal Revenue Service. There’s 2,000 of them. And they have not only plenty of firepower, but they’re also armed with the sole mandate across the US Government to investigate violations of federal tax laws and related crimes.   For more than a century,  CI special agents have worked quietly across 21 field offices and 11 foreign countries, on investigations of massive scale and complexity, seizing billions of dollars in assets.  Criminal Investigation has played an outsize role in some of the biggest, most fascinating criminal tax cases of our time. From taking down legendary bootlegger, Al Capone, and investigating the Lindbergh baby kidnapping — to cryptocurrency crimes and most recently — bringing the hammer down on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his oligarchs for sanctions violations via the Justice Department’s Kleptocracy Task Force,  I’m delighted to have as my guest today, James Robnett, Deputy Chief of IRS Criminal Investigation to tell us more about the amazing work that he and his team are doing.

Welcome to the final episode of Season 1 of Techtopia! I thought it would be appropriate to end the year as we began it, talking about Covid-19 and its pernicious impact on our lives, psyche, and the healthcare system at large. Hard as it may seem to imagine, we’re now entering year three of COVID-19 with a new variant, Omicron, upending lives globally. Two great guests join me in this episode to discuss our year in health or lack thereof and looking ahead to 2022. They are Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr, co-hosts of two great podcasts: Fixing Healthcare, and Coronavirus: The Truth. Jeremy Corr is also the CEO of Executive Podcast Solutions and as many of you know, produces both my podcasts, Techtopia and When It Mattered. And Dr. Pearl is the former CEO of Kaiser Permanente Medical Group. He is currently both practicing and teaching at the Stanford University School of Medicine. His new book is, “Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors & Patients” and all proceeds from his books go to Doctors Without Borders. 

Jeffrey Epstein never faced the consequences for allegedly trafficking dozens of girls, some as young as age 14, and engaging in sex acts with them. He committed suicide in jail 35 days after he was arrested, avoiding a trial and potentially, half a century in prison for his evil actions. Now, however, more than two years later, at the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse in Lower Manhattan, Epstein’s former lover, and alleged enabler, Ghislaine Maxwell is on trial for aiding and abetting Epstein in satisfying his unmitigated sexual appetite for and exploitation of vulnerable girls. Prosecutors allege that Ghislaine Maxwell was at the heart of the trafficking conspiracy that Epstein was accused of carrying out both in his tony Manhattan townhouse and luxurious Palm Beach estate. Maxwell’s lawyers say that she is simply the proverbial fall guy for Epstein’s actions. The trial is casting a lens on the tragic world of human trafficking and how wealthy powerful people can engage, often over decades, in these crimes and escape seemingly with impunity. My guest this week to talk about the Ghislaine Maxwell trial and what it teaches us about the state of human trafficking and the role of technology is Anjana Rajan, the Chief Technology Officer of Polaris, an NGO leading a data-driven social justice movement to fight human trafficking. My former colleague at Palantir Technologies, Rajan’s expertise is applying cryptography to human rights and national security issues. She’s the former Chief Technology Officer of Callisto, a nonprofit that builds advanced cryptographic technology to combat sexual assault. Rajan has testified before Congress as an expert witness to speak about ways technology can protect survivors and victims of human trafficking. Related Episodes: Techtopia, Ep. 8: How Polaris is Fighting Q-Anon in its Use of Human Trafficking Disinformation Campaigns/Anjana Rajan, CTO, Polaris. Techtopia, Ep. 5: Technology has given women a powerful voice in the alt-right movement / Seyward Darby, Author, Sisters in Hate: American Women on the Front Lines of White Nationalism.

