We have all had a vague sense that our world is being manipulated, informed and fed by various conscious manipulation tactics - influence on political campaigns on social media, culture wars, class wars, etc. But we can glean out the facts and figure out who is telling what story if we embrace a new discipline - Narrative Intelligence.

Our guest this week is Joe Stradinger, Founder and CEO of EdgeTheory, who are out to understand and leverage the conversations that shape our world. Specifically, social media campaigns and presences. Think threat intelligence but at a global/sociopolitical level. Joe has been an investor