Hagar Chemali (former spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations) and Nick Anthony (Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute and a Fellow at the Human Rights Foundation) join host Ron Steslow to trace how the financial surveillance regime born after 9/11 is being rebuilt for programmable money.

They begin with the machinery of financial surveillance: reporting, identification, blocking, seizing, and exclusion powers banks and payment companies wield on the government’s behalf, without warrants or recourse. 

Next, they examine how private institutions became the system’s front line with millions of suspicious-activity reports a year, billions in compliance costs, and a public that wrongly assumes Fourth Amendment protection.  

Then they turn to the shift underway, as stablecoins move those controls off intermediaries and onto individual digital dollars that can be frozen, seized, or burned coin by coin. 

Finally, they weigh whether Americans still hold a right to transact privately, and what permissioned money would mean. 

In Politicology+, they discuss an unspoken contradiction in the human rights movement: it backs sanctions that rely on centralized financial choke points while also championing Bitcoin, a currency built to erase that system. 

POLITICOLOGY+

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Zack Czajkowski (co-founder of Civly) joins host Ron Steslow to map the first election of the chatbot era and to ask why the party that once led on campaign technology is now the one recoiling from it. 

They begin with voters already asking chatbots how to vote, perhaps millions directly and tens of millions more nudged by AI summaries without even realizing it. 

Next, they turn to how campaigns are adapting, the next era of search-engine optimization, a fight over how a candidate appears across major AI models, and why Republican operatives have leaned in faster. 

Then they discuss the cultural resistance on the left, from a reflexive disdain for AI-assisted work to the class fault lines beneath the “slop” discourse in prestige media. 

In Politicology+, they break down the abrupt resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and the bipartisan praise trailing him out the door.

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Katherine Mangu-Ward (Editor in Chief of Reason) joins host Ron Steslow to examine the growing revolt against automated license-plate surveillance company Flock and what it reveals about privacy in the age of AI. 

They begin with the backlash against flock: cameras cut down across dozens of states, communities canceling contracts, and an unlikely coalition uniting against the technology.  They dive into what the anger is really about and whether it channels a broader anxiety about losing control. 

From there, they turn to what these systems can now do, as leaked code points to tools that track people—not just license plates—and invites comparisons to China’s surveillance state. 

Then, they weigh the deeper tension of a company whose only customer is the state, the problem of overcriminalization, and the specter of automated law enforcement. 

Finally, they consider the Supreme Court’s geofence ruling, the data-broker loophole it leaves wide open, and what privacy is ultimately for. 

In Politicology+, they look at a single case that tests how far privacy itself can be treated as a crime: an American Citizen charged with a felony for deleting his phone’s data. 

POLITICOLOGY+

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Related Reading: 

Wired - Flock Has a Powerful New AI Tool for Police. We Got Its Code | WIRED

Reason - Flock Safety’s new privacy rules do little to ease concerns over ALPR surveillance

Reason - America is building a surveillance state like China's

Pirate wires - Flock's Case for the Panopticon

Wired - Flock Has a Powerful New AI Tool for Police. We Got Its Code | WIRED

ACLU - Surveillance Company Flock Now Using AI to Report Us to Police if it Thinks Our Movement Patterns Are “Suspicious”

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Susan Del Percio (crisis communications expert and political analyst at MS NOW) joins host Ron Steslow to trace how a revolt against data centers opens larger questions into how the AI buildout is financed and who holds the risk. 

They begin with the politics of the backlash and the town by town opposition that has turned data centers into a bipartisan populist flashpoint. Then they look at the leaked Republican memo warning the backlash could cost the party a Senate seat in November. 

Next, they turn to the real constraint beneath the fight, energy, the race with China, and reporting that foreign actors are attempting to amplify the opposition. 

Then, they look at the federal debt and how Washington is betting that AI-led growth is the only survivable way out. 

In Politicology+, they break down the DNC’s newly approved 2028 presidential primary calendar and what it means for the factional power struggle within the party.

POLITICOLOGY+

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Hagar Chemali (former spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations) joins host Ron Steslow to take the Democratic Socialists of America’s foreign policy seriously on their own terms, reading what the movement has written down.

They begin with the DSA’s ascent: a run of 2026 primary wins and Democratic leadership inclined to accommodate the energy rather than resist it, echoing MAGA’s takeover of the GOP. 

From there, they turn to the left’s foreign policy lineage—the distance from establishment liberalism's alliance and diplomacy to a progressivism warier of American power and rosier about its adversaries. 

Then they break down the DSA’s national security strategy: defund the military, close overseas bases, and dissolve what it calls the U.S. empire. 

Finally, they weigh the stakes for a shifting party with Israel as the first flashpoint of a weakening alliance and a broader diagnosis of populism without ideology and the institutional decay it accelerates. 

In Politicology+, they discuss the recent mass crossing into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and what it exposes about Europe.