The world is engaged in a new form of war — this one centered around the technology called artificial intelligence — which, put simply — is the science and art of making machines more human. But at what cost? The race to dominate in Artificial Intelligence, also known as the global AI arms race has deep implications for how our society evolves in the decades to come and raises many troubling questions about privacy, civil liberties, and inherent biases transferred from human to machine and back to humans again.  I really enjoyed this deep conversation about the current state and future of AI with one of my favorite guests and former Palantir colleague, Courtney Bowman. He is the Director of Privacy and Civil Liberties Engineering at Palantir. Bowman's work addresses complex issues at the intersection of policy, law, technology, ethics, and social norms. Bowman has worked closely with the U.S. government and governments around the world to address the issues around the collection and analysis of COVID-19 pandemic data. And he has been thinking and writing about the challenges around the global AI Arms race.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has been on the forefront of some of the biggest technological innovations in history. At the same time, the so-called, defense industrial complex — that is, DoD, in cahoots with the big legacy defense contractors or the so-called “Beltway Bandits” —  have also built  some of the most expensive, bloated, and bungled technologies known to man. But now, increasingly, the Department of Defense is turning to lean, agile, and innovative software companies to build out its pipeline with dual-use technologies,  acting very much like venture capitalists to find and nurture the best of the best in startup technology. Here to talk about how the military is on the cusp of a new wave of technological innovation are three great guests: Daniel Borkhus is the Co-Founder and CEO of Holos, A virtual reality content management system. Borkhus is a former college football player, Facebook Hackathon Winner, and participant in Techstars Space 2020. Jeremy Neilson is a U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant. He serves as the Acting Base, and F-35, Training Manager, at  Edwards Air Force Base, California. Sgt. Neilson is the primary advisor to Edwards Air Force Base, on bringing advanced technologies into the military pipeline through AFWERX, the innovation efforts related to Air Force Instructional Systems Design. And James Boyd, is a former special forces soldier, Palantir engineer, and now CEO and co-founder of Adyton. That’s a veteran-owned, venture-backed software company bringing mobile technology to the Department of Defense. Last year, Adyton launched Mustr, a mobile personnel accountability system which has been used to keep more than 8000 DoD personnel safe throughout the pandemic.

As we approach the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, the frenetic U..S. pullout of Afghanistan under dangerous conditions has reopened the wounds of those strikes and once again raises the specter of al Qaeda and ISIS taking root in Afghan soil —  posing new global threats to American security and those of our allies for decades to come. Joining me now to talk about the deepening crisis of the Afghanistan crisis and its ramifications is my dear friend, Michael Hurley who served for 25 years as a CIA operations officer, serving 15 of those in foreign countries. Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, Hurley deployed for 18 months to Afghanistan where he led Agency personnel and U.S. Special Forces in Operation Anaconda, the biggest campaign of the Afghan conflict to find and destroy the last refuge of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. In that role, Mike was a leader in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. He also served as a Senior Counsel and Team Leader on the 9/11 Commission, directing its counterterrorism policy investigation and co-authoring its best-selling final report. Hurley remains deeply immersed in the national security and policy implications in the aftermath of the attacks and speaks and advises widely on those critical issues.  He currently is a strategic advisor to some of the most innovative technology companies in Silicon Valley and beyond. In this riveting episode, the suburban Minnesota native looks back on those early days of being dropped into Afghanistan’s cold, unforgiving mountainous terrain and having to land on his feet without knowledge of language, culture, food, or people and ability to distinguish friend from foe. Without any kind of blueprint, he immediately had to begin gaining the trust of friendly Afghan militia and citizens and working with the most elite teams in the U.S. and allied military to capture or kill members of al Qaeda and the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden. Hurley also shares his views on the messy U.S. pull out of Afghanistan in recent weeks and the implications for resurgence of al Qaeda and other terror cells and the possibility of future terrorist attacks against the U.S. And he looks at how the U.S. mishandled the evacuation plans for potentially half a million Afghans and their families who helped the War in Afghanistan over two decades, the majority of whom have been left behind and remain in peril at the hands of the Taliban.

As the situation in Afghanistan deteriorates with shocking speed, tens of thousands of Americans and Afghan citizens — who’ve worked closely with Americans over the past two decades, are confronting perilous conditions as they try to reach the Kabul airport and leave the country. Major news organizations are trying to extract both U.S. and fellow Afghan journalists even as these reporters put their lives on the line and continue to report from the field for as long as they can under dangerous conditions.  Meanwhile, human rights activists are increasingly concerned about the plight of women under the new Taliban regime. Joining me now to talk about the situation in Afghanistan is the Pulitzer-Prize-winning photojournalist and war photographer Lynsey Addario. She has traveled in and out of Afghanistan, shooting groundbreaking photographs including of women under the Taliban before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. And she has continued her reporting in the two decades since the US invasion of Afghanistan — a period in which millions of women were able to get educated, join the workforce, and come into their own. Addario wrote an August 16th article in the Atlantic titled, The Taliban’s Return is Catastrophic for Women. She is the author of a book of war photographs, titled,  Of Love and War and the New York Times best-selling memoir It’s What I Do, in which she writes about the incredible risks she has taken photographing every major conflict and humanitarian crisis of her generation, played out against the backdrop of the post-9/11 War on Terror. This is my second conversation with the fearless Addario. To hear her personal story of how she became a photojournalist, how she covers major conflicts, how she survived a violent kidnapping in Libya, and why she does the work she does, do check out my previous interview with Addario on my leadership podcast, When It Mattered, Episode 35. It’s an incredible story.

