Tim Ventura Interviews

UFO culture has gone mainstream - and in many ways it resembles an emerging religion. Dr. Greg Hodgin discusses contemporary UFO culture & mythology as a search for meaning, acceptance, and certainty in a technologically advanced world.

Dr. Greg Hodgin is the Executive Director and Founder of Peacebuilding Solutions and the ZC Institute. He graduated from Emory University with a Bachelor’s in Chemistry and from Georgia State University with a Bachelor’s in History, a Master’s in Political Science and a Ph.D. in Political Science.

LINKS & RESOURCES:

ZC Institute - "Turning Science Fiction Into Reality"

https://zcinstitute.com/

Greg Hodgin on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-hodgin/

It's winter, it's cold, and after decades of investing in renewables, Europe is an energy-crisis. What's wrong here? Oscar L. Martin discusses the best prospects for clean, reliable, affordable electricity - and debunks the myth of "clean energy" from solar and wind.

Oscar L. Martin is a strategy, innovation, and transformation executive with executive & technical expertise in a variety of cutting-edge technologies. He helped design the early smartphones with Hewlett Packard, designed torpedo stabilizers with BRS Aerospace, developed the video technology used in the Nasdaq building, and led the development of several subsystem of the Galileo satellites, the European GPS.

Oscar also restructured several companies, including the 22 sites GKN Aerospace has in North America. He also worked in the energy industry with the AKO Group, leading the team designing, manufacturing and building the electrical control software and hardware for nuclear and solar plants. Our focus today are the challenges and proposed solutions to meeting the world’s energy demands.

Links & Resources:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscarlmartin/

Was Russia's invasion provoked by Ukraine's bid to join NATO, or is there more to the story? Dr. Kevin Riehle discusses the conflict's origins, Russia's strategic goals, NATO encirclement, the Donbas dispute, Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, and the potential for future escalation.

Dr. Kevin Riehle, Associate Professor at University of Mississippi Center for Intelligence and Security Studies. Dr. Riehle literally “wrote the book” on Russian Intelligence, along with a definitive book on Soviet Defectors, as well as dozens of papers on Russian espionage, spycraft, military strategy, and cold war history.

Dr. Riehle’s career includes over 30 years of experience in Intelligence and Counterintelligence roles with the Defense Intelligence Agency, US European Command, and FBI, culminating in the position of Senior Policy Officer at the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence.

Dr. Riehle has BA in Russian & Political Science from Brigham Young University, an MS in Strategic Intelligence from the Joint Military Intelligence College, and a PhD in War Studies from King’s College London, as well as a Diploma from the Command and Staff Program at the US Naval War College. He is also the recipient of numerous awards and honors.

LINKS & RESOURCES

Dr. Kevin Riehle's Bio, CV, Books & Publications

https://kevinriehle.academia.edu/

Russian Intelligence: A Case-based Study of Russian Services and Missions Past and Present

https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Intelligence-Case-based-Services-Missions-ebook/dp/B0B1N5KYMQ

Soviet Defectors: Revelations of Renegade Intelligence Officers, 1924-1954

https://www.amazon.com/Soviet-Defectors-Revelations-Intelligence-Surveillance/dp/1474467245/

Is digital immortality possible by uploading your mind? Dr. Paul Thagard discusses Neuralink, artificial intelligence, mind uploading, simulation theory, and the challenges involved with whole brain emulation.

Dr. Paul Thagard is a philosopher, cognitive scientist, and author of many interdisciplinary books. He currently teaches as a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Waterloo, where he founded and directed the Cognitive Science Program.

Dr. Thagard is a graduate of the Universities of Saskatchewan, Cambridge, Toronto (with a PhD in philosophy) and Michigan (with an MS in computer science). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Cognitive Science Society, and the Association for Psychological Science. The Canada Council awarded him a Molson Prize in 2007 and a Killam Prize in 2013.

