In this episode of Navigating Noise, host Erol Yayboke sits down with Chrissy Newton, Founder of VOCAB Communications. They dive into the world of UFOs and UAPs through the lens of data analysis, emotional storytelling, and government transparency.

Chrissy shares how her team approaches real eyewitness accounts, the surprising psychology behind belief in the unexplained, and how the UFO community is becoming a powerful countercultural force for transparency and change.

They also explore how AI, policy, and fringe science are converging and why PR in the UFO space might be the most unforgiving in the world.

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Intro: The many hats of Chrissy Newton

01:20 – Inside Discovery’s Alien Encounters: Fact or Fiction

02:30 – Evidence, psychology, and the Simon Cowell of UFOs

04:36 – How Chrissy applies data analysis to paranormal

claims

06:34 – A UFO sighting in Toronto: How she verified it

08:40 – Telling people they’re wrong, without gaslighting them

11:00 – The UFO community as a global counterculture

13:39 – Chrissy’s communications work with Jacques Vallée & The Debrief

15:53 – How to do PR in the most skeptical space on the internet

18:53 – Why transparency is the #1 rule in the UFO world

20:36 – Why the UFO community is so passionate

23:24 – Fringe science, funding, and optimism

27:50 – Where AI meets UFO analysis and government policy

29:55 – Why shaping policy might be Chrissy’s next move

31:06 – The surprising people she meets on planes

35:54 – A Winston Churchill World War II nugget you won’t forget

🎧 Subscribe for more conversations like these

#UFOs #AlienEncounters #ChrissyNewton #DiscoveryChannel #TheDebrief #FringeScience #GovernmentTransparency #NavigatingNoise #RebelliouslyCurious #DataAnalysis #AI #UAPs #PolicyChange

A new normal? In this episode, Rorry Daniels, Managing Director of the Asia Society Policy Institute, and Erol Yayboke discuss U.S. - China competition and the changing global order.

Rorry shares her surprising path from underground theater in LA to China policy leadership, and unpacks the misunderstood layers of the U.S.–China relationship, from national identity and economic anxiety to why both countries may be abandoning the rules-based global order.

Erol and Rorry explore everything from:

- Track 2 diplomacy

- AI’s impact on political instability in Asia

- How Chinese netizens are subtly pushing back

- What most Western analysts still get wrong about Beijing

Whether you're in tech, policy, or just trying to make sense of where the world is heading, this episode will give you new language and new frames, to understand the world’s most important bilateral relationship.

—

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

01:00 – From screenwriting in LA to U.S.–China policy

02:00 – Producing a musical about terrorism (yes, really)

04:00 – Learning Chinese and discovering diplomacy

06:00 – What is Track 2 diplomacy, and why it matters

08:00 – How language shapes perception (and misperception)

10:00 – Building better AI with better language models

12:00 – China’s view of propaganda vs U.S. assumptions

14:00 – Are we living in “normal” geopolitical times again?

16:00 – Why China didn’t become more like the U.S.

18:00 – The two anxieties driving U.S. China policy

21:00 – The strategic geography of U.S. allies

24:00 – Why AI and chips are now central to foreign policy

26:00 – Can Asia avoid a U.S.–China “hegemony trap”?

28:00 – China’s mixed legacy with the rules-based order

30:00 – How Chinese citizens really feel about nationalism

34:00 – The code-switching and satire of Chinese netizens

36:00 – Why even top U.S. analysts misread China

39:00 – Can we model China’s future behavior?

42:00 – The push for modernity (and what may get in the way)

45:00 – What AI disruption means for Southeast Asia

48:00 – Will China adopt AI faster and at what cost?

51:00 – Why AI regulation in Asia is lagging behind

53:00 – How ASPI is convening the future of AI policy in Asia

🎧 Subscribe for more conversations like these.

#china #usforeignpolicy #geopolitics #asiapolicy #aiandethics #asiainsideout #aspi #track2diplomacy #chinanetizens #uschina #navigatingnoise

The world is changing faster than our assumptions can keep up.

In this episode of Navigating Noise, Erol Yayboke sits down with world-renowned demographer and President of the Population Reference Bureau, Dr. Jennifer Sciubba, to unpack one of the most misunderstood forces shaping our future: population change.

They dive into:

• Why most U.S. cities are unprepared for depopulation

• The myths around immigration as a “fix”

• What demographers can predict with stunning accuracy and what they can’t

• Why flourishing, not fertility rates, should guide public policy

• The dangerous consequences of failing to fund and protect global data collection

• And how narrative bias, not numbers, shapes most of our debates on population

If you care about the future of work, urban planning, national security, education, or climate adaptation… this conversation is for you.

Dr. Sciubba is the author of 8 Billion and Counting: How Sex, Death, and Migration Shape Our World and a former advisor to the Department of Defense and U.S. intelligence community.

Listen in and rethink what the data actually tells us.

—

To learn more about the Population Reference Bureau and their work, visit: https://www.prb.org

To keep up with Jen, connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jensciubba

New episodes of Navigating Noise drop weekly. Search for us wherever you get your podcasts.

What happens when generative AI floods the internet with content—but journalists are the only ones who can still read between the lines?

In this episode of Navigating Noise, Jonathan Teubner sits down with Dmitry Shishkin, CEO of Ringier Media International and one of Europe’s most influential media transformation leaders, to explore how newsrooms are adapting to AI—and why most people are getting the future of media completely wrong.