The world’s wireless systems are going through a major technology transformation through fifth-generation cellular networks — known as 5G for short. In addition to lightning-speed downloads for your smartphones, and faster speeds for your favorite streaming videos, 5G is expected to help the growth and adoption of other cutting-edge technologies such as connected cars, drones, industrial robots, AR/VR, medicine, and next-gen supply chains.   Indeed, the power and potential of 5G and its role in giving the United States a competitive edge is such that it is a national security asset… one that the U.S. government is aggressively moving to protect from security vulnerabilities and cyber attacks especially from 5G rival and geopolitical nemesis, China — while pushing our allies to do the same. I have a wonderful guest here today to talk about what the U.S. government is doing to protect global 5G technology.  Rob Strayer is former Ambassador for cyber policy at the U.S. State Department and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State.  Strayer is now a technology executive at the Information Technology Industry Council, representing 80 of the most innovative tech companies in markets around the globe.   While at the State Department, he led the development of U.S. foreign policy on a wide range of technology policy issues, including privacy, data protection, artificial intelligence, technical standards, cybersecurity, and 5G supply chain security. He also led the negotiations with foreign governments on these pressing issues and had a birds eye view of how U.S. and its allies are on a race to protect global 5G infrastructure from cyber attacks from China and other potential bad actors. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: The world's wireless systems are going through a major technology transformation through 5th-generation cellular networks, known as 5G for short. In addition to lightening-speed downloads for your smartphones and faster speeds for your favorite streaming videos, 5G is expected to help the growth and adoption of other cutting-edge technologies like connected cars, drones, industrial robots, AR, VR, medicine, and next-gen supply chains. Indeed, the power and potential of 5G and its role in giving the United States a competitive edge is such that it is a national security asset, one that the US government is aggressively moving to protect from security vulnerabilities and cyber attacks, especially from 5G rival and geopolitical nemesis, China, while pushing our allies to do the same. Chitra Ragavan: Hello, everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan and this is Techtopia. Here to talk about what the US government is doing to protect global 5G technology is Rob Strayer. He's a former US State Department Ambassador and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. Strayer is now a technology executive at the Information Technology Industry Council representing 80 of the most innovative tech companies and markets around the globe. While at the State Department, he led the development of US foreign policy on a wide range of technology policy issues, including privacy, data protection, artificial intelligence, technical standards, cybersecurity, and 5G supply chain security. He also led the negotiations with foreign governments about these issues. Rob, welcome to Techtopia. Rob Strayer: Pleasure to be with you. Chitra Ragavan: For those of us who are not entirely familiar with the power and potential of 5G, what are these 5G networks and why are they so transformative? Rob Strayer: 5G is the natural evolution from what had been earlier generations of 2G, 3G, and 4G, each of which had expanded capabilities for wireless telecommunications. With 5G, we're seeing, as you said in the opening,

