🎙️ Get the ad-free version and exclusive bonus segments here:
/ https://www.patreon.com/c/MADWarfare

We turned serial killers into celebrities.
Then we made documentaries about them.
Then we watched them… to relax.

Cool cool cool.

But why do we binge murder before bed?

In this episode of Mad Warfare, we sit down with criminologist Dr. Scott Bonn to unpack our collective obsession with true crime—and what it reveals about how attention, fear, and storytelling really work.

From Jack the Ripper to Netflix-era "celebrity monsters," we break down how killers become brands… and why they keep winning the attention economy.

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IG: (@docbonn25)
Website: https://www.docbonn.com/

⸻

Want To Support MAD?

Sponsor us.
We'll make you a weird, wonderful custom video.

Email: madwarfarepodcast@gmail.com

(Or send snacks. Still counts.)

⸻

MAD Warfare™ is hosted by Jocelyn Brady and Sean Anthony Guillory.
Edited and produced by Amine el Filali.

Visit madwarfare.com for more.
Send dream guests, wild ideas, and sponsorship inquiries (yes, again) to madwarfarepodcast@gmail.com

⸻

Fair Use

This show includes short clips and references used for commentary, education, and transformation under Fair Use.
If we missed attribution or you'd like to collaborate, reach out—we're happy to chat.

🎙️ Get the ad-free version and exclusive bonus segments here:
https://www.patreon.com/cw/MADWarfare

What if a huge chunk of American politics is basically melodrama with better lighting?

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Shan — professor, pop culture decoder, and creator of Pop Smart Media — about the stories that script how we see power, morality, identity, and each other. We get into melodrama, dystopia, Christianity, climate storytelling, radical imagination, and why so many of us are trapped in narratives built around heroes, villains, and victims.

Dr. Shan breaks down how melodrama became the default language of Hollywood, how it shapes political rhetoric, and why it can make compromise feel like surrendering to evil. We also talk about values-based communication, the limits of facts when identity is on the line, and why better futures require more than just warning people about collapse.

If you've ever wondered why everything feels like a battle between pure good and pure evil — or how we tell better stories that make room for complexity, collective action, and actual change — this one's for you.

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Popsmart Substack
https://popsmartmedia.substack.com/

Popsmart YT
https://www.youtube.com/@UCwLvuH8rBlVOjeQNSfVtJsA

Pleasure is Political YT
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3UM07LnM750nxkAkPKC3twPNmNhSClNx
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Timestamps (approx)

• 00:00 Heroes, villains, victims, and the politics of scripted identity
• 02:00 How Dr. Shan found her way from theater to politics and pop culture
• 03:00 What melodrama actually is: the six tropes
• 08:00 Christianity, suffering, and why melodrama feels so familiar in America
• 10:00 French theater loopholes, silent film, and how melodrama became Hollywood's native language
• 15:00 Redemption arcs, moral certainty, and why politics gets stuck in good-vs-evil thinking
• 19:00 Climate change as melodrama — and why "be the hero" can backfire
• 24:00 Genre as shortcut: how tiny signals trigger huge narrative assumptions
• 26:00 Complexity, cognitive dissonance, and why facts alone often fail
• 28:00 Values-based communication and finding common ground without collapsing your convictions
• 31:00 Radical imagination, agency, and building better worlds from fragments
• 36:00 Why dystopias are useful — and why too much dystopia can become paralyzing
• 40:00 Individual heroes vs. collective action in storytelling
• 44:00 Star Wars, Star Trek, Soviet cinema, and alternatives to the lone savior
• 49:00 Conspiracy thinking, certainty, and the paranoid style of politics
• 53:00 Cognitive flexibility, moral clarity, and living with nuance
• 55:00 Wargaming, immersive theater, and rehearsing futures together
• 58:00 Pleasure Is Political + where to find Dr. Shan
• 59:00 End

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Mentioned / Themes

• Melodrama as a political framework
• Hero / victim / villain storytelling
• Suffering as virtue
• Redemption arcs and moral rigidity
• Hollywood, silent film, and French theater history
• Climate storytelling and individual vs. systemic action
• Dystopia and cognitive estrangement
• Values-based communication
• Radical imagination
• Collective action vs. lone heroes
• Conspiracy thinking and certainty addiction
• Cognitive flexibility and nuance
• Wargaming / immersive futures
• Pop Smart Media
• Pleasure Is Political

⸻

Want To Support MAD?

