Is AI the Most Pressing Issue of Our Time?

You Will Own Nothing: The Rise of Technocracy

Most people have never heard the word "technocracy" and yet it may be one of the most important forces shaping our lives. I asked Patrick Wood, the world's foremost living expert on technocracy, to give us a Technocracy 101 lesson. Patrick has spent five decades researching this topic, and after reading his latest book, The New Economics of Technocracy: You Will Own Nothing, I was pretty bowled over by the depth of what he's uncovered. Patrick takes us through the history of Technocracy, how the Trilateral Commission has advanced it, and how the Gaza Rebuild is a live test case for technocratic governance. We talk about how you can fight it by opposing data centers in your own community. It’s a huge topic that needs much more discussion than a single hour. Patrick’s excellent Substack and his books are great sources of additional information. Links are in the show notes. Find Patrick Wood: Patrick Wood’s Technocracy News on Substack [https://patrickwood.substack.com] Books by Patrick Wood: Technocracy News Website [http://www.Technocracy.news] On Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/s?k=patrick+wood+technocracy&crid=10S2JDC1TONPK&sprefix=pat%2Caps%2C377&ref=nb_sb_noss_2] Learn more about CrowdHealth: I recently stopped purchasing health insurance and opted into CrowdHealth instead. Check it out at JoinCrowdHealth.com [https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/?referral_code=JONI] If you join, use code JONI to get a discount on your first three months of membership. There are no enrollment periods, so you can join any time. If you are tired of supporting the broken, consumer-hostile system of health insurance, check out CrowdHealth [https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/?referral_code=JONI]. For the entire scoop on CrowdHealth, here’s the link [https://jonimcgary.substack.com/p/breaking-up-with-health-insurance] to my very informative interview with CrowdHealth CEO Andy Schoonover. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jonimcgary.substack.com [https://jonimcgary.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Trillion-Dollar Pandemic Agendas: Starving Basic Health for Inflated Biosecurity

I invited Professor Garrett Wallace Brown to discuss his work examining the data behind trillion-dollar global pandemic preparedness agendas and how those agendas are impacting the world’s poorest nations. The basic public health programs that save the most lives (malaria, tuberculosis, nutrition, sanitation, maternal health) are losing funding to biosecurity initiatives built on risk models that are grossly inflated and cost estimates that don’t add up. Garrett has spent more than 25 years in global health, often with a seat at the table where very high-level decisions are made. Through his work consulting for the WHO and World Bank, and as a principal investigator on REPPARE [https://brownstone.org/reppare/] (RE-evaluating the Pandemic Preparedness And REsponse Agenda), he has evaluated the source data being used to drive enormous pandemic budgets and found serious problems with how risk, severity, and cost have been calculated. He is also part of a team developing a blueprint for what an ideal global public health organization could look like through the International Health Reform Project [https://brownstone.org/ihrp/]. His full bio is in the show notes below. Garrett’s impartial and circumspect approach to the material brings much-needed clarity to a crucial and too often sensationalized discussion. We close out with some practical advice from Garrett on how to read and evaluate news headlines about viral outbreaks. I found it very useful. More information about Garrett Wallace Brown and where to find him: Bio: Garrett Wallace Brown is Chair of Global Health Policy at the University of Leeds, UK. He is Co-Lead of the Global Health Research Unit and research collaborator with the WHO on health emergency evidence and analytics. His research focuses on global health governance, health financing, health system strengthening, health equity, and estimating the costs and funding feasibility of pandemic preparedness and response. He has conducted policy and research collaborations in global health for over 25 years and has worked with NGOs, governments in Africa, the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the UK Cabinet Office, WHO, G7 and G20. University of Leeds Profile [https://www.leeds.ac.uk/online-courses/dir-record/profiles/22896/professor-garrett-wallace-brown] Latest Publications 2026: * From pathogens to policy: using network analysis to map the knowledge base on human–zoonotic disease dynamics underpinning global pandemic policy, Health Research and Policy and Systems (2026): 10.1186/s12961-025-01434-5 [http://10.0.4.162/s12961-025-01434-5] * Rethinking Global Health Reform After Covid-19: Legitimacy Before Authority, International Health Policies (2026): https://www.internationalhealthpolicies.org/featured-article/rethinking-global-health-reform-after-covid-19-legitimacy-before-authority/ [https://www.internationalhealthpolicies.org/featured-article/rethinking-global-health-reform-after-covid-19-legitimacy-before-authority/] * Closing the Deal? An Examination of the 2025 Report of the G20 High Level Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness and Response: REPPARE report [https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/274/closing-the-deal] (2026). * The Right to Health Sovereignty. Policy Report [https://internationalhealthreformpanel.org/reports/the-right-to-health-sovereignty-policy-report-april-2026]. International Health Reform Panel. 164 pages. * The Right to Health Sovereignty. Technical Report. [https://internationalhealthreformpanel.org/reports/the-right-to-health-sovereignty-technical-report-april-2026] International Health Reform Panel. 249 pages. Supporting Health Initiatives Report * Increasing African Government Membership on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, report commissioned by SHI in advance of the South African G20 Leaders Summit (2025). Report. [https://www.supportinghi.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/INCREASING-AFRICAN-MEMBERSHIP-GFATM-1.pdf] REPPARE Reports * ‘The cost of pandemic preparedness: An examination of costings and the financial requests in support of the pandemic prevention, preparedness and response agenda’ (2024): https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/234/the-cost-of-pandemic-preparedness-an-examination-of-costings-and-the-financial-requests-in-support-of-the-pandemic-prevention-preparedness-and-response-agenda [https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/234/the-cost-of-pandemic-preparedness-an-examination-of-costings-and-the-financial-requests-in-support-of-the-pandemic-prevention-preparedness-and-response-agenda] * Rational policy over panic: A report on zoonosis spill-over risk assessments in pandemic preparedness and response policy (2024): https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/228/rational-policy-over-panic [https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/download/228/rational-policy-over-panic] IHRP Reports (International Health Reform Project) * The Right to Health Sovereignty. Policy Report [https://internationalhealthreformpanel.org/reports/the-right-to-health-sovereignty-policy-report-april-2026]. International Health Reform Panel. 164 pages. * The Right to Health Sovereignty. Technical Report. [https://internationalhealthreformpanel.org/reports/the-right-to-health-sovereignty-technical-report-april-2026] International Health Reform Panel. 249 pages. Learn more about CrowdHealth: I recently stopped purchasing health insurance and opted into CrowdHealth instead. Check it out at JoinCrowdHealth.com [https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/?referral_code=JONI] If you join, use code JONI to get a discount on your first three months of membership. There are no enrollment periods, so you can join any time. If you are tired of supporting the broken, consumer-hostile system of health insurance, check out CrowdHealth [https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/?referral_code=JONI]. For the entire scoop on CrowdHealth, here’s the link [https://jonimcgary.substack.com/p/breaking-up-with-health-insurance] to my very informative interview with CrowdHealth CEO Andy Schoonover. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jonimcgary.substack.com [https://jonimcgary.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Dr. Meryl Nass on the Farm Crisis