LINKS & RESOURCES:

Dr. Paul Thagard's Website:

https://paulthagard.com/

Balance: How It Works and What It Means

https://www.amazon.com/Balance-How-Works-What-Means-ebook/dp/B09SBSVFZ5

Paul Thagard's Collected Books:

https://paulthagard.com/books/

Paul Thagard's Papers (Google Scholar):

https://scholar.google.ca/citations?hl=en&user=1-i6trwAAAAJ

Paul Thagard, Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Thagard

“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” Dr. Jeffrey Funk discusses trends in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, drones, EVTOL & cryptocurrency and the need for consumer value beyond innovation for it's own sake.

Dr. Jeffrey Funk is a futurist and technology consultant focused on new technologies and the economics of the startups creating them.

Dr. Funk has a Bachelors in Physics from California Polytechnic, and a PhD in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University. His career in technology spans over 4 decades of time, with experience consulting for a variety of established and startup ventures, as well as professorships at Penn State, Kobe University, Hitotsubashi University, and the National University of Singapore.

Dr. Funk has worked with market-leading firms like Nokia, written books including “Technology Change and the Rise of New Industries”, and authored numerous articles on technology-related topics in Slate, Fast Company, Salon, Quartz, MindMatters, MarketWatch, Scientific American, IEEE Spectrum and Issues in Science & Technology.

LINKS & RESOURCES:

Technology Change and the Rise of New Industries

https://www.amazon.com/Technology-Change-Industries-Innovation-Economy-ebook/dp/B00ARKOELE

Web3, the Metaverse, and the Lack of Useful Innovation

https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2022/11/web3-the-metaverse-and-the-lack-of-useful-innovation/

Tech Bubble? Our Progress Towards Value To Users Has Slowed...

https://mindmatters.ai/2022/11/tech-bubble-our-progress-towards-value-to-users-has-slowed/

More Risk Doesn't Always Mean Greater Reward

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/more-risk-doesnt-always-mean-greater-reward-just-look-at-these-imploded-tech-stocks-11669712414

UAP have been reported in the air, space & oceans - and according to Congress, "threats" are "exponentially increasing". Chris Lehto discusses UAP, USO, the NDAA 2023, whistleblower protections, and unveils brand new case files just starting to make headlines.

"Buried deep in a report that’s an addendum to the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, a budget that governs America’s clandestine services, Congress made two startling claims. The first is that “cross-domain transmedium threats to the United States national security are expanding exponentially.” The second is that it wants to distinguish between UFOs that are human in origin and those that are not: “Temporary nonattributed objects, or those that are positively identified as man-made after analysis, will be passed to appropriate offices and should not be considered under the definition as unidentified aerospace-undersea phenomena,” the document states." (VICE - link below)

Chris Lehto is a retired F-16 Pilot, UAP Investigator, YouTube content creator, journalist at The Portugal News, and CEO of UAPSociety.com, an NFT-Funded UAP research platform.

Chris has a Bachelors in Materials Science from the US Air Force Academy, and a Masters in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle University. In addition to writing stories on the UAP phenomenon for The Portugal News, he hosts “The Lehto Files”, a popular YouTube videocast with over 60k subscribers.

LINKS & RESOURCES:

Chris Lehto: The Lehto Files

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVNKdkLzWuy1oLuCuCv4NCA

VICE: Congress Admits UFOs Not ‘Man-Made,’ Says ‘Threats’ Increasing ‘Exponentially’

https://www.vice.com/en/article/3adadb/congress-admits-ufos-not-man-made-says-threats-increasing-exponentially

NDAA 2023 Addendum

https://www.congress.gov/117/crpt/srpt132/CRPT-117srpt132.pdf#page=12

Quantum technology is surging forward - can industry keep pace with the breakthroughs? Doug Finke discusses the trends driving research in quantum computing, communications, and sensing - and highlights key players forging a new computing industry.

Doug Finke is the Chief Quantum Analyst for Global Quantum Intelligence, a business intelligence firm focused on emerging quantum computing technologies that helps vendors, governments, investors to guide business, policy and strategic decisions.