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Mike Madrid (author of The Latino Century) joins host Ron Steslow to examine how AI is redrawing the machinery of politics and forcing a reckoning with what remains distinctly human. 

They begin with campaigns, where operatives now test messages on synthetic electorates, AI agents built to think like real voters, before a word reaches anyone.  

From there, they turn to the parties, which are unraveling into digital networks: brands so weak a cultural figure could hijack a nomination like Trump did in 2016. 

Then they dive into Pax Machina, a publication arguing powerful AI opens the first stage of institutional invention since the founding, warning that a president commanding loyal AI delegates could hollow out constitutional checks without changing the texts. 

Finally, they weigh Gregory Conti’s warning of science without scientists, asking whether choosing which questions matter is foundation enough for a dignity no machine can supply. 

In Politicology+, they discuss what a major Bitcoin wallet heist shows about where AI-era security is headed.

POLITICOLOGY+

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Ron Steslow on X: https://x.com/RonSteslow

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Related Reading: 

AXIOS: We're headed toward the first true AI electionhttps://www.axios.com/2026/08/05/ai-election-bots-simulated-voters-2026-2028

AXIOS: GOP campaigns go all-in on AI — Dems not so muchhttps://www.axios.com/2026/04/14/republicans-ai-campaigns-democrats-2026

The Launch of Pax Machinahttps://paxmachina.ai/welcome-to-pax-machina

Clawed by Dean Ball (March 2026) - Dean is now a founding editorial board member at Pax Machina)https://www.hyperdimensional.co/p/clawed

Rebuilding our world, with reference to strong AI by Tyler Cowen (Feb 2026)https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/02/rebuilding-our-world-with-reference-to-strong-ai.html

The End of Vocation by Gregory Conti (July 2026)https://www.thefp.com/p/ai-human-work-vocation-meaning-obsolete

Nothing can stop the AI Revolution by Tyler Cowen (Aug 2026)https://www.thefp.com/p/tyler-cowen-nothing-can-stop-the

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In this episode, Ron talks to Nick Anthony (Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute and a Fellow at the Human Rights Foundation) about Central Bank Digital Curriences, their potential to invade privacy, alter the dynamics of financial control, how governments are trying to justify them, and why those arguments are insufficient .

They discuss:

(04:16) Intro to CBDCs

(07:58) How CBDCs would give unprecedented control over how you can spend money 

(12:15) The Arguments for and against CBDCs

(19:53)The hidden assumptions behind CBDC arguments 

(24:50) The real world privacy implications of CBDCs

(33:05) CBDCs around the globe 

(36:21) The political dynamics in the U.S. 

(47:47) Bitcoin vs CBDCs

Check out the HRF’s CBDC Tracker: https://bit.ly/3WtFb3g

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Email your questions to [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at ‪(202) 455-4558‬ 

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Molly McKew (writer and lecturer on Russian influence and information warfare) joins host Ron Steslow to examine how Ukraine’s widening reach is bringing the war home to Russia and what a defeated Russia could become. 

They begin with the war’s new geography: strikes that have idled a quarter of Russia’s refining capacity, and drones now reaching the Caspian corridor between Russia and Iran. 

Next, they trace Ukraine’s rise from scrappy insurgent to serious power, erasing Russian sanctuary and moving to the center of Europe’s security future.

Then they examine The Economist’s profile of oligarch Andrey Melnichenko, who warns against breaking Russian sovereignty and sketches four dangerous futures for a defeated Russia.  

Finally, they confront what holding Russia responsible would truly require. 

In Politicology+, they take stock of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s death and what his absence means for the Republican Party’s fading support for Ukraine.

POLITICOLOGY+

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Catherine Sanderson (Poler Family Professor and chair of the psychology department at Amherst College)  joins Ron Steslow to discuss emotional intelligence and how it impacts success in the workplace, politics, and our everyday lives

(01:40) What emotional intelligence is and how we measure it

(03:55) Why emotional intelligence is important 

(07:03) How self-awareness impacts emotional intelligence 

(10:15) How you can build self-awareness

(13:05) How regulating your emotions shapes your emotional intelligence 

(16:20) Ways you can improve how well you manage and regulate your emotions

(21:19) The importance of grit in emotional intelligence 

(24:43) Emotional intelligence and being a moral rebel 

(39:39) The “dark side” of emotional intelligence

(41:39) Why emotional intelligence needs a moral backbone 

(50:53) How you can improve your emotional intelligence 

You can measure your emotional intelligence using this test: http://bit.ly/3DPYxpX

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This week, we’re bringing you another double feature of Politicology+ special previews. 

First, Ron Steslow talks with Mike Madrid about Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas. Using the Pope's choice between "constructing Babel" and "rebuilding Jerusalem,” they confront what happens when we hand life-and-death decisions to machines that can't be held accountable.

Then, Ron and Jennifer Schulp discuss political corruption in cryptocurrency and stock trading. They dive into the lack of political will to combat it, despite public outcry, and the challenges of enforcing ethical standards.

POLITICOLOGY+

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