#195 Michael Zequeira on the Effects of Social Media on Military Recruiting
The Cognitive Crucible
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, US Army Major Michael Zequeira discusses his Army Command and General Staff research entitled: the Effects of Social Media on Military Recruiting. More and more Americans receive information from social media. This work looks at the effects of social media’s rise on U.S. Army...
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#194 Mike Hall on the Moral Imperative of Our Time
The Cognitive Crucible
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. Wayne “Mike” Hall discusses his latest capstone book: the Moral Imperative of Our Time-Purposeful Intellectual Growth. According to Mike, America’s intellect is sharply declining; he implores national security leaders to address this problem immediately by: 1) improving...
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#193 Hatteras Hoops on Human Domain Security
The Cognitive Crucible
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, Hatteras Hoops discusses business and national security considerations related to Human Domain Security. Current concepts around insider threat, insider risk, insider trust, insider fraud, critical people protection, personnel security and counterintelligence are broadly considered...
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#192 Dr. Josh "Bugsy" Segal on the American Maginot Line
The Cognitive Crucible
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 discusses his ongoing concerns about the “American Maginot Line.” He is concerned that the United States is insufficiently and inappropriately funding the cognitive war that is bearing down on us. Moreover, the United States domestic political system...
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#191 Jose Davis on Public Affairs Integration and Leveraging AI for Operations in the Information Environment
The Cognitive Crucible
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, US Air Force Captain Jose Davis discusses his paper, which is entitled: "Leveraging AI for Operations in the Information Environment: 3 Demonstrations in Disinformation, Social Media, and Entropy." The paper focuses on the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the realm of...
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#190 Army Command and General Staff Information Advantage Scholars Symposium
The Cognitive Crucible
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, we learn about the US Army’s Command and General Staff College Information Advantage Scholar Program. Two officers from the 2024 IA Scholar cohort–Army MAJs Vincent Michel and Josh Keller–present their research and also discuss their overall experience. Additionally, Cognitive...
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#189 Todd Wilcox on PAI, OSINT, and Regulations
The Cognitive Crucible
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, Todd Wilcox discusses national security considerations related to publicly available information (PAI), open source intelligence (OSINT), and related regulations. Research Question: Todd Wilcox suggests a valuable topic for academic research would be the application of regulatory...
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#188 Joanna Siekiera on China
The Cognitive Crucible
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. Joanna Siekiera discusses how China is integrating itself into global affairs from a lawfare perspective. Research Question: Joanna Siekiera suggests an interested student ask: “Why”? Students should always start research from this question as it will help you...
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#187 Randy Rosin on Reflexive Control
The Cognitive Crucible
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. Randy Rosin returns to the Cognitive Crucible to discuss the “trippy” topic of reflexive control. Soviet influence practitioners favor an indirect approach. Reflexive control is the process of conveying the basis of decision-making from one person to another. Research...
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#186 Rod Korba on Vygotsky’s Inner Speech
The Cognitive Crucible
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, Vygotsky was a seminal figure in Soviet Psychology. His multi-staged—social learning theory of cognitive development—has influenced generations of cognitive psychologists. Our discussion today focuses on Vygotsky’s frequently overlooked and generally under-estimated concept of...
info_outlineGuest Bio: Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder is the Director of Public Affairs, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. In addition to advising the Secretary, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and Chief of Space Operations on Public Affairs matters, he is responsible for developing and executing global communication processes to build understanding and support for the Air Force and Space Force. He provides guidance and support for nearly 4,500 active duty, Guard and Reserve Airmen and civilians in their mission to broadcast internal Air Force and Space Force information, conduct community and media relations, plan and synchronize Department of the Air Force communication efforts, and execute security review programs.
Brig. Gen. Ryder was commissioned in 1992 through the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Florida in Gainesville. His staff assignments include serving as the Special Assistant for Public Affairs to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Director of Public Affairs for U.S. Central Command, Director of Media Operations for the Secretary of the Air Force Office of Public Affairs, and Director of Public Affairs for the Office of Defense Representative-Pakistan. During his career, Brig. Gen. Ryder has led public affairs operations in numerous overseas contingency operations. He served as the PAO for the Air Force’s initial cadre at Taszar Air Base, Hungary, during the 1995 peace-keeping mission, Operation Joint Endeavor, and led 48th Fighter Wing public affairs operations in support of NATO during the 1999 Kosovo Air Campaign. In support for Operation Iraqi Freedom, he served as a strategic communications planner for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad from March–July 2004 and led the DoD Public Affairs response to highlight U.S. military humanitarian support to Pakistan during floods in 2010. While at U.S. Central Command, Brig. Gen. Ryder oversaw the command-wide public affairs operations in support of the counter-ISIS campaign Operation Inherent Resolve from 2014-2016 and conducted bi-weekly press briefings with the Pentagon press corps from Headquarters U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida.
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 [email protected].
Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.