Sponsor us.
We'll make you a weird, wonderful custom video.

Email: madwarfarepodcast@gmail.com

(Or send snacks. Still counts.)

⸻

MAD Warfare™ is hosted by narrative strategist Jocelyn Brady and cognitive neuroscientist Sean Anthony Guillory.
Edited and produced by Amine el Filali.

Visit madwarfare.com for extra giggles.
Send dream guests, weird ideas, wishes, and sponsorship inquiries (yes, again) to madwarfarepodcast@gmail.com.

⸻

Fair Use

This show is MAD enough to include homages, short clips, and references that provide vital context and/or moments of joy. We deeply respect every creator's work and use these moments for educational, artistic, and transformative purposes under Fair Use. If we missed an attribution or you'd like to collaborate, reach out—we're happy to chat.

🎙️ Get the ad-free version and exclusive bonus segments here:
/ madwarfare

What do foreign intelligence services and your social media feed have in common?

More than most people want to admit.

In this episode, we talk with Jennifer Ewbank — former CIA officer and former head of digital technology at the Agency — about cognitive freedom, manipulation, trust, and what espionage teaches you about the way influence actually works.

We get into the overlap between spycraft and algorithmic persuasion, why hostile actors and commercial platforms often pull the same psychological levers, and how outrage, distraction, and confirmation bias can quietly trap us in what Jennifer calls a comfortable cage. We also talk about deepfakes, the erosion of trust, cognitive liberty, and the practical habits people can build to protect their own minds.

If you've ever wondered whether your feed is informing you, influencing you, or just farming your nervous system for engagement… this one's for you.

⸻

Want To Support MAD?
Sponsor us.
We'll make you a weird, wonderful custom video.
Email: madwarfarepodcast@gmail.com
(Or send snacks. Still counts.)

⸻

MAD Warfare™ is hosted by narrative strategist Jocelyn Brady and cognitive neuroscientist Sean Anthony Guillory.
Edited and produced by Amine el Filali.

Visit madwarfare.com for extra giggles.
Send dream guests, weird ideas, wishes, and sponsorship inquiries (yes, again) to madwarfarepodcast@gmail.com.

⸻

Fair Use
This show is MAD enough to include homages, short clips, and references that provide vital context and/or moments of joy. We deeply respect every creator's work and use these moments for educational, artistic, and transformative purposes under Fair Use. If we missed an attribution or you'd like to collaborate, reach out—we're happy to chat.

🎙️ Get the ad-free version and exclusive bonus segments here: MAD Warfare Patreon

AI is booming, and guardrails are disappearing.

In this episode, we talk with Sandra Khalil (All Tech Is Human) about what happens when artificial intimacy scales faster than accountability. From AI companion cafés to chatbots offering mental health "support," we dig into the real-world risks of systems that feel human but aren't responsible.

We cover vulnerable users, unsafe advice, product liability, the global regulation gap, and why "move fast and break things" becomes dangerous when the thing breaking is trust.

If you've ever wondered whether your chatbot is just helpful—or subtly shaping you—this one's for you.

⸻

Want To Support MAD?

Sponsor us.

We'll make you a weird, wonderful custom video.

Email: madwarfarepodcast@gmail.com

(Or send snacks. Still counts.)

⸻

MAD Warfare™ is hosted by narrative strategist Jocelyn Brady and cognitive neuroscientist Sean Anthony Guillory.

Edited and produced by Amine el Filali.

Visit madwarfare.com for extra giggles.

Send dream guests, weird ideas, wishes, and sponsorship inquiries (yes, again) to madwarfarepodcast@gmail.com.

