WEBVTT - Does Russia Really Have "Superweapons"? 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:04.680 From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies. History is 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:09.080 riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.119 learn the stuff they don't want you to know. A 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:13.920 production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:28.840 Welcome back to the show. I Know I need to shave. 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:29.800 My name is Matt. 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.480 Now you look like a gorgeous adonis of a man. 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:36.640 They call me Ben. We're joined with our super producer 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:41.519 Max the freight train Williams because our compatriot, the Tennessee 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:44.720 Pal is on an adventure and will be returning soon. 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:48.800 Most importantly, you are you. You are here. That makes 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:53.480 this the stuff they don't want you to know. And look, 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:57.960 a lot of stuff is happening, folks. The Russian invasion 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:02.000 of Ukraine continues. It's been going on for years. 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:05.559 That whole thing I thought we'd moved on. No, I'm joking. 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:08.120 I'm obviously joking. Just doesn't seem like it's front page 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:11.360 news as much anymore with all the other invasions taking place. 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:14.600 Yeah, and that's a good point, because a lot of 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:19.120 Western media has slowly begun looking the other way, or 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:21.640 as you said, finding new stories, at least in the 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:26.920 United States. But amid all this chaos, we are returning 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:30.520 to a continual fascination of hours. It's one that dates 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:34.280 back to before the harrowing days of the earlier Cold War. 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:38.800 You see, in recent years, folks, Russia has made great 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:44.319 hay about the existence of new unparalleled toys, weapons of 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:49.680 mass destruction, weapons of war. So we clocked this a 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:53.919 few years back, and we're still asking is there any 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:59.040 sand to this? Does Russia really have? As Daddy V said, 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:00.960 new super weapons? 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:04.520 Are we talking like doomsday device material, the stuff of 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:05.480 bond villains? 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:09.320 Yeah, like specter level zar bamba stuff. 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:13.639 Well, it's mostly new missile systems, right, missile systems that 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:18.919 are designed to get past missile defense systems. Right, That's 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:21.960 mostly what it is. But there's all kinds of stealthy 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:25.160 boys in there, and all kinds of other new toys 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:26.040 we're going to talk about. 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:30.320 I'm excited about the submarines, for instance. Yeah. It's kind 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:33.600 of like a picture, at least the way Rush is 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:38.080 presenting it. Picture it like a fancy box of chocolates 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:41.200 hashtag no Forst. Gump or Gump if you want. But 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:44.160 remember the fancy boxes of chocolates where you open them 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:46.520 up and there'd be a little diagram of what kind 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:47.960 of chocolate each one. 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:53.080 Was a legend, the chocolate box legend, the chocolate box end, 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:56.480 legend of the chocolate box legend. Yeah, I think we're 0:02:56.520 --> 0:02:57.440 get my favorite lore. 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:02.600 So per Russian statements for several years now, the idea 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:07.160 is that they have a secret box of very dangerous chocolates, 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:11.320 most of which, to that earlier point, seem to be 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:17.280 new iterations on existing technology. Well, you always got to 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:21.200 wonder if the bear has more badgers in its bag. 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:23.079 So that's what we're getting into tonight. 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:25.560 We got a bear with a bag of badgers and 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:28.840 swinging it around willy and or nilly. This is scary stuff, y'all. 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:30.679 It takes a village. We'll be right back. 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:38.920 Here are the facts, you guys. We all know the 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:41.800 term paper tiger, right. Have you guys heard that one? 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:45.200 Yeah, it's like a little origami guy that you fold 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:47.400 up and you put on your windows sill. It keeps 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:47.920 you company. 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:52.640 There we go. It's also slaying, at least in English, 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:56.880 for a thing that appears to be very threatening but 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:02.280 maybe doesn't deliver in practice. Bark versus bite situation. 