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, Rand Waltzman returns to the Cognitive Crucible to discuss his famous Disinformation 101 series. Recording Date: 18 Nov 2024 Resources: Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned Disinformation 101 LinkedIn Posts: by C. S. Lewis Guest Bio: Dr. Rand Waltzman has...
info_outline #207 Kay Nissen on Second Mover AdvantageThe 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, Kay Nissen discusses her Army’s Command and General Staff College thesis entitled: Second Mover Advantage In The Military Information Environment. This thesis examines second-mover advantage theory within the military information environment. It aims to offer military planners...
info_outline #206 Chris Stirewalt on Broken News, KayFabe, and OperativesThe 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, Chris Stirewalt discusses the state of media as presented in his latest book: Broken News: Why the Media Rage Machine Divides America and How to Fight Back. Chris believes that a major component of the challenges faced by news consumers can be explained by “demand side”...
info_outline #205 Nick Loui on Transforming Chaotic Data into Actionable IntelligenceThe 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, Nick Loui of discusses the evolution of the internet, challenges posed by fragmented platforms, and the importance of addressing misinformation. Nick explores the dynamics of social media, particularly TikTok, and the need for companies to proactively manage their online...
info_outline #204 Sharon Russell on Information in Emergency ManagementThe 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, Sharon Russell lends her 20+ years of emergency response experience to the forum. Our discussion includes Sharon’s experience as the Deputy Incident Commander for the response to the Key Bridge incident, which happened in March 2024. Recording Date: 4 Sept 2024 Research Question:...
info_outline #203 Scott Hall on Synchronizing Effects in the Information EnvironmentThe 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, MAJ Scott Hall discusses his paper: Enhancing Mounted Maneuver Operations by Setting Conditions of Advantage through Information Environment Effects Synchronization, which is getting published in in the Fall 2024 edition. Recording Date: 26 Sept 2024 Research Question: Scott Hall...
info_outline #202 Genia Simkin on Bypassing DNS BlockadesThe 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, Genia Simkin discusses his firm’s Samizdat technology which makes it possible to bypass DNS blockades set up by autocratic regimes. Recording Date: 5 Aug 2024 Research Question: Genia Simkin suggests as interested student examine OSINT practices. For example, would it be possible...
info_outline #201 John Bicknell on Cognitive Indicators and Global CompetitionThe 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, "reverse-interviews" John Bicknell, the CEO|Founder of and traditional Cognitive Crucible podcast host. John discusses More Cowbell Unlimited's cognitive indicators and related technology that the US Army is prototyping in order to create effects, maintain Information...
info_outline #200 Remi Whiteside on Media, Information, and Data Literacy Fundamentals against Malign Information in the Open Information EnvironmentThe 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, Remi Whiteside discusses his Ph.D. research and dissertation which is entitled: Peering into US Army Media, Information, and Data Literacy Fundamentals against Malign Information in the Open Information Environment: A Qualitative Case Study. According to Remi Whiteside, the US Army...
info_outline #199 Ellen McCarthy on Trust in Media and InformationThe 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, Ellen McCarthy discusses how to conceptualize and develop standards and measurements on information quality, how to align AI with accurate and reliable information, and how challenges and potential of leveraging AI can support information quality. Also, be sure to check out and...
info_outlineThe 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, Ben Kessler discusses Meltwater’s methodology and models for Owned, Earned, Organic (OEO) measurement of activities within the information environment.
Research Question: Ben Kessler suggests an interested student ask the question: Where is the diaspora of opinion and content going as we mature as a digital society from centralized “town squares” to “closed door” networks?
Resources:
- Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
- Meltwater
- Carpe Datum
- Cambridge Disinformation Summit
- UK RESIST 2 Framework
- World Economic Forum
Link to full show notes and resources
Guest Bio:
Ben Kessler is the Head of Enterprise Strategy & Public Sector at Meltwater. He brings 11+ years of experience in the application and adoption of data and insights from the Information Environment. Ben has supported Civilian, DoD, IC, and Joint Forces / Coalitions in leveraging Meltwater's world-leading media intelligence suite to enable contextualized mission decisions - from risk assessments to strategic communications, public affairs, mis/dis/malinformation, narrative analysis, and real-time critical workflows. Over the past decade, Ben has seen first-hand the evolution of the Media Intelligence space to a critical decision making capability with direct impact to senior leadership.
Meltwater’s goal is to harness PAI to deliver a unique capability measuring the impact of narratives, missions, audience cohorts, campaigns, and/or outbound efforts. We provide access to the world’s largest corpus of PAI data across the global information environment, tracking over 300,000+ news sources (including online, print, broadcast, and podcasts), and over 300 million social media data points including Reddit, Meta (Facebook + Instagram), Twitter/X, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, Forums, Deep Web, Message Boards, Comments, Review Sites, and blogs.
Meltwater’s datalake spans Western and non-Western platforms, in over 100+ languages including character-based languages, and local in-market content. We process approx. 1.5B documents / day, each enriched with over 170+ AI and LLM powered metadata points for sophisticated analysis, detection algorithms, alerting workflows, network visualizations, and more. Meltwater has a commercial in-market presence in over 120+ countries that drives local requirements to support a global customer base.
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.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, 1) IPA earns from qualifying purchases, 2) IPA gets commissions for purchases made through links in this post.