Ever since the disease was recognized more than 100 years ago, patients with Alzheimer’s, and their families and caregivers, have longed for an effective drug for this brutal and tragic disease. But last month, when the Food and Drug Administration finally approved a drug named Aduhelm for use as the first Alzheimer’s drug in 18 years, there was little rejoicing. Instead — a big uproar from critics both outside and inside the FDA who say that there’s no clear evidence that Aduhelm has any benefits. And, that it could actually have serious side effects including brain bleeding. And at $56,000 a year per patient and counting, they say it not only will break patients and their families but also stress Medicare — federal health care for the elderly and disabled — to the utmost. Today, I have invited two wonderful guests to help us understand what just happened at the FDA, the implications, the fallout, and what happens next. Dr. Robert Pearl is the former CEO of the nation’s largest medical group, Kaiser Permanente. A Forbes Health Contributor, Dr. Pearl’s latest book is titled, “Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patients,” the proceeds of which go to Doctors without Borders. Dr. Pearl also co-hosts the popular podcasts Fixing Healthcare and Coronavirus: The Truth. Also joining me is my very dear friend and former NPR colleague, the award-winning health and science writer, Joanne Silberner.  She’s currently a freelance journalist living in Seattle. Silberner has covered the FDA for decades while at US News & World Report and at NPR — where she worked for 18 years. Joanne has written a piece on how Aduhelm came to be approved — published last week in the online media outlet STAT+ — and it’s a fascinating look at how the FDA responds to pressure from drug companies and patient groups, very relevant for this story. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: Ever since the disease was recognized more than 100 years ago, patients with Alzheimer's, and their families and caregivers have longed for an effective drug for this brutal, and tragic disease. But last month when the FDA finally approved a drug named Aduhelm, for use as the first Alzheimer's drug in 18 years, there was little rejoicing. Chitra Ragavan: Instead, a big uproar from critics both outside and inside the FDA, who say that there's no clear evidence that the drug has any benefits, and that it could actually have serious side effects, including brain bleeding. And at $56,000 a year per patient and counting, they say, "It not only will break patients and their families, but stress Medicare to the brink." That's the federal health care for the elderly and disabled. Chitra Ragavan: Hello, everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan, and this is Techtopia. Today I've invited two wonderful guests to help us understand what just happened at the FDA, the implications, the fallout, and what happens next. Dr. Robert Pearl is the former CEO of the nation's largest Medical Group, Kaiser Permanente. Chitra Ragavan: His latest book is called, Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patient, the proceeds of the book go to Doctors Without Borders. Dr. Pearl also co-hosts with Jeremy Corr, who happens to be my wonderful executive producer, the popular podcasts, Fixing Healthcare and Coronavirus, The truth. Chitra Ragavan: Also joining me is my very dear friend and former colleague, the award winning health and science writer, Joanne Silberner, she is currently a freelance journalist living in Seattle. Silberner has covered the FDA for decades while at the US News and World Report, and an NPR where she worked for 18 years. Chitra Ragavan:

For decades, like in many other sports, track and field athletes and coaches have been stymied by their inability to easily use analytics to help athletes reach their highest potential, with their performance data trapped largely in paper silos. In the lead-up to the Tokyo Summer Olympics, Seattle-based startup Zelos has integrated roughly 20 million track and field records dating back 50 years, into its data analytics platform to generate powerful, predictive insights into the world’s oldest and most popular sport. COVID-19 has changed all aspects of life, work, and careers, especially for athletes who haven’t been able to travel, train, and perform at their peak. The impact of the crisis will be acutely felt at the Olympics this week (rescheduled from last Summer because of COVID) as these athletes learn whether their can-do attitudes and flexible, often improvised training over the past year due to the pandemic, will affect their performance as they take their places among their peers to compete for those hard-fought medals. The pandemic also has forced sports startups to adapt along with these athletes and to become nimble in challenging times as the pandemic shut down sporting events around the globe. I’m joined by Chris Williams, founder, and CEO of Zelos to talk about his journey building Zelos through the pandemic and how it’s made him and his startup more resilient and adaptive. Williams is a former pole vaulter and hurdler at the University of Washington. And he frequently writes and speaks about his experience as a former NCAA athlete and a data engineer. I should add by of disclosure that I’m on Zelos’s advisory board. Read the Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan: COVID-19 has changed all aspects of life, work, and careers, especially for athletes who haven't been able to travel, train and perform at their peak. The impact of the crisis will be acutely felt at the Tokyo Summer Olympics this week, rescheduled from last summer because of COVID. As these athletes learn what their can-do attitudes and flexible, often improvised training over the past year due to the pandemic will affect their performance as they take their places among their peers to compete for those hard-fought medals. Hello, everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan and this is Techtopia. The pandemic also has forced sports startups to adapt along with these athletes to become nimble in challenging times as the pandemic shut down sporting events around the globe. I'm joined now by Chris Williams, founder and CEO of the Seattle-based sports data analytics startup, Zelos, which is taking track and field analytics to a whole new level for athletes, coaches, and fans. Chitra Ragavan: Williams is a formal pole vaulter and hurdler at the University of Washington. And he frequently writes and speaks about his experience as a former NCAA athlete and a data engineer. And I should add by way of disclosure that I'm on Zelos' advisory board. Chris, welcome to Techtopia. Chris Williams: Thank you Chitra. It's great to be here. Chitra Ragavan: So tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became a pole vaulter and hurdler, and what drew you to the sport. Chris Williams: Yeah, so to know me is, you're relative to know my family and I come from a track and field family. So my sister ran track and field. My father was a hurdler as well. Both of my cousins, plenty of aunts and uncles competed in the sport. I would go to their meets, they would come to my own, and growing up, my biggest sports idol was my sister. And so I would go to all of her track meets and I'd follow not just her, but all of her competitors too. And from the hours I spent at these track meets, I grew an affinity to it. And one day my dad said,