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:06.120 For sure, like like vaporware, but different and yeah, You 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:09.880 may have seen this trope played with a lot in 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:13.440 cinema where there will be a shadow of a giant, 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:17.039 terrifying looking thing coming towards you, but in fact it's 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:19.360 just a little toy or something, or it's a small 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:22.200 little critter, but it looks huge because of the placement 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:26.760 of the light in the shadow. Right, very similar concept 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:33.080 that can be played with here. The countries, countries all 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:36.000 the time, do all of them do this? 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:39.800 Just can get every There can be bad way, there 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:41.320 can only bad be? How does it go? 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:41.680 Sorry? 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:42.520 Please continue? 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:44.279 There can only bad be. 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:46.000 No, it's the thing Trump said, He said, there can 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:50.440 there it can only good happen. It can only ye ye, 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:53.160 well sorry, no, no, no, We'll keep it. It can 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:53.839 only bad be. 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:58.039 That's the opposite it happen. As a fan of Yoda 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:01.520 from the Star Wars universe, I agree with that syntax. 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:03.800 I mean, yeah, it's true. 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:04.080 Though. 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.479 I think we nailed the definition of paper tiger. And 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:14.040 it is a incredibly important point that every country spends 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:18.320 a lot of time thinking about its international posture. Right. 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:21.800 Every country wants to say, we're the ones who could 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:25.200 do this stuff. But you see, we're so cool that 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:27.800 we're not doing it. But we do have magic powers, 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:29.280 we're just not doing it. 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:33.839 Also, it feels like a bunch of folks gathered around 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:37.240 a bar and everybody's drinking, and everybody's pretty drunk, and 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:40.680 there are a couple of guys that will always be like, huh, 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:43.840 what we want some of this? You don't want some 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:44.080 of this? 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:47.520 You would have done this. I got the biggest knife. 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:50.279 Oh are you just I'm not going to show it 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:51.520 to you because we're at a bar. 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:54.919 No, you only saw this here. You only saw my 0:05:55.000 --> 0:06:00.000 regular knife, not my secret knife, my secret knie. 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:00.479 Yeah. 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:02.640 For a lot of we know this. For a lot 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:06.400 of modern history, folks, Russia was considered to have one 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:10.560 of the world's most powerful militaries operating on one of 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:13.600 the planet's most brutal environments. And I think we all 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:17.920 remember during the halcyon days of the Soviet Union, there 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:23.280 was this empire stretching across Eurasia, was increasingly influencing the 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:27.880 Middle East, North Africa, having a bit of a dalliance 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:29.560 in Southeast Asia. 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:33.200 I've seen it in pictures right, it represented, But I 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:37.720 don't remember a time when I viewed the Soviet Union 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:41.840 as this massive empire just because I never got I 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:44.159 guess I didn't have the cognitive ability to even think 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:46.120 about it as such when I was so young. It 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:49.200 is weird because I suppose my view of Russia and 0:06:49.240 --> 0:06:52.080 the USSR really hasn't changed that much. I just didn't, 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.919 you know, we didn't get that experience of looking at 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:59.280 the newspapers when you know USSR does so and so, 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:01.560 like being blazoned across the top. 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:02.039 Yeah. 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:06.160 So for earlier generations, right, like they're saying, the Cold 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:11.000 War was more of an ever present thing in the zeitgeist, right, 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:13.720 like the Cuban missile crisis and so on. 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:16.480 Yeah, yeah, yeah, And the. 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:20.560 Soviet Union had this well deserved reputation for doing what 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:24.400 we call throwing bodies at the problem in conflicts, right, 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:29.480 a vast number of people in their armed services. But 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:33.560 we can't forget the Soviet Union. Despite Cold War propaganda 0:07:33.560 --> 0:07:37.400 on both sides, the Soviet Union also heralded a great 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:43.120 many innovations that changed warfare and therefore the world at large. 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:47.440 Remember when we talked about the dead Hands system. That's 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:49.360 sup that supervillain bond level stuff. 