My guest today is Dr. Meryl Nass, a physician, researcher, and one of the wisest voices I know on the forces shaping our health, our food supply, and our liberty. We dig into the American farming crisis and the government policies that have hurt rather than helped independent farmers, and that appear to be putting our national food security at genuine risk. Meryl explains how federal farm programs have been captured by agribusiness, leaving behind the 98% of farmers who are small operators. We cover the many pressures driving farms into unprofitability, including a stunning statistic: between 2017 and 2022, 20 million acres of harvested cropland went fallow and 142,000 farms — 8% of all American farms — went under. Meryl also gives an update on the Farm Bill that just passed the House. It’s mostly bad news, but there are a few silver linings worth knowing about. We then turn to the Ebola and Hantavirus outbreak headlines. Meryl gives her honest assessment of actual risk versus manufactured fear, and why she believes these stories may be serving a much larger agenda around WHO power and global health governance. We close with something I really needed to hear: how Meryl stays grounded, purposeful, and optimistic in the middle of all of this. I think you’ll find it as inspiring as I did. Find Dr. Meryl Nass On Substack: Meryl’s CHAOS Letter (Critical Health Analysis and OpinionS) [https://merylnass.substack.com/] Find Meryl on Children’s Health Defense: CHDTV [https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/shows/good-morning-chd/] (Dr. Nass is on every other Tuesday and the last Thursday of the month) New Hampshire Farm Bill: HB 396 [https://fastdemocracy.com/bill-search/nh/2026/bills/NHB00014985/] Learn more about CrowdHealth: I recently stopped purchasing health insurance and opted into CrowdHealthinstead. Check it out at JoinCrowdHealth.com [https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/?referral_code=JONI] If you join, use code JONI to get a discount on your first three months of membership. There are no enrollment periods, so you can join any time. If you are tired of supporting the broken, consumer-hostile system of health insurance, check out CrowdHealth [https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/?referral_code=JONI]. For the entire scoop on CrowdHealth, here’s the link [https://jonimcgary.substack.com/p/breaking-up-with-health-insurance] to my very informative interview with their CEO Andy Schoonover. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jonimcgary.substack.com [https://jonimcgary.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

