On the Fringe

In this episode, Gav and Dave dig into the stagnant security environment in the Gulf, where stranded cargo ships collecting barnacles have become a symbol of a region stuck in limbo, with trade still moving but nobody feeling particularly good about it.

This week’s conversation connects maritime insecurity and rising shipping costs to the growing role of Pakistan as a formal military partner for Gulf states that is trying to convince parties outside the region that it’s a neutral third-party mediator. Dave and Gav also get into why negotiations keep going nowhere, talking on how the major players all want wildly differing outcomes and operate under political systems that reward displays of dominance and over the top claims more than compromise, leaving the region trapped in a crisis everyone claims to want resolved and nobody seems to want to settle.

In this episode, Gav and Dave speak with Ramon Perez, AI technology executive and military veteran from the Digital Democracy Project about the misaligned incentive structures shaping modern politics in America.

Rather than treating misinformation or polarization as isolated failures, the discussion focuses on how platforms, lobbyists, media organizations, and representatives are rewarded for behavior that undermines trust and pushes the national discourse toward conflict.

The result is an environment where bad incentives become self-reinforcing, moderation becomes risky and systems built to increase engagement slowly start influencing how institutions govern themselves, an alarming foundation for public life. But there’s hope—as long as we’re actively involved and actively participate in the process.

Go to https://vote.gov/ to register to vote if you haven’t!

To find out more about the Digital Democracy Project, go to: https://digitaldemocracyproject.org/

If you enjoyed the episode, like, comment, share, and subscribe with a friend. We sincerely appreciate it!

All the best from both of us On the Fringe,

Dave and Gav

If you’re going abroad, moving abroad, want to build new personal relationships, or are looking to level up your life, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

In this episode, Gav and Dave sit down with David Ramos, a graduate of the Bush School of Government and Public Service who has turned language acquisition into what appears to be a competitive sport. David has 12 OPI certifications and picked up languages like Afrikaans and Swedish on a whim…and shares how you can do the same. The OPI is a foreign language interview exam that is used as a gold standard by the U.S. government, military, and private companies, to test proficiency in a language.

Drawing from their shared background in Peace Corps language training, Gav and Dave talk with David about how he got pulled into polyglottery in the first place, the psychology of learning fast, and what actually separates people who eventually become conversational from people who spend three years proudly knowing how to order coffee and ask where the bathroom is. The conversation also digs into identity and the ability to interact with the world through different ways of talking about it.

David can be contacted here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdramos7201/

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All the best from both of us,

Dave and Gavin

This week, Dave and Gav sit down with Tomasz Nadrowski, author of Mineral Wars: China’s Quest for Weapons of Mineral Destruction.

They dive into chokepoint theory, fragile supply chains and the disquieting reality that modern life is held together by a handful of minerals most people have never heard about until somebody threatens access to them.

The conversation digs into how China has built enormous leverage over rare earth processing over the last few decades, why everything from smartphones and EVs to missile guidance systems depends on materials pulled from contested supply networks, and how governments are suddenly rediscovering that globalization works wonderfully right up until one country controls the thing your entire economy needs to survive.

For more insight from Tomasz, check out his podcast, Tyranny Today.

Here’s a link to his book Mineral War: China’s Quest for Weapons of Mineral Destruction

(all links are external links and we get no commission)

In this episode, Gav and Dave break down how Pakistan has become a critical piece on the board in the competition between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. They focus especially on the millions of Pakistani migrant workers whose labor props up huge parts of the Gulf economy while also giving Islamabad a potential Achilles’ heel during moments of regional tension, where visas, remittances, military cooperation, and investment deals all start blending into a larger contest for greater influence.

The result is a delicate balancing act where Gulf states want dependable partners and Pakistan wants Gulf money without becoming too dependent on any single patron, which, naturally, is the sort of arrangement that only stays stable—right up until it doesn’t.

If you enjoyed the episode, please like, comment, and share it with your friends. We can’t thank our growing audience enough for your support and wouldn’t be here without YOU.

And I (Dave) made a boo-boo! The UAE called up a $3.5 billion payment from Pakistan that Saudi largely backstopped, not $4 billion. (no notes, sorry!)

If you'd like to throw a few rocks, send em Gav's way. He's always looking for a new pet rock: [email protected] Rock on! 🤘

Take care from both of us On the Fringe,

Dave and Gav

In this episode, Dave and Gav look at how the UAE has drifted away from the consensus politics of institutions like Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the Gulf Cooperation Council in favor of a more transactional worldview that treats regional politics less like alliances and more like market positioning.

We’ll be unpacking how Abu Dhabi’s approach to trade, ports, normalization, proxy conflicts and investment strategy increasingly reflects a zero-sum mindset where influence is something to be accumulated before anyone else can.

We contrast this with Saudi Arabia, which has struggled to pull off the same pivot not because its leadership lacks ambition, but because the kingdom is burdened with a much larger population, heavier subsidy expectations, religious obligations, and geographic exposure that make it far harder to reinvent itself into the kind of nimble commercial state the UAE has spent years trying to become.

If you enjoyed the episode, do us a MASSIVE favor and share it, leave a comment, and tell your friends. Thank you for helping us grow the show. We wouldn’t be here without you.

All the best from both of us On the Fringe,

Dave and Gav

In this episode, with help from friend of the pod, Stuart Bolus, Gav and Dave dig into the April 25th attacks across Mali in which jihadist groups working in concert with Tuareg separatists managed to hit multiple cities, shut down key infrastructure and killed the Defense Minister and other key members of the ruling Junta.

This highlights an increasingly uncomfortable situation where Mali, a critically important country in the geographical and cultural center of the region, increasingly looks and behaves like a state on the brink of total collapse. We talk about what this means for the region, why outside assistance will likely not be coming (not for the government anyways) and why we’d all be surprised if the Malian government lasts until the end of 2026.

If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a comment, send us an email, or better yet—subscribe for more. We love hearing from our On the Fringe community!

All the best from us On the Fringe,

Dave and Gavin

Gav and Dave wade back into the increasingly unhinged world of prediction markets, starting with how Kalshi ended up fining and banning a handful of American politicians for betting on their own elections, which sounds small until you realize it’s basically insider trading with campaign posters.

Then, they pivot to the much less subtle case of a U.S. military operator getting arrested after allegedly pulling in over $400,000 on Polymarket by betting on the capture of Nicolás Maduro using classified information.

Are there more cases like this coming soon? Let us know what you think!

If you enjoyed the episode, please like, comment, subscribe, and share!

All the best from both of us On the Fringe,

Gav and Dave

Gav and Dave go back to college! This week, the guys talk about the financial crisis affecting higher education across the U.S., which segues into a much larger conversation about how and why higher education has gotten into dire straits, where the Sultans of Swing are hitting their enrollment numbers—and more importantly, their bottom lines.

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All the best from both of us On the Fringe,

Dave and Gavin

Gav and Dave get their toes wet in jet fuel, the least glamorous substance floating around the global economy (maybe next to guano), and follow how price swings and current supply hiccups linked to the current shenanigans in the Strait of Hormuz are keeping airlines in a state of unease where ticket prices jump, routes quietly disappear, and everyone insists this is a normal behavior for a supposedly stale industry.

If you enjoyed the episode (or if we made a mistake and you want to call us out), leave us a comment, send us a comment—or an email.

We really appreciate your listenership and couldn’t be growing as fast as we are without YOU. Please, if you enjoyed it or learned something, send it to a friend.

Thanks from both of us On the Fringe,

Gav and Dave