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:51.640 There you go, that's still terrifying. Well, I mean it 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:55.160 has to be it's obviously right, especially the fact that 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:59.000 they're not the only country that then developed a similar 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:04.400 dead hands indrome syndrome. What is that? What is the 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.800 impostor hands alien hand syndrome? Is that the thing? 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:11.680 I believe that's correct? You like, let your hand fall 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:15.240 asleep and Jersey, where's that's just the stranger? 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:16.160 Okay, thank you. 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:20.240 The the impostor hand or whatever it's called syndrome is 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:25.600 a psychological condition where people believe that one or more 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:28.160 of their limbs are not part of them. 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:30.760 Yeah, it's like operating on its own or something like that. 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:33.640 But sorry, I'd start for that aside, just knowing that 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:36.640 multiple countries now have a system like the one that 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:41.800 the USSR developed, which is, if everybody dies in our country, 0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:44.640 the missile systems still function and will still strike you. 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:48.320 Right, Yeah, that's correct, and please do check out our 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:52.400 previous episode on that where we go we go deep 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:56.680 into what that thing is, how it may or may 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:59.760 not work, and whether it actually works today, which is 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:02.760 all the big question for the Russian military. I mean, 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:06.440 this civilization puts spot Nick into space, they put the 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:11.240 first known satellite in orbit. They put Uri Gagard into space, 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:15.679 and brought that poor Poorlika or like like y'a. 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:18.720 Without making it a spoiler, I'm just gonna say, there's 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:20.440 a thing that I've been enjoying a piece of media 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:23.679 where there is a plot point involving a fail safe 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:26.240 for the fail safe, where if there were mutually assured 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:29.560 destruction taking place, there is some sort of satellite mounted 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:34.040 e MP that would essentially shut out or knock out 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:38.680 all electrical devices on the entire planet, therefore preventing mutually 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:41.080 assured destruction where that to happen. And I thought that 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:42.760 was super cools. 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:44.760 Can we do that? 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:46.800 Yes, exactly. But I'm just saying I'm not gonna say 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:48.520 what show it was because it is a little bit 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:49.959 of a plot point. Don't want to be a spoiler, 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:51.360 but I thought it was a new thought experiment. 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:54.640 It is tune into season six of Community. 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:58.520 Exactly the movie, which I think is finally in the words, you. 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:01.080 Know, if that did work, though, I imagine all of the 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:05.160 nuclear reactors around the world for power, they would all 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:05.720 go offline. 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:08.240 Oh, it's a problem that's adressed in It's a problem 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:09.120 that's addressed in the show. 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:10.000 It really really is. 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:11.200 Oh yeah, oh big time yep. 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:15.520 And let's not forget things like the humble AK forty seven, 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:19.640 another Soviet innovation that is one of the planet's most 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:23.640 well known firearms and pretty affordable at this point due 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:24.880 to economy of scale. 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:28.720 The rifle that keeps on giving, huh, Like, so many 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:31.120 conflicts arout the world have been fueled by that weapon. 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:36.640 Actually, the AK forty seven has, in limited regions been 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.520 used as a form of currency in the past. That's 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:45.520 how ubiquitous this firearm has become. Scary stuff everybody. We 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:49.839 do know that the Soviet Union fell, right, it dissolved, 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:54.880 but Russia, the Federated States thereof soldiered on and this 0:10:55.040 --> 0:11:02.080 government was diplomatically is diplomatically put imperfect. But the world 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:05.839 at large, until just a few years ago, considered the 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:09.360 Russian army to be one of the absolute best on 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:13.280 the planet, second only to that of the United States. 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:17.920 So for decades, the rest of the world, especially the West, 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:22.880 especially NATO countries, all took great pains to avoid doing 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:26.160 what we call poking the bear too much or too often. 