They cover:

• Why 60% of Ringier’s content is now touched by AI

• Why the “Spotify for News” model is a dead end

• What AI can’t do that journalists still do best

• Why multimodality and personalization are the next big shifts

• How media companies must build for AI visibility (AIO is the new SEO)

• The real reason people are skipping the news—and how to fix it

If you care about the future of information, trust, or public discourse, this is a must-listen.

🎧 Subscribe to Navigating Noise for more episodes at the intersection of AI, media, and geopolitics.

#NavigatingNoise #DmitryShishkin #FilterLabs #AIinMedia #Journalism #LLMs #NewsroomTech #MediaTransformation #NewsIndustry #ContentStrategy #DigitalMedia #AIO #AIandJournalism #JonathanTeubner #SpotifyForNews #FutureOfMedia

What happens when the tech industry is no longer built for global scale—but for geopolitical advantage?

In this episode of Navigating Noise, Jonathan Teubner sits down with Ansgar Baums, geoeconomics expert, senior advisor at Sinalytics, and author of The Tech Cold War, to unpack the massive, underreported shifts happening at the intersection of technology, national security, and global power.

From the rise of “Dark Valley” companies that profit from geopolitical friction… to the collapse of Germany’s export-driven worldview… to the slow death of open, global innovation, this episode is a wake-up call for anyone building, funding, or regulating technology today.

We cover:

• Why the AI talent map has shifted away from Silicon Valley

• How China is pulling Western industry into its orbit

• Why Germany is stuck in a strategic identity crisis

• What founders must understand about fragmented IT stacks and tech sovereignty

• How tech companies are leveraging national security as a business model

This is one of our most urgent and global episodes yet.

Subscribe to Navigating Noise for more episodes at the frontier of intelligence, geopolitics, and technology.

What happens when the tech industry is no longer built for global scale—but for geopolitical advantage?In this episode of Navigating Noise, Jonathan Teubner sits down with Ansgar Baums, geoeconomics expert, senior advisor at Sinalytics, and author of *The Tech Cold War,* to unpack the massive, underreported shifts happening at the intersection of technology, national security, and global power.From the rise of “Dark Valley” companies that profit from geopolitical friction… to the collapse of Germany’s export-driven worldview… to the slow death of open, global innovation, this episode is a wake-up call for anyone building, funding, or regulating technology today.We cover:- Why the AI talent map has shifted away from Silicon Valley- How China is pulling Western industry into its orbit- Why Germany is stuck in a strategic identity crisis- What founders must understand about fragmented IT stacks and tech sovereignty- How tech companies are leveraging national security as a business modelThis is one of our most urgent and global episodes yet.Subscribe to Navigating Noise for more episodes at the frontier of intelligence, geopolitics, and technology.

Generative AI isn’t just changing technology—it’s rewriting the rules of information warfare, influence, and decision-making.

In this episode of Navigating Noise, Jonathan Teubner sits down with Maggie Feldman-Piltch, founder of Non-State Actress, to break down:

🔥 How generative AI is repeating the mistakes of radio propaganda in the 1930s—at lightning speed.

🔥 Why women’s social networks are a battleground for global influence ops (and why most analysts are missing it).

🔥 The real reason defense tech keeps failing—hint: it’s not bureaucracy, it’s bad design.

Maggie doesn’t hold back. From China and Russia’s disinformation strategies to the Pentagon’s obsession with “more tech” over useful tech, this episode cuts through the noise and gets to the real challenges of modern national security.

💡 Want to understand where power, trust, and influence are actually being shaped?

Listen now.

📢 Timestamps:

0:00 - Introduction

2:24 - How Maggie got into national security

5:45 - The myth of DC as just a “political city”

12:22 - AI vs. human context in information warfare

24:10 - The 1930s radio propaganda playbook is back—with AI

30:05 - Why women’s networks matter in influence operations

36:15 - The biggest problem in defense tech (it’s not what you think)

45:20 - Ukraine’s info ops vs. the U.S. government’s risk aversion

47:55 - Where to find Maggie’s work

Jonathan Teubner talks with Azeem Azhar, author of "The Exponential Age," about how to navigate the rapidly advancing world of AI, particularly large language models. They explore frameworks for understanding this technology, building trust in AI systems, and the changing relationship between technology, media, and society.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Introduction & Azeem's Background in Technology

3:11 How to Think About Today's AI Tools

7:46 Co-Reasoning with AI Systems

11:51 Is AI a Continuation or Step Change in Technology?

16:15 Understanding AI Beyond the Media Headlines

21:24 The Challenges of Trust and Factuality

27:25 The Gap Between Technical Capability and Social Trust

31:28 Technology's Evolving Social Impact

37:42 Media, Authority, and Finding Reliable Information

40:10 The Relational Structure of Trust in the Digital Age

45:37 Staying Engaged with New Technologies

Join us for an insightful conversation with Erol Yayboke, who recently joined Filter Labs as the Chief Research Officer, after holding roles at CSIS, USAID, and the Department of Defense. From his early experiences responding to earthquakes in Turkey to collaborating on Russian propaganda analysis, Erol discusses how to understand complex global challenges through both data and local perspectives.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Introduction

4:03 - Analysis of Russian propaganda effectiveness

11:24 - Early humanitarian experiences

24:00 - Foreign aid and domestic investment

32:05 - Understanding local communities

41:00 - Technology and human expertise

46:33 - Future of US foreign policy

A fascinating discussion on combining data analysis with human insight to understand global challenges.

In this conversation on Navigating Noise, Adrian Pabst explored a fundamental tension in contemporary politics: the disconnect between high-level policymaking and local realities.