Get ready for a front-row seat into how policy is formed. Hosted by Exiger’s Kit Conklin, Exiger Exchange is a limited edition podcast series that also prepares you for what comes next.
In an era defined by geopolitical competition, economic fragmentation, and rapid technological change, the forces shaping global policy are no longer distant—they are embedded directly in supply chains, markets, and corporate decision-making.
Each session of Exiger Exchange offers a candid, forward-looking dialogue on the issues defining today’s risk environment—from economic statecraft and export controls to energy security, emerging technology, and global trade realignment.
How to Win a Trade War - Inside the New Rules of Economic Conflict with Soumaya Keynes
Trade wars are hard to win but new weapons change that. Soumaya Keynes, Financial Times economics columnist, co-author of How to Win a Trade War: An Optimistic Guide to an Anxious Global Economy, and host of FT’s The Economics Show, joins Kit Conklin to explain why stockpiling, industrial policy, digital services taxes and other tools once dismissed as outdated are back in fashion as countries and companies race to win in an increasingly fragmented global order.
The old rules of global trade were built for a unipolar world that no longer exists. Now, as production concentrates in fewer hands and blocs harden around the US and China, countries and companies are being forced to ask an uncomfortable question: what happens when the tools of economic statecraft stop being defensive and start being offensive? Spoiler alert: there is room for optimism, but only for those willing to rethink strategies that used to be considered off-limits.
27 Aug 2026
Apple in China: How the iPhone Became an Economic Security Warning. With Patrick McGee
Apple helped build extraordinary manufacturing capacity in China, but that success also created dependency and loss of domestic know-how. Patrick McGee, New York Times bestselling author of Apple in China, joins Kit Conklin to explain how Apple trained tens of millions of workers, raised the quality standards, and helped make China the leader in consumer technology manufacturing. From China’s efforts to lure western tech companies, to Intel-TSMC competition, to the promise of innovators like Tesla and SpaceX, the conversation considers what leaders should do when supply chains and production built for profitability become questions of power, leverage and economic security.
6 Aug 2026
Factory Floor Warfare: Why America’s Drone Gap Is a Supply Chain Problem. With Brett Freedman
The next defense advantage may come down to who can build, replace, and adapt faster. Brett Freedman, Senior Director of Emerging Technology at the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology, fellow at the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, Partner at Gray Space Strategies, and a former senior national security official across DOJ, NSA, the White House, and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, joins Kit Conklin to examine why drones, batteries, export controls, and enforcement now sit at the center of economic security and thus national security. From Ukraine’s drone lessons and U.S. manufacturing constraints to FISA 702, CFIUS, and DOJ’s National Security Division, hear why companies need to take risks and work with government to tackle the choke points our adversaries still control.
23 Jul 2026
McDonald’s, Not Microchips: The New Rules of Trade with China. With Michael Sobolik
America does not need to stop selling McDonald’s hamburgers in China, but the West does need to think differently about derisking critical supply chains, capital markets, and trade. In this episode, Hudson Institute Senior Fellow and author Michael Sobolik joins Kit Conklin to examine the uneasy balance between U.S.-China economic engagement and strategic competition. From the ongoing trade detente to the Trump-Xi summit and new economic security restrictions, the conversation explores where CEOs should draw the line between pursuing growth in China and protecting the technologies, infrastructure, and industrial capacity that underpins U.S. and Western national security.
9 Jul 2026
The Australian Diplomat Who Made Memes Serious Business
Geopolitical intelligence used to live in classified government briefings. Jeremy Dicker took it mainstream and made it enjoyable to read. He spent 14 years as an Australian diplomat, received Peru's Presidential Order of Merit, then co-founded International Intrigue, now read by hundreds of thousands of leaders worldwide, from prime ministers to Fortune 500 CEOs. It's written by ex-diplomats and takes under 5 meme-worthy minutes to read.