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:28.920 Right, And you know, the bear is also just as 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.520 perfect analogy for Russia are pretty bear like. 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:36.840 Just like the restaurant, but like what you mean there 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:41.520 is to avoid deliberate provocation, right, Or if Russia does 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:45.160 something that appears to be a little off, Let's say 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:49.120 NATO might consider Russia doing something that's a little that's 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:53.720 if the concept here is that NATO wouldn't come down 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:58.640 and do anything physical, you might have a resolution that says, hey, 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:01.559 we kind of don't we don't like that Russia did. 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:08.400 That, guys, But no, Olivia Newton John right, it's not 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:10.280 let's get physical just yet. 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:13.320 I mean exactly, it doesn't. I mean, it seems like 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:17.640 we're seeing so many aggressive tests of what NATO can 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:20.560 actually do these days, and it doesn't feel like it's 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:23.600 passing them very well. It feels like we're exposing just 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:27.320 how kind of again a matter of decorum something like 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:28.720 NATO actually is. 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:32.160 Yeah, you never know until the rubber hits the road 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:37.320 or the ICBMs hit the horizon. It's funny because going 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:40.320 back to that earlier analogy about people hanging out with 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:44.320 agro folks at a restaurant or a bar, NATO was 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:48.040 NATO is like a crowd of people also in the 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:53.120 same establishment, and they're whispering to each other. They're like, oh, no, 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:57.160 don't mess with secret knife guy. You know, he's trying 0:12:57.200 --> 0:13:00.480 to scoot over and call other seats at the don't 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:01.160 let him do it. 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:04.560 Somebody within the group stands up, I call for a 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:11.600 resolution that secret knife guy be scolded immediately and yeah, 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:13.640 and then someone leans. 0:13:13.360 --> 0:13:16.920 Back and they're like, secret knife guy, you got you 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:20.920 got a weird vibe. No, don't come over here, No, 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:22.520 just it's your ViBe's off. 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.679 Somebody stands up and like quietly just walks over to 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:27.560 secret knife guy and hands him a seat like a 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:32.520 little note. 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:31.720 And immediately knifed. 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:36.400 You're mad at you? Oh wait? Or are you mad 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:37.720 at us? Check? Yes or no? 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:39.079 That's it. 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:39.720 That's it. 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:43.520 And this isn't to completely crap on, you know, initiatives 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:47.840 like the United Nations, like NATO and like these these 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:52.480 treaty organizations and attempts to work together and be more 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:55.679 unified right as a planet with governing bodies and that 0:13:55.760 --> 0:13:57.840 kind of thing, because that is kind of the best 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:00.079 thing we've got going when it comes to cooperation and 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:04.559 seeing everybody as one species that's going through this whole 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:09.200 thing together. It's just in action. Maybe they're just not 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:12.560 as effective as we would hope they would be. Otherwise 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:16.920 we would right have the green revolution thing where pollution 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:20.000 is no longer even a concept on the planet. Would 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:22.160 have happened in the eighties. 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:25.840 Yeah, exactly. You know, if every, if everything that modern 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:31.280 civilization put on paper with noble intent ended up one 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:34.760 hundred percent being put into practice, the world would be 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:38.960 a much better place. Right. But the thing is, what 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:41.880 we're saying is like a lot of these agreements, they 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:44.600 don't have teeth and they don't have the same funding 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:48.600 that bad faith actors have. That's ultimately, I think our 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:49.720 point like, they don't have. 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:52.320 Teeth, but they lacking teeth they more than make up 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:54.280 for in gums too. 0:14:54.680 --> 0:15:01.200 They've got They've got gummy gummy words. And so let's 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:04.240 go back to Russia. We see here the ascension of 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:09.800 a guy named Vladimir Putin, the longtime effective ruler of 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:13.480 the new Russia. Please check out if you're having a 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:19.040 depressing time today when this episode publishes and you want 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:21.960 to have a little bit of a gallows chuckle, please 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:26.600 please please check out our classic episode on a weird 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:30.440 flex that Vladimir Putin did when he pushed through a 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:35.520 law that said any Russian president, whomever they may be, 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:40.680 is immune from any prosecution forever, no take. 