We talk with retired Navy Rear Admiral Mike Studeman about his book “Might of the Chain: Forging Leaders of Iron Integrity about why trust in leaders in the public and private sector has sunk to all-time lows and his formula for restoring and keeping that trust.Drawing on his naval experience (and heritage) Studeman explains how every person in an organization must pull their share of the load – because one weak link may sink the enterprise.The book has great value for sailors and non-sailors alike, giving readers insights on how to harden their own leadership mettle.

Jack Downey was an up and coming young Yale student. When he graduated in 1951, like a surprising number of his fellow Elis, he signed up to work for the CIA looking to serve and for adventure. A little more than a year later, during the Korean War, he found himself on a transport airplane attempting an “agent extraction” over China. The plane was shot down and Downey spent the next 21 years in captivity – the longest serving prisoner in an undeclared war in U.S. history. But his story does not end with his release in 1972. Downey went to law school, married a Chinese-American classmate and became a juvenile court judge in Connecticut. We will talk with author Barry Werth whose new book: Prisoner of Lies: Jack Downey’s Cold War has just been published. After listening to the podcast: check out The Cipher Brief’s review of the book.

Julia Davis joins us to discuss her new book: “In Their Own Words: How Russian Propagandists Reveal Putin’s Intentions.” Davis regularly monitors Russian state TV and posts videos and writes columns providing translations and context about some of the crazy things are being fed to Russian viewers. We talk with her about the odd collection of TV hosts, commentators and pundits who over the past several years have spun wild tales regarding the Kremlin’s intentions regarding Ukraine, paranoia over NATO, musing about possible Russian intervention in U.S. elections and amazingly – why nuclear war might be a good thing. Davis’ motto on X is “I watch Russian state TV so you don’t have to.” We ask her what she has learned from her immersion in that swamp.