Amber Brittain-Hale & Mike Cote - The Iran vs US/Israel War
Break It Down Show
Dr Amber Brittain-Hale returns to the Break It Down Show with Pete A Turner. Joining Pete and Amber is Mike Cote. Both Amber and Mike are credentialed policy folks who are regulars on the Break It Down Show. As the Iran conflict continues to evolve, we're looking to Amber and Mike to help get us on the right track. They argue the bullshit-to-fact ratio exceeds 50/50, driven by legacy media spin, selective sourcing (e.g., Hamas-run health ministry or anonymous U.S. officials), and anti-Trump narratives that downplay staggering U.S./Israeli operational successes in degrading Iran's regime,...
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Brad Beeler - Tell Me Everything
Break It Down Show
Recently retired after 25 years with the United States Secret Service, Brad brings a wealth of experience from his distinguished career. In his final position as an instructor at the National Center for Credibility Assessment (NCCA), he trained thousands of federal law enforcement and intelligence agents in credibility assessment and elicitation techniques. Brad also served on the protection detail for former president George H. W. Bush and various foreign heads of state. As a federal polygraph examiner for 17 years, he secured numerous confessions in high-profile investigations and conducted...
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Sal Mercogliano - What's Going On With Shipping
Break It Down Show
Dr. Salvatore R. Mercogliano is an associate professor of history at Campbell University in North Carolina and adjunct professor at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. He holds a bachelor of science in marine transportation from the State University of New York Maritime College, along with a merchant marine deck officer license (unlimited tonnage 2nd mate), a master’s in maritime history and nautical archaeology from East Carolina University, and a Ph.D. in military and naval history from the University of Alabama. Sal has robust social media accounts on YouTube, X etc.... Be sure to check out...
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Xander Bullock – Paul Van Riper, and War Games
Break It Down Show
Xander Bullock is a USMA grad who spent a long and successful career fighting wars in foreign places. Xander penned a recent article discussing a famous war game. In the scenario, retired USMC 3-Star General Van Riper played the opposing force. His team, a "thinly veiled Iran" failed to cooperate with the overwhelming force. Read Xander Bullock's piece on Van Riper at dailywire.com/news/america-lost-an-infamous-wargame-to-iran-thats-why-were-winning-now Van Riper's oppo forces played the game small and out of scope. His approach was so successful the game had to be halted. Van Riper was...
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Mitch Ferguson - Shipping Insurance, Trump and the Economics of War
Break It Down Show
Retired federal economist Mitch Ferguson returns to the Break It Down Show with Pete A Turner. Mitch's experience working in the federal sphere provides experience and insight on the influence of money on foreign policy decisions.
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Bill Conroy - The Great Pretense
Break It Down Show
Bill Conroy, M.A. in Mass Communications/Journalism (Marquette University), is a veteran journalist with 40 years of experience working as a staff reporter, editor-in-chief, and freelance correspondent at print and online publications across the United States and in Mexico. Get Bill's book The Great Pretense on Amazon at amzn.to/4cF89pG His journalism has been cited in more than 35 books to date. Conroy also is the author of the nonfiction books The Great Pretense: A Tour Through the Boneyard of the CIA's War for Drugs; Dispatches from the House of Death: A Juarez Cartel informant, a DEA...
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Brad Hutchings - AI Hype vs Real Reliability
Break It Down Show
In this Break It Down Show episode, host Pete A Turner and guest Brad Hutchings discuss AI's promises versus realities. They critique overhyped tools that fail at simple tasks (mic switching, reliable outputs), "vibe coding" creating technical debt, AI-generated spam eroding trust, and lack of accountability when automation fails. They emphasize human effort in communication, ethical responsibility, and skepticism toward exaggerated claims, while acknowledging AI's value for mundane work when used thoughtfully. (89 words) ...
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Mike Cote and Amber Brittain-Hale - Iran, Israel and the US
Break It Down Show
With the current situation in Iran between the US and Israel. Beyond this, the 5 EYES relationship is also interesting to examine. Let's get Mike Cote and Amber Brittain-Hale on the Break It Down Show with Pete A Turner Here's Amber's site for all of her work brainstatesinc.com Here's Mike Cote's substack rationalpolicy.com
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Amber Brittain-Hale - Munich, Policy and Tulsi Gabbard
Break It Down Show
Amber Brittain-Hale joins Pete A Turner on the Break It Down Show to discuss current events and foreign policy. The Trump administration's foreign policy approach, fronted by Marco Rubio remains on the cutting edge of world events. Rubio gave a house busting speech in Munich. His speech urged Europe to reject the same mistakes the US has made in the recent past. He acknowledged the link between Europe and the US as being an unbreakable history of success. Rubio's speech stood out from the recent messages from President Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Their more forceful tone was not...
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Dan Gerstein - War Without Humanity
Break It Down Show
Dr. Daniel Gerstein is a national security professional who has served as a senior government civilian, in uniform, in industry, in think tanks and in academia. As a senior government civilian, he served in the Department of Homeland Security as Under Secretary (Acting) and Deputy Under Secretary in the Science and Technology Directorate, where he directed the organization's over $1 billion annual budget. Get Gerstin's War Without Humanity on Amazon at amzn.to/4b5ULJR During his service in the U.S. Army, he served on four continents while participating in combat, peacekeeping, humanitarian...
info_outlineForeign policy drives how nations approach and respond to the world around them. With Davos in the rearview mirror, did anything change? How will Europe, the US and the rest of the world begin to do, what's next? Here's Mike's website, rationalpolicy.com Here is Amber's website, brainstatesinc.com We here at the Break It Down Show, wanted to take a moment to recognize the life of Dr Ambassador Robert Hunter. Robert has been a friend of Pete's for a number of years. We've had him on the show many times...we are sad to hear of his passing. He lived his life well and full. We'll do something bigger on Robert's life soon.