Kit talks with Jeremy about why every country is rewriting its trade playbook, how Australia's standoff with Chinese economic coercion changed the game, which countries CEOs should be watching right now, and why "raw brain power" has become one of the most fought-over exports in geopolitics.
2 Jul 2026
He Wrote "Courage Can Save US." Can It Save Congress? With Rye Barcott
America’s 250th anniversary raises a harder question than how to celebrate: what kind of courage does self-government still require?
Rye Barcott, Marine veteran, author of Courage Can Save US, and co-founder and CEO of With Honor, joins Kit Conklin to discuss why trust, service, and durable bipartisan work still matter in national security, biotechnology, shipbuilding, mental health, and national service.
From Stoicism and Socrates to the For Country Caucus, the NDAA, and one five-minute act of civic courage, the conversation makes the case for public service that can withstand political cost.
What You’ll Hear
· Why Rye defines courage as taking a conscious risk in service of something larger than yourself
· How veteran leaders are building trust across party lines in Congress
· Why bipartisan legislation is harder to pass, but more likely to last
· Where courage shows up in national security, biotechnology, shipbuilding, mental health, and national service
· A concrete America 250 challenge: thank someone whose courage changed your life
Resources Mentioned
Courage Can Save US: Ten Extraordinary Americans and the Fight for Our Future by Rye Barcott
https://couragecansaveus.com/ (https://couragecansaveus.com/)
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/courage-can-save-us-9798260200582/ (https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/courage-can-save-us-9798260200582/)
With Honor
https://withhonor.org/ (https://withhonor.org/)
For Country Caucus
https://withhonor.org/for-country-caucus/ (https://withhonor.org/for-country-caucus/)
National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology
https://www.biotech.senate.gov/ (https://www.biotech.senate.gov/)
America250
https://america250.org/ (https://america250.org/)
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library
https://www.trlibrary.com/ (https://www.trlibrary.com/)
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2680 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2680)
Guest Links
You can find Rye Barcott at With Honor: https://withhonor.org/ (https://withhonor.org/), learn more about his book at https://couragecansaveus.com/ (https://couragecansaveus.com/), and find the publisher page for Courage Can Save US at https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/courage-can-save-us-9798260200582/ (https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/courage-can-save-us-9798260200582/). LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryebarcott/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryebarcott/)
Learn More About Exiger
Learn more about Exiger's supply chain AI: https://www.exiger.com/ (https://www.exiger.com/)
25 Jun 2026
The Defense Tech Unicorn Tracking Biological Threats
CEO Matt McKnight joins Exiger Exchange to talk about the next frontier of national security: biology.
He is a Marine Corps veteran, and former CCO of the now publicly-traded Gingko Bioworks. Matt's new business is a unicorn called Perimeter, a company focused on defending against biological threats. In this episode, we discuss why biosecurity is starting to look a lot like cybersecurity did in the 1990s - an untapped market, misunderstood, and about to become essential.
Matt explains how advances in AI and bioengineering are changing the risk landscape, why governments and companies need “bio threat radar,” and how biological intelligence could become a critical input for supply chain resilience, public health, and national defense.
We also cover China’s biotech ambitions, the reshoring of critical medicine supply chains, and why the future of national security may depend on how quickly we can detect, attribute, and respond to biological risk.
11 Jun 2026
Geoeconomics: Where Policy Moves Markets
Exiger's Kit Conklin sits down with Josh Lipsky, Chair of International Economics at the Atlantic Council, to explore how geoeconomics is reshaping global markets, from sanctions and digital currencies to supply chains, tariffs, and the growing intersection of national security and economic policy.
26 May 2026
Supply Chain War with Chris Miller (NYT Best-Selling Author of Chip War)
Exiger's Kit Conklin catches up with Chris Miller (NYT best-selling author of Chip War) about the evolving landscape of AI, semiconductor supply chains, and US-China tech competition, highlighting security risks, policy challenges, and future trends.
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
13 ratings
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