3/11: Viral Takeover

I was honored and delighted to speak with independent investigative journalist Sonia Elijah about her remarkable book 3/11 Viral Takeover: On March 11, 2020, a Pandemic was Declared and Our World Changed Forever. Elijah has written something truly unusual — a book that is packed with sourced and well-documented facts yet reads like a real thriller. She painstakingly details the pandemic simulations that came before COVID, the suppression of the lab-leak theory, the censorship apparatus that was up and running just two weeks after the pandemic was declared. We talk about what happened, the treachery that went on behind the scenes, and how the Covid response laid the groundwork for censorship, digital surveillance, and control going forward. The systems remain in place to be built upon during the next crisis, whatever it might be. Everyone should have this historical record on their bookshelf. I really can’t recommend it enough. Find Sonia Elijah: Buy the book: 3/11 Viral Takeover [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQ47RQL5] (and get some copies for your friends!) Website: SoniaElijah.com [https://www.soniaelijah.com] On Substack: Sonia Elijah Investigates [https://substack.com/@soniaelijah?utm_source=global-search] On X: https://x.com/sonia_elijah [https://x.com/sonia_elijah] Learn more about CrowdHealth: I recently stopped purchasing health insurance and opted into CrowdHealthinstead. Check it out at JoinCrowdHealth.com [https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/?referral_code=JONI] If you join, use code JONI to get a discount on your first three months of membership. There are no enrollment periods, so you can join any time. If you are tired of supporting the broken, consumer-hostile system of health insurance, check out CrowdHealth [https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/?referral_code=JONI]. For the entire scoop on CrowdHealth, here’s the link [https://jonimcgary.substack.com/p/breaking-up-with-health-insurance] to my very informative interview with their CEO Andy Schoonover. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jonimcgary.substack.com [https://jonimcgary.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Is AI the Most Pressing Issue of Our Time?

I sat down with Dave Rollo, a long-time Bloomington city council member with a background in biology and policy, who has spent the last few years studying the risks of advanced AI. We talk about why AI poses an existential threat, not only to our society, but to our continued existence as a species. Dave breaks down why top experts are genuinely frightened, and why the rest of us should be too. Dave brought a resolution to the Bloomington City Council calling on officials at all levels of government to acknowledge these risks and impose a moratorium on artificial general intelligence development until there is certainty that the technology will align with human values and well-being. Right now, no such certainty exists. We discuss the challenges of slowing this development, what individuals can do to raise awareness, and why one of the most impactful actions right now may be opposing data centers in your own community. Dave illuminates the threats of this complex technology without jargon, making it accessible to anyone. By the end of this conversation, you may find yourself agreeing with Dave that this is the most pressing issue of our time. Find Dave: Dave welcomes further discussion on this issue. He can be contacted via the Bloomington City Council Website [https://bloomington.in.gov/council] Additional Resources: Websites: The Center for Humane Technology [https://www.humanetech.com] Pause AI [https://pauseai.info/learn] Recommended Reading: If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies [https://www.amazon.com/Anyone-Builds-Everyone-Dies-Superhuman/dp/0316595640] (NYT Bestseller) by Eliezer Yudkowsky and NateSoares. Podcasts: John Sherman For Humanity [https://theairisknetwork.substack.com/s/for-humanity-an-ai-risk-podcast] AI Risk Network Podcast [https://www.youtube.com/@TheAIRiskNetwork] Diary of a CEO Podcast Interviews with AI Experts: * Geoffrey Hinton [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giT0ytynSqg] * Stuart Russel [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7Y-fynYsgE] * Tristan Harris [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFU1OCkhBwo] * Karen Hao [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn8HBj8QAbk] * Roman Yampolskiy [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UclrVWafRAI] Tristan Harris interviewed by Chris Williamson [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NufB1LL_rCU] Eliezer Yudkowsky interviewed by Chris Williamson [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRvAt4H7d7E] Nate Soares (co-author of [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tjOzQne1LY]If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tjOzQne1LY]) interview with Nate Hagens [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tjOzQne1LY] Suggested Film: The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptomimist * Trailer [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkPbV3IRe4Y&t=3s] * Website [https://www.focusfeatures.com/the-ai-doc-or-how-i-became-an-apocaloptimist] Learn more about CrowdHealth: I recently stopped purchasing health insurance and opted into CrowdHealthinstead. Check it out at JoinCrowdHealth.com [https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/?referral_code=JONI] If you join, use code JONI to get a discount on your first three months of membership. There are no enrollment periods, so you can join any time. If you are tired of supporting the broken, consumer-hostile system of health insurance, check out CrowdHealth [https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/?referral_code=JONI]. For the entire scoop on CrowdHealth, here’s the link [https://jonimcgary.substack.com/p/breaking-up-with-health-insurance] to my very informative interview with their CEO Andy Schoonover. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jonimcgary.substack.com [https://jonimcgary.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]