On the Fringe

Five months after the quiet announcement that American troops were being deployed in Nigeria to combat the local IS franchise, an even quieter announcement that the 200-ish deployment has already come to an end. The strategic aims apparently having been met, the US’s engagement, which began with a barrage of Tomahawks on Christmas Day last year, has been wrapped up. Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has taken pains to highlight how information sharing between the two countries continues despite a physical withdrawal.

Does the withdrawal mean mission accomplished for the U.S.? For the Nigerians? Let us know what you think!

All the best from both of us,

Dave and Gavin

If you want to hear more about the region, check out this episode!

Hey On the Fringe Community!

In the last couple of years, there have been several other On the Fringe podcasts that have come out (one about labor unions, and one about aliens, from what it looks like…plus a few others). For the first time in both our lives (Dave + Gavin), we are being confused for someone else—and to be honest, it’s kind of weird and funny for both of us. Click the episode above to get our reaction to it.

One more thing too:

Since we set up On the Fringe 2 years ago, we’ve done this as a hobby and a labor of love. It’s fun for Gavin + I, and we are talking about taking the podcast more seriously going forward—i.e. having a clearer upload schedule, producing more exclusive content for subscribers and loyal listeners, and monetizing the show.

When we do decide to monetize the show, we will keep you all informed :)

And if you have any ideas that could help us to build our show going forward, they’re ALWAYS welcome. Shoot us a message or an email at [email protected]

All the best from both of us On the Fringe!

Dave and Gav

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Hello, On the Fringe Community! Here’s a quick thank you message as we wrap up season. We appreciate and enjoy your continued support—and we have more on the way!

In this episode, Gav and Dave tackle the continuing problem of bear attacks in Japan, by looking at a recent incident involving a smarter than average bear. As rural communities shrink and bears push into populated areas, the country continues to struggle with all of the conflicts that ensue from overlapping habitats. Dave and Gav discuss why the problem keeps getting worse and why Japanese politicians continue to struggle with their ursine neighbors.

We covered the increasing bear attacks back in Season 3, which is here: https://onthefringepodcast.substack.com/p/bonus-episode-one-bear-of-a-problem

If you enjoyed the show, share, like, and subscribe. We sincerely appreciate our growing On the Fringe Community and will have more subscribers only exclusives coming for you soon!

All the best from both of us!

Dave and Gav

In this episode, Dave and Gav look at the rise of the irrepressible Bishnoi Gang and what it says about the continuing evolution of transnational crime.

They trace how a gang rooted in northern India developed reach far beyond its home turf, and connect that story to scandals surrounding Cricket Canada, where allegations of corruption and questionable leadership have cast a dark shadow over the sport.

The result is an episode about the depressing ease with which institutions can be bent to serve interests they were never meant to protect and harm those they are intended to represent.

If you enjoyed the episode, feel free to share, subscribe, and leave us a comment. We always appreciate the support from our growing On the Fringe community.

Thank you, as always for listening to On the Fringe. We sincerely appreciate it!

All the best from both of us,

Dave and Gav

This short episode follows up on part 1: We’re living in the age of the Terminator

In recent weeks, autonomous drones flown by the Sudanese Armed Forces (and likely the Ethiopians) went head-to-head, marking the first record event of two autonomous weapons facing off. Both drones came from the same manufacturer, Bayraktar, a Turkish defense company.

Could this be a sign of how future wars are fought? One supplier sourcing material to two opposing sides, or autonomous weapons leading combat operations? Listen in and find out!

If you enjoyed the episode, shoot us a message, like, comment, and share the podcast. We sincerely appreciate it!

All the best from both of us On the Fringe,

Dave and Gavin

Will algorithms be better decision makers than humans when it REALLY counts? Some countries are betting on it, while others are taking baby steps.

We’ve got a short episode about what autonomous weapons are, what they do, and why they could be consequential to the future of war and humanity, much like other parts of the AI boom that we are living in.

Please do us a favor and share or drop a comment. We love hearing from our audience!

All the best from both of us On the Fringe,

Dave and Gav

In this episode, Dave and Gav sit down with Dr. Ralph DeFalco, author of The Counterfeit, to talk about Chinese influence campaigns, economic coercion, and the blurry line between fiction and forecasting in the intelligence world. Dr. DeFalco is a U.S. national security operative with more than fifty years of experience.

Their conversation explores how speculative fiction can function almost like strategic modeling, where imagined crises have a habit of becoming uncomfortably plausible a few years later. Dr. DeFalco talks about plotting a novel as a labour of love and how he drew from history to create a believable and authentic environment. On the Fringe also taps into how influence actually works in practice and why democracies continue to struggle to respond to slow-moving forms of pressure.

One thing I (Dave) forgot to mention in the interview is that I felt the book shines a light into Chinese society under the CCP, specifically about how the Chinese Communist Party secures the Chinese state, how Chinese intelligence operations are conducted, and how information is tightly controlled in China behind the great firewall.

If you’re hooked, here’s a link to bookshop.org to purchase the book.(we make ZERO commission)

As always, thanks as always for joining us On the Fringe and don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share.

All the best from both of us,

Gav and Dave

If you enjoyed it, share it. We TRULY appreciate it!

A former Google software Engineer, Michele Spagnuolo, got arrested and charged by the Feds in New York for wire fraud, insider trading, and a laundry list of financial crimes for using his position as a software engineer at Google to make crooked bets on Polymarket.

The boys dive into the ongoing legal saga surrounding prediction markets and financial regulations in the United States, and make a long-term bet that this is still going to all wind up in the Supreme Court. But ol’ Michele’s going to jail.

What’s your take on the future of prediction markets? Will they be state, or federally regulated?

If you enjoyed the episode, restack, share it, and let us know. We sincerely appreciate it!

All the best from both of us On the Fringe,

Dave and Gav

In this episode, Dave and Gavin dive into a wild tale, and what may be the biggest counterintelligence failure in the 21st century. Former officer David “Gold Bar Dave” Rush, who allegedly worked in the agency’s Science and Technology Directorate, was recently arrested after fabricating his time sheets, and likely worse—hoarding 300 kilograms of gold bars from the agency for several months.

After his arrest, the FBI also discovered several million dollars in cash, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in luxury watches in his house. Moreover, it’s now been discovered that Rush had weaved an intricate web of lies that the agency and DoD (now the Department of War) had fallen for (or ignored) for over a decade, including lies about every credential he had for almost two decades. He had also joined the Senior Executive Service (SES) as one of the top civil servants in the U.S. Government.

Here is the affidavit outlining Rush’s charges.

If Rush’s charges are factually true and he is deemed to be guilty, these events point to critical missteps and tremendous failures that may lead to incredible damage to the United States once (if) the full story ever comes out, and, it should be a serious wakeup call for the U.S. intelligence community about how they vet Officers working with some of the most sensitive information, in some of the most sensitive positions in the country.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t forget to like, comment, share, and subscribe. We sincerely appreciate your feedback and our growing Substack community!

All the best from both of us,

Dave and Gav