Doug has a BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois, and Masters of Science from MIT and a track record of computer industry executive experience with some of the world's largest computer, semiconductor, and storage companies, including past roles at IBM, Intel, and Western Digital, among others.

Doug’s foresight about the potential impact of quantum computing in business led him to establish the Quantum Computing report in 2015, with the goal of creating the industry’s most authoritative source for quantum industry developments.

Global Quantum Intelligence

https://www.global-qi.com/

Doug Finke's "The Quantum Computing Report"

https://quantumcomputingreport.com/

Doug Finke on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougfinke/

Dr. Lani Kass discusses the allegations of war crimes in Ukraine and provides detailed insight, analysis & historical context into the origins, strategy, and possible outcomes of the ongoing conflict.

Dr. Kass is the former Senior Policy Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force (CSAF), Senior Mentor to USAF Project CHECKMATE, Director of the Cyber Task Force, Professor of Military Strategy and Operations and the National War College.

Since retiring from government, Dr. Kass has served as a Senior Advisor to the Center for American Defense Studies, Senior Fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Senior Vice-President at CACI International, and a Member of the Board of Visitors at the USAF Institute of Technology.

Dr. Kass is a graduate of the National War College, National Defense University, holds a PhD from the Kaplan School of Economics and Political Science, and a joint PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

Note: The views expressed in this interview are the opinions of Dr. Kass alone and do not represent the views or opinions of her employer or the United States Government.

LINKS & RESOURCES:

War crimes in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine (Wikipedia)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crimes_in_the_2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine

U.S. monitoring alleged executions in Ukraine, says war crimes envoy (Reuters)

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-monitoring-alleged-executions-ukraine-says-war-crimes-envoy-2022-11-21/

General David Petraeus (ret.) discusses the Ukraine conflict, Great Powers Competition, the Space Force, securing our technology supply chain, AI & automation in future warfare, and defending America in uncertain times.

General Petraeus currently serves as a Partner in the global investment firm KKR and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute. Prior to this role, Gen. Petraeus served over 37 years in the U.S. military, culminating his career with 6 commands as a general officer, 5 of which were in combat, including Command of the Surge in Iraq, United States Central Command, and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Following his military service, he served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

General Petraeus graduated with distinction from the U.S. Military Academy, earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University, and has held academic appointments at six universities. He is a member of numerous boards and advisory councils for think tanks and veterans organizations and has received many dozens of honors and awards of the highest order over the course of his remarkable career.

Over the past 20 years, General Petraeus has been named one of America’s 25 Best Leaders by U.S. News and World Report, the runner-up for Time magazine’s Person of the Year, the Daily Telegraph man of the year, a Time 100 selectee twice, Princeton University’s Madison Medalist, and one of Foreign Policy magazine’s top 100 public intellectuals in three different years. He has also been sanctioned by Russia.

LINKS:

KKR: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts

https://www.kkr.com/

David H. Petraeus: Partner, KKR and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute

https://www.kkr.com/our-firm/leadership/david-h-petraeus

David Petraeus - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Petraeus

Will the merger of quantum computing & AI lead to breakthroughs in natural language processing? Professor Srinjoy Ganguly thinks so - but advances in quantum error-correction and increased scalability is needed first.

Srinjoy Ganguly, a Quantum AI Research Scientist at Fractal, IBM Qiskit Advocate & Quantum Educator, and Clinical Professor of Practice for Quantum Computing at Woxsen University.

Srinjoy has Bachelor's Degree was in Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering, and an MS in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Southampton, and a second MS in Quantum Computing Technologies from Polytechnic University of Madrid.

Srinjoy Ganguly (LinkedIn):

https://www.linkedin.com/in/srinjoyganguly/

Fault-tolerant quantum computing era is a decade away: Srinjoy Ganguly, Fractal:

https://analyticsindiamag.com/fault-tolerant-quantum-computing-era-is-a-decade-away-srinjoy-ganguly-fractal/