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:44.920 Back seats as long as this stuff they did while president. Yeah, 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:46.880 I think I think. 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:48.840 That's an important caveat. Yeah, I think you're right. 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:51.640 Yeah, And it's the same one that we currently have 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:55.840 in this country. Any official duties, you're immune, baby. 0:15:56.520 --> 0:16:01.280 Yeah. It's weird because the findings OFIS and the language 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:07.480 of that Russian law are kind of similar. Far be 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:10.960 it for me to say people were plagiarizing or drinking 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:14.800 from the same inspirational well, but the language is kind 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:18.880 of similar to your point. I mean, I don't we know. 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:22.840 Putin never thought the Cold War ended, like pretty much 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:26.400 everybody else on the planet until quite recently, had a 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:31.280 very high opinion of Russia's military might. And you can 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:34.880 hie thee to YouTube for instance, or your favorite video 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:39.840 platform of choice, and you can see multiple instances where 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:44.200 the Russian government, led by Putin or Medgev, has been 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:49.120 showcasing missile defense systems, stuff like the SM three hundred 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:54.440 or big contingents of troops marching through, tanks rolling through 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:58.240 And these are massive parades, right, Who doesn't love a 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:02.320 massive parade? There our events, guys, I'm sorry, I'm laughing, 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:05.640 not to get political, but do you remember when our 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:08.640 administration tried to have one of those parades. 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:11.880 Do you guys remember that, Yeah, to celebrate the president 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:13.200 and his birthday. 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:15.760 Yeah, nothing new. 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:19.520 It was like a history of the military on display. 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:22.560 And there was a part of it that was interesting 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:27.320 to see the different the evolution, let's say, of the 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:31.359 weaponry and things like that were cool. Yeah, yeah, but 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:35.960 we didn't exactly, you know, roll through with the new 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:38.080 versions of the B two bomber or the stuff that 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:41.280 DARPA was working on, or the new stealth aircraft, or 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:47.200 we didn't do any of that, you know, and then 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:50.000 you see what what happened. It's twenty eighteen, right when 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:53.320 the big announcement occurs where Weimer putin is like, hey 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:58.399 we've got these super baby yes, right, yeah, that was 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:01.120 years ago. And then when we have one of these things, 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:04.359 it's just it didn't seem that impressive unfortunately. And I 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:07.320 don't mean, I don't mean to downplay the work of 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:09.520 any of the you know, military personnel or people who 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:12.720 are involved in the actual parade part. It's just it 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:15.200 didn't have that same thing like here's all our here's 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:19.080 all our ICBMs right that you know China would do maybe. 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:21.960 Right, we didn't show the whole chocolate box. Going back 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:24.560 to that earlier in comparison, we said, here's some of 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:27.840 our good, old fashioned chocolate, and then we really want it. 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:31.119 And the world was saying, I know, beat me here 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:34.040 freight training. The world was saying, I know those motherers 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:37.399 have a gob stopper somewhere. They're just not putting it 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:40.000 out in the public. I mean, because we all know 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:45.240 that world powers are not content to stick with old 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:50.760 conventional goodies. Old conventional warfare. Research in Russia was a 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:53.359 huge leader in this. That during the days of the 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:59.080 Soviet Union and now they pioneered these bold, strange experiments 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:06.560 into unconventional and asymmetric initiatives, things like more exotic weaponry. Notably, 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:10.720 there's some of the best at propaganda and information compromise. 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:15.600 This had huge impact in foreign countries, including the United States. 