⸻

Fair Use

This show is MAD enough to include homages, short clips, and references that provide vital context and/or moments of joy. We deeply respect every creator's work and use these moments for educational, artistic, and transformative purposes under Fair Use. If we missed an attribution or you'd like to collaborate, reach out—we're happy to chat.

🎙️ Get the ad-free version and exclusive bonus segments here: https://patreon.com/MADWarfare

One year in. Somehow still alive. Somehow still laughing.

In this anniversary episode, we do a behind-the-scenes autopsy of MAD Warfare: what changed, what got weirder, and what's gotten more urgent since we hit record for the first time.

We break it down into three F's that f with us — Funding, Fear, and Facts — and why each one has shifted in ways we did not fully clock a year ago. We talk about the government's refusal to look inward, the exodus of scientific brainpower, the changing landscape of speech and consequences, and the surreal moment we're living in where people can watch the same footage and disagree on what happened.

Then we hit:
• 3 favorite surprise moments from the show (wrestling as politics, brain organoids, remote drone warfare trauma)
• 3 practical tools to fight back: story, system-hacking, and coordinated community action
• Where we go next — including the promise of a Patreon and building a real library of tools + guests

If you've been here since episode one, we love you. If you're new, welcome to the ship in stormy waters.

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Timestamps (approx)
• 00:00 Happy birthday to us + meet Amine (man behind the veil) + mascot Zuki
• 01:00 The episode plan: 3 areas, 3 surprises, 3 tools, then "where next"
• 01:40 The 3 F's: Funding, Fear, Facts (and yes, fuckery)
• 02:00 Funding: why we thought support would show up + "mind powers"
• 05:00 The reframe: everyday citizens are doing the work + explainers rising
• 05:20 10,000 PhDs let go + "it's up to us"
• 06:00 Fear: shifting from cultural cancellation to government consequences
• 08:40 Facts: seeing the same reality and disagreeing anyway
• 09:30 The inversion: if the internet doesn't have it, people doubt real life
• 11:30 Swift, satire, and the OG Swifties
• 12:00 AI-only social network "Moltbook" + bots forming a religion + security nightmare
• 15:45 3 surprises: wrestling politics, organoids, remote warfare trauma
• 21:30 3 tools: story, hacking systems (Swapneel), coordinated action
• 27:30 Where next: Patreon + libraries + expert hub
• 29:30 Gratitude + sponsor shoutouts + Sean's mom is #1 merch buyer
• 32:00 End

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Mentioned Episodes / Callbacks
• Al Snow (pro wrestling + politics)
• Chris Acha (organoids / "brain in a robot" energy)
• Tanner (remote warfare / drone operators)
• Devsena (resonance)
• Mike Ross (resonance)
• Swapneel (algorithm hacking masterclass)
• Elizabeth Tate (sneaky ladies / reframing perceived powerlessness)

⸻

Want To Support MAD?

Sponsor us.
We'll make you a weird, wonderful custom video.

Email: madwarfarepodcast@gmail.com

(Or send snacks. Still counts.)

⸻

MAD Warfare™ is hosted by narrative strategist Jocelyn Brady and cognitive neuroscientist Sean Anthony Guillory.
Edited and produced by Amine el Filali.

Visit madwarfare.com for extra giggles.
Send dream guests, weird ideas, wishes, and sponsorship inquiries (yes, again) to madwarfarepodcast@gmail.com.

⸻

Fair Use

This show is MAD enough to include homages, short clips, and references that provide vital context and/or moments of joy. We deeply respect every creator's work and use these moments for educational, artistic, and transformative purposes under Fair Use. If we missed an attribution or you'd like to collaborate, reach out—we're happy to chat.

Do your stories shape the future—or do they quietly shape you first?

And when the next war shows up wearing a hoodie, a meme, and a "totally harmless" plotline… how would we even recognize it?

In this episode, we talk with August Cole — co-author of Ghost Fleet and Burn In and co-founder of Useful Fiction — about why fiction can do what white papers can't: grab attention, build foresight, and help people rehearse decisions before reality demands them.

