Threats to U.S. Security: Aging Infrastructure, Fragile Systems, and Information Warfare with Dan O'Connor

Threats to U.S. Security: Aging Infrastructure, Fragile Systems, and Information Warfare with Dan O'Connor

The threats facing the United States' stability seem to be escalating daily - from aging electric grids and deteriorating infrastructure to rising information warfare from domestic and international sources. How are some of the leaders within our institutions approaching these risks to respond with resilience and strengthen our national security?

Today, Nate is joined by national and homeland security authority Dan O'Connor to discuss what he sees as the most pressing risks for the stability and resilience of the United States. Dan emphasizes the critical role of energy in shaping our societal structures and the need for adaptive resilience and personal responsibility in the face of systemic risks.

How is the interference from adversarial information warfare eroding public trust and national resilience? In what ways are cultural fragmentation and worsening health crises accelerating our economic and environmental challenges? And, perhaps most importantly, could the most effective solution to these large-scale systemic challenges lie in embracing personal responsibility and authentic leadership?

(Conversation recorded on February 5th, 2025)

About Dan O'Connor:

Dan O'Connor is a recognized national and homeland security authority with extensive experience in national and homeland security, law enforcement, exigent leadership, crisis management, emergency management, continuity of operations, and security/anti-terrorism.

He has consulted and produced operations for security and emergency management at various Olympic Games, and has been a consultant and key leader/facilitator for four of the largest marathons in the United States and a Super Bowl.

His contributions extend to Operation Allies Welcome, refugee resettlement efforts, and leading responses to over 1,200 federally declared disasters, showcasing his proficiency in operational excellence and crisis management. Recently, he was the only American selected to facilitate a NATO/Eastern European energy and crisis security exercise in Latvia and Lithuania, where his political acumen, vision, conception, and crisis leadership earned special recognition.

Show Notes and More

Watch this video episode on YouTube

Want to learn the broad overview of The Great Simplification in 30 minutes? Watch our Animated Movie.

---

Support The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future

Join our Substack newsletter

Join our Discord channel and connect with other listeners

Jaksot(358)

Technology and Wealth: The Straw, the Siphon, and the Sieve | Frankly 119

Technology and Wealth: The Straw, the Siphon, and the Sieve | Frankly 119

In this week's Frankly, Nate explores the relationship between technology and wealth when viewed through a global biophysical lens. He uses the visualization of a straw, siphon, and sieve to describe ...

16 Tammi 28min

Why the West Can't Defend Itself: How Material Scarcity Is Reshaping Global Power with Craig Tindale

Why the West Can't Defend Itself: How Material Scarcity Is Reshaping Global Power with Craig Tindale

For decades, the West has outsourced its own material production to other countries, in favor of lower costs and short-term returns over more expensive, long-duration investments like mining and manuf...

14 Tammi 1h 41min

The Things We Take for Granted | Frankly 118

The Things We Take for Granted | Frankly 118

In this week's Frankly, Nate shares reflections on what we take for granted in life at multiple scales: from personal health to meaningful work to relative ecological stability. The things that keep o...

9 Tammi 22min

How We've 'Drugified' Our Entire Existence: Dopamine & Addiction In the Digital Age with Anna Lembke

How We've 'Drugified' Our Entire Existence: Dopamine & Addiction In the Digital Age with Anna Lembke

Dopamine: the most famous neurotransmitter that regulates pleasure, motivation, and (perhaps most importantly) addiction. When examining  why our society is hooked on consuming more and more of everyt...

7 Tammi 1h 36min

Behavioral Thermodynamics Part 1: Beyond the 4th Law?

Behavioral Thermodynamics Part 1: Beyond the 4th Law?

In this week's Frankly, Nate takes thermodynamics out of the physics classroom, utilizing its principles to explain the invisible forces behind growth, competition, and complexity in our world. Compet...

19 Joulu 202530min

End of Year Reflections: Four Years of The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens

End of Year Reflections: Four Years of The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens

In this week's episode, Nate reflects on four years(!) of the podcast by answering listener-submitted questions, which cover a broad range of topics related to The Great Simplification. He invites sub...

17 Joulu 202527min

Sunk Cost and the Superorganism | Frankly 116

Sunk Cost and the Superorganism | Frankly 116

In this week's episode, Nate unpacks the pervasive behavioral pull of sunk cost as a force shaping our material reality, identities, and collective expectations about the future. Past investments – in...

12 Joulu 202523min

Fighting for a Livable Future: Exploring Frontier Climate Interventions with Kelly Erhart

Fighting for a Livable Future: Exploring Frontier Climate Interventions with Kelly Erhart

While current conversations about global heating tend to center around a few well-established pieces of science, we don't often hear about the scientists and leaders working at the frontier of what is...

10 Joulu 20251h 6min

Suosittua kategoriassa Tiede

rss-mita-tulisi-tietaa
rss-poliisin-mieli
rss-duodecim-lehti
tiedekulma-podcast
rss-lihavuudesta-podcast
utelias-mieli
docemilia
mielipaivakirja
radio-antro
rss-opeklubi
sotataidon-ytimessa
hippokrateen-vastaanotolla
rss-laakaripodi
rss-mental-race
rss-luontopodi-samuel-glassar-tutkii-luonnon-ihmeita
rss-sosiopodi