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:20.960 It resulted in favorable policies for Russia abroad, and in 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:26.200 some cases it resulted in outright vassal states and regime change. 0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:31.120 I mean, good luck voting in Moldova or Belarus. Honestly, 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:34.320 be careful, actually, if you're there, if you're listening now, 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:35.280 be careful. 0:19:36.040 --> 0:19:40.240 Oh yeah, really quickly. I'm just thinking about this as 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:44.440 you were talking. There have been when we think about 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:47.880 new weapons and militaries trying to stay on the cutting edge, right, 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:50.760 we often think about it being because they want a 0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:55.040 technological advantage over any opponent and he perceived opponent who's 0:19:55.040 --> 0:19:59.080 at that bar, right, they want the bigger knife or 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:03.160 the faster realistic missile or whatever. There's this other thing 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:06.199 that exists for every other country, and that is the 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:11.359 intertwining of that military sector, the official government sector, but 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:15.720 then the private sector that's actually manufacturing most of those weapons. 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:18.639 Even in Russia and anywhere in the country, there are 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:23.080 private sectors corporations that are involved with all this stuff 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:26.879 that need those sweet sweet quarterly profits in order to 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:31.600 stay afloat. And you can't not keep that in your 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:34.760 mind while you're thinking about this stuff, because it's way 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:37.600 more complicated than just a country wanting to be the 0:20:37.680 --> 0:20:38.440 most powerful. 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:41.439 There are a lot of calculations that go into it, 0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:44.560 and some of them the public will never see unless 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:49.119 things go disastrously wrong for one actor or another. I 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:55.840 mean again, folks, the Putin administration has never considered the 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:59.800 Cold War over. In their opinion, stuff still isn't sweet. 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:06.040 And in recent years Russia has been in practice attempting 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:10.040 to resurrect the Soviet Empire of old. We're talking about 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:15.840 coordinated series of campaigns, especially in its former sphere of influence, 0:21:15.960 --> 0:21:22.600 rigging elections, touching politicians, turning nearby nations into puppet states. 0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:26.679 A most notable example of this attempt to resurrect the 0:21:26.720 --> 0:21:31.119 Soviet Empire is the invasion of Ukraine, which began so 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:36.400 long ago now, February twenty fourth, twenty twenty two. It's 0:21:36.560 --> 0:21:40.560 been going on for years at this point, and it 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:44.440 doesn't really show any signs of stopping unless I'm missing something. 0:21:45.680 --> 0:21:49.960 No, not at all. We saw the Ukrainian president putting 0:21:50.040 --> 0:21:53.360 out public statements about how worried he is that the 0:21:53.359 --> 0:21:58.080 Iran conflict is going to so overshadow what's occurring in Ukraine, 0:21:58.320 --> 0:22:01.400 that his country is going to lose all support from 0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:03.560 the West, which is you know, all of Europe, the 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:07.440 United States, that all these folks that have been providing 0:22:07.440 --> 0:22:10.879 aid to Ukraine. It's that thing we talked about the 0:22:10.880 --> 0:22:13.400 top of the show, right, So much stuff going on, 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:17.399 the public interest kind of just moves away for a while, 0:22:17.440 --> 0:22:19.560 and now it's well, how do we get aid to 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:22.800 another country, right, or how do we protect a different 0:22:22.840 --> 0:22:23.600 group of people. 0:22:24.119 --> 0:22:25.720 It's a lot of that flooding the zone stuff where 0:22:25.720 --> 0:22:27.919 we can literally hold so many things in our minds 0:22:27.960 --> 0:22:30.399 at one time. And whether it's by design or just 0:22:30.440 --> 0:22:33.520 the nature of events stacking upon events, I think we 0:22:33.560 --> 0:22:36.000 all kind of think it might be partially by design, 0:22:36.200 --> 0:22:37.640 but yeah, it's a lot. 0:22:38.680 --> 0:22:44.400 Yeah, And we know that even leading up to the 0:22:44.480 --> 0:22:50.000 current conflict in Ukraine, there were known economic strains, sanctions, 0:22:50.160 --> 0:22:56.440 a lot of corruption and maintenance issues throughout the Russian infrastructure, 0:22:56.640 --> 0:23:00.200 military and civilian alike. So there was already a great 0:23:00.320 --> 0:23:05.240 deal of festering skepticism about whether Russia was a real 0:23:05.320 --> 0:23:10.080 tiger militarily or a paper tiger. But a lot of 0:23:10.080 --> 0:23:15.120 folks still, despite the skepticism leading up to twenty twenty two, 0:23:15.840 --> 0:23:21.200 they believe that Russia's foray into Ukraine unilateral and rationalized 0:23:21.200 --> 0:23:25.480 by several different announcements. They thought this conflict, this invasion, 0:23:25.640 --> 0:23:29.320 would be swift and decisive, and they said, in less 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:32.960 the West intervenes, the Russian army is going to roll 0:23:33.000 --> 0:23:38.080 through Ukraine like lightning. The locals are outnumbered, outmatched, out gunned. 0:23:38.640 --> 0:23:43.200 But this was not the case, like Russia's army really 0:23:43.359 --> 0:23:47.720 fumbled the bag. The military had all these has these 0:23:47.760 --> 0:23:53.480 serious issues that impede its performance. Supply chains breakdown, inadequate training, 0:23:53.640 --> 0:23:58.680 bad opsec, outdated equipment. They're running out of munitions. I mean, 0:23:59.040 --> 0:24:02.560 for Pete's sake, they had to conscript some soldiers from 0:24:02.680 --> 0:24:08.720