We get into "strategic surprise," why the information environment is the missing chapter of the last decade, and what it means when cognitive warfare becomes hyper-personalized—so everyone is fighting their own battle. (Yes. That's as weird as it sounds. Also: unfortunately real.)

If you've ever felt your agency slipping, your feed steering, or your brain quietly drafted into a conflict you didn't sign up for… this one's for you.

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• Useful fiction: why story can carry serious ideas farther than doctrine

• Strategic surprise: what it is, why institutions keep getting blindsided, and how narrative reduces it

• Ghost Fleet, 10 years later: what aged well, what changed, what got left out

• The attention economy: when incentives + algorithms start shaping behavior at machine speed

• Useful fiction vs. propaganda: credibility, trust, and why "too clean" stories fail

• "You may not be interested in cognitive warfare…" (but it's interested in you)

• Why cognitive warfare is getting harder to detect: personalization at scale

• The simplest anti-doom message that still matters: you matter

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August Cole — augustcole.com

Useful Fiction — useful-fiction.com

Books: Ghost Fleet / Burn In

⸻

Sponsor us.

We'll make you a weird, wonderful custom video.

Email: madwarfarepodcast@gmail.com

(Or just send snacks. Still counts.)

⸻

MAD Warfare™ is hosted by narrative strategist Jocelyn Brady and cognitive neuroscientist Sean Anthony Guillory.

Edited and produced by Amine el Filali.

Visit madwarfare.com for extra giggles.

Send your wishes, weird ideas, dream guests, and sponsorship inquiries (yes, again) to madwarfarepodcast@gmail.com.

⸻

This show is MAD enough to include homages, short clips, and references that provide vital context and/or moments of joy. We deeply respect every creator's work and use these moments for educational, artistic, and transformative purposes under Fair Use. If we missed an attribution or you'd like to collaborate, reach out—we're happy to chat.

Do your ideas belong to you—or are they secretly running the show?

If identities can calcify into cages, how do you melt them back into something alive?

In this episode, we talk with therapist and writer Mike Ross about the weird life of ideas: how they form, how they spread, and how they quietly start making decisions for us. We go from punk rock and tattoos to liminal spaces, Robin Williams, Gen Alpha chaos ("67"), emotional granularity, and Mike's concept of cognitive alchemy—naming and reshaping the stories and feelings that shape us.

If you've ever felt lonely online, stuck in your own head, or hungry for something more real than the feed, this one's for you.

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• The weird life of ideas: when thoughts become "drivers," not visitors

• How identities calcify (and what it takes to loosen them)

• Why the early Internet felt like salvation—and the modern feed feels like a beige matrix

• What we lose when algorithms replace serendipity

• Liminal spaces and why they mess with us (in a good way, sometimes)

• Tattoos, punk rock, and identity as signal

• Robin Williams, grief, and the stories we inherit

• Gen Alpha chaos and the mysterious "67" energy

• Emotional granularity: getting specific about what you're feeling

• "Cognitive alchemy": turning stuck inner material into something usable

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• Mike Ross — (add your preferred link/handle here)

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

https://lordofthestrange.substack.com/

⸻

Sponsor us.

We'll make you a weird, wonderful custom video.

Email: madwarfarepodcast@gmail.com

(Or just send snacks. Still counts.)

⸻

MAD Warfare™ is hosted by narrative strategist Jocelyn Brady and cognitive neuroscientist Sean Anthony Guillory.

Edited and produced by Amine el Filali.

Visit madwarfare.com for extra giggles.

Send your wishes, weird ideas, dream guests, and sponsorship inquiries (yes, again) to madwarfarepodcast@gmail.com.

⸻

This show is MAD enough to include homages, short clips, and references that provide vital context and/or moments of joy. We deeply respect every creator's work and use these moments for educational, artistic, and transformative purposes under Fair Use. If we missed an attribution or you'd like to collaborate, reach out—we're happy to chat.