UnderSimplified

About UnderSimplified

The Under Simplified Podcast is on a mission to have deep conversations about the most crucial and consequential issues facing society. We will do this by way of myriad topics like technology, philosophy, health, history, and science, all at the crossroads of culture, society, the present and our future. We will take great risks to have provoking and meaningful discussions that push listeners beyond their comfort zones and to new heights of understanding, empathy, moderatism, skepticism and optimism. We will do all this in the hope of improving our collective ability to talk to each other, instead of past each other. At the heart of so many of our global (and local) challenges are difficult discussions often with people with whom we disagree. Our mission will be to have these conversations while also demonstrating that they can be constructive. We will dig deep to uncover the truth of a matter…as truth almost never rests on the surface, and by doing so we hope to show that truth is findable, despite an era of superficial news cycles and the echo chambers of YouTube. UnderSimplified’s host, Aaron Brown, will use his career in the CIA, as an Army Ranger, and deputy sheriff, and now as an entrepreneur and technologist, to engage deep thinkers and experts across pivotal issues of our time. Using this platform, Aaron will challenge these guests to join him in raising the quality of our collective conversation. And, if we are lucky, maybe we’ll find an easier path to travel together. UnderSimplifed is a fully bootstrapped operation, with the entire team donating time and services. Though a longshot, we’d love to run this podcast solely on support from our listeners, either through Patreon subscriptions or one-time donations. Please consider supporting us and this very necessary mission. Support options found at: https://www.undersimplified.org/ (link below).

Publisher

Aaron Brown

Category

government · society & culture · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

31 Jul 2022

Latest episode

21 Dec 2023

Latest episodes

11 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   21 Dec 2023

   Battlefield 2040–A conversation at the Army War College.

   Episode 9: We speak with six students at the Army's War College. A handful of colonels, lieutenant colonels, and one civilian. We talk about the future of warfare, what war will look like in 2040, and how the United States Army is preparing for that future. We get a chance to hear from a group of War College students while they're in the midst of finishing their year-end research project and thinking about how they will return to their commands and put to use some of the thought and res...

2. 

   30 Nov 2023

   Mike Vickers–Green Beret, CIA Legend, Cold Warrior's Warrior, DoD Intel Czar, and (Future?) Director of CIA.

   Episode 8 -- Dr. Michael Vickers is a former Green Beret, CIA operations officer, and national security policymaker with a remarkable 40+ year career. Mike talks about his early career, including being part of the Grenada invasion force as a CIA trainee, taking down the Soviets in Afghanistan, and provides great analysis and assessment of operations and policy decisions, connecting his experiences to conflicts that the U.S. faces today. Among many roles in his career, Vickers served under Pre...

3. 

   25 Nov 2023

   Digital God–Superintelligence, OpenAI, Sam Altman, and what if it's already here?

   Episode 7, Imagine waking up today to discover an entity among us that's 10 times smarter than any human. What would change immediately? Everything.In this episode of the UnderSimplified Podcast, we delve into Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). How close are we to achieving this groundbreaking technology? If you think you know, or think you understand what will happen when we do, think again.Recent events involving Sam Altman and the OpenAI board shed some light on this question. As OpenA...

4. 

   9 Nov 2023

   Dave Marlowe—Case Officer, Leader, Boat Builder, and Deputy Director of CIA for Operations

   Episode six is with former CIA Deputy Director of Operations (DDO) Dave Marlowe. At the time of this recording, Dave had just given up the DDO reins and was preparing to retire after 32 years at CIA. During his career, which began in the Army during the Cold War, Dave served in some of CIA's most important roles including as the CIA Assistant Director for the Near East Mission Center, Chief of Station Kabul, Chief of one of CIA's largest Stations in Europe, and across positions in...

5. 

   29 Jun 2023

   Jasper Jeffers—Leader, Disruptor, Soldier, and Special Operations Commander

   Episode five is with General Jasper Jeffers. General Jeffers has served in the Army for 27 years, and he served more than half that time in Special Operations, both as an Army Ranger and multiple times as a Special Operations Commander. He spent the better part of his 27 years deployed to combat zones and austere environments. His final combat tour was as the senior Special Operations commander in Syria, during a period of enormous success for Special Operations. He now serves as the Deputy D...

6. 

   14 Nov 2022

   Trailer: UnderSimplified Podcast

   The Under Simplified Podcast is on a mission to have deep conversations about the most crucial and consequential issues facing society. We will do this by way of myriad topics like technology, philosophy, health, history, and science, all at the crossroads of culture, society, the present and our future. We will take great risks to have provoking and meaningful discussions that push listeners beyond their comfort zones and to new heights of understanding, empathy, moderatism, skepticism and o...

7. 

   14 Nov 2022

   Toomas Ilves -- Former President of Estonia, Old School Technologist, Pensioner

   Episode four is with Toomas Ilves, the former President of Estonia. Toomas is a statesman, foreign policy expert, and a technologist long before the term existed. He brought the internet into Estonian elementary schools before the internet arrived to some U.S. cities. Toomas is like a visitor from a parallel universe where elected leaders are technocratic, effective, and wise. During his time as an elected official, Toomas successfully followed through on his promise to get Estonia into...

8. 

   3 Nov 2022

   Annie Jacobsen -- Bestselling Author, Pulitzer Prize Finalist, and Storyteller

   In episode three we speak with bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen. Annie is the author of 6 books (listed below) and has a 7th on the way. She is an expert on many areas of the intelligence community and the U.S. national security apparatus. In this episode Annie and Aaron discuss aliens and UFOs, new war-fighting technologies, China's surveillance state, biometrics, and whether CIA has an assassination program. Annie on Twitter: @AnnieJacobs...

9. 

   31 Oct 2022

   Michele Flournoy -- Former DoD Undersecretary, Leader, Foreign Policy Expert, Innovator and Optimist

   Episode two is with the former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Michele Flournoy. At the time Michele was Defense Undersecretary, she was the most senior woman to ever serve in the DoD, and she was on both President Obama and President Biden’s shortlist for Secretary of Defense. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy is effectively the #3 position in DoD and this incumbent attends the deputies committee meetings of the National Security Council–these are the meetings that develop almost ev...

10. 

    10 Sept 2022

    John Sipher -- CIA Officer, Hollywood Movie Producer, Twitter Guru, and Radical Centrist

    ****Ways to support this podcast****Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/undersimplifiedVenmo: @UnderSimplifiedPayPal: paypal.me/UnderSimplifiedGoFundMe: https://gofund.me/3d1b01b4UnderSimplified Home: https://www.undersimplified.org/John Sipher is a senior CIA officer who retired after 28 years, serving many times as a CIA Chief of Station across the world and as the head of CIA’s Russia Operations. As a co-founder of Spycraft Entertainment he now works closely with Hollywood to advise on spy mo...

11. 

    31 Jul 2022

    Introduction

    In this introductory episode CIA Operations Officer, Army Ranger, deputy sheriff, technologist, and entrepreneur Aaron Brown will tell you all about some of the amazing conversations we are about to have; the challenges and mysteries we hope to investigate; the new technologies that are changing the world; and, most of all, introduce you to some extraordinarily interesting people. Come join us.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

182 ratings

Contact UnderSimplified

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.