Does America still have what it takes to stand up to China? Does short-term military readiness trade off with long-term strategy? What does the US need to do today to stay competitive for the rest of the century?
“Tony Stark” is the author of Breaking Beijing, a Substack examining the military dimensions of US-China competition. Tony’s Substack goes deep on ... Show More
Today
Why it Sucks to Work in AI in China + Open Source with Kevin Xu
Kevin Xu of http://interconnected.blog/ and I did a liveshow on substack! We chat about why working in Chinese AI looks so much tougher than building in the West: less compute, lower upside, more political constraints, and a much weaker market for enterprise software. We also get ... Show More
50m 34s
Mar 6
Second Breakfast: Iran and the DIB with Fmr SECAF Frank Kendall
Frank Kendall served as the 26th Secretary of the Air Force from 2021 to 2025. Before that he was Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics under Obama. His new book, Lethal Autonomy: The Future of Warfare, comes out in June. Cohosting today is Bryan Cl ... Show More
1h 15m
Apr 2023
Technology, Defense, and American-Chinese Competition
Chris, Zack, and Melanie sit down to talk about a new article by Eric Schmidt on whether the United States can win an innovation race with China. Where is the United States ahead and where is it behind in the tech competition? How should the U.S. government work with private ente ... Show More
59m 1s
Jul 2024
The US and China Are in an All Out Race For AI Domination
<p>There are several sources of tension right now between the US and China. Pure trade anxiety is a big one, with the US having imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, solar panels and other important industrial components. Then, of course, there are direct geopolitical con ... Show More
49m 48s
Apr 2024
Technology and the Future of Land Warfare
Technology is rapidly changing the modern battlefield, making it crucial for armies to adapt how they think, fight, and train. But what should that adaptation look like? How can the US Army, for example, evolve at the tactical level to both meet the challenges and leverage the op ... Show More
1h 2m
Feb 2025
Ep100. Britain's Military: A Tool for Global Ordering?
With a major war raging in Europe, a seemingly more expansionist Trump in the Whitehouse, and China’s long held desire to invade Taiwan, is Britain prepared militarily?
It’s hard to tell. The current Labour government is still refusing to set out in detail its plans for Defen ... Show More
48m 33s
Aug 2025
America's lawyers vs. China's engineers
America has a hard time building stuff. Roads. Trains. Bridges. Housing. Everything takes seemingly forever. Meanwhile, China seems to have no trouble at all: high-speed rails, solar panels, electric cars, bridges, ports, all churned out at breakneck speed. Why is that? Sean's gu ... Show More
51m 37s