White House Chronicle

Podcasts, social media, blogs, oh, my! These communications sources have been simmering in U.S. elections for years, but came to a boil in the 2024 elections. Geoffrey Cowan, director of USC's Annenberg 's Center on Communication Leadership and Policy, discusses the rise and impact of the new media with Host Llewellyn King and Co-host Adam Clayton Powell III.

Peter Morici thinks that AI gives Americans good reason to be optimistic. Morici, columnist, economist and emeritus business professor at the University of Maryland, looks at AI in an almost fatherly way. As AI grows up, there is going to be bad behavior, but we should watch for it not stifle the technology with regulation. It has the potential to do wonderful things, from finding us perfect matches to fostering new industries. He speaks with Host Llewellyn King and Co-host Adam Clayton Powell III.

A cover story in The Economist shows why America is the envy of the world. Host Llewellyn King, Co-host Adam Clayton Powell III and Producer Linda Gasparello discuss that enviable position as the election enters its final stretch.

John Kutsch, executive director of the Thorium Energy Alliance, believes fervently that "Thorium will power the world." In addition to its potential use as a fuel, it can also be used in medicine, alloys, coatings, and superconducting materials. He speaks with Host Llewellyn King and Co-host Adam Clayton Powell III.

Perry Carpenter is chief human risk management strategist at KnowBe4, and author of "FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deefakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions." He speaks with Host Llewellyn King and Co-host Adam Clayton Powell III about the mechanics behind deepfakes, disinformation, and other cognitive security threats, and how to survive in the ever more tangled digital jungle.

The space economy is growing rapidly. Currently, 90 countries have earth-imaging satellites in orbit. Mark Brender, a former ABC journalist, now a consultant to the geospatial and satellite Earth observation industry, speaks with Host Llewellyn King and Co-host Adam Clayton Powell III about how we are entering "an age of super-panoptical technocracy."

Not in my backyard (NIMBY) is a syndrome that has stymied the supply of homes, electricity, roads and other projects in the United States and abroad. Patrick Sleven's insights on NIMBYism come from his experience as mayor of Safety Harbor, a city on the west shore of Tampa Bay in Florida. He discusses ways to overcome NIMBYism with Host Llewellyn King and Co-host Adam Clayton Powell III.

Adam Russell, head of AI research at USC's Information Sciences Institute, has an engrossing discussion with Adam Clayton Powell III, who guest hosts the episode, about the development of AI -- and what Russell terms "AI Now, AI Next, AI in the Wild." 

Dana Milbank, a Washington Post opinion columnist, knows there is humor in truth. He has written a hilarious and truthful book on the dysfunctional state of the current Republican House, "Fools on the Hill: The Hooligans, Saboteurs, Conspiracy Theorists, and Dunces Who Burned Down the House." Host Llewellyn King and Co-host Adam Clayton Powell III had the fun of talking, as Lewis Carroll's Walrus said, "of many things" with Milbank.

Puerto Rico is vulnerable to devastating hurricanes, as is much of the Caribbean Basin. Adam Rousselle, CEO of the Caribbean Basin Power Authority, talks to Host Llewellyn King and Co-host Adam Clayton Powell III about his proposed undersea cable which would bring reliable and resilient electricity to Puerto Rico, and eventually to other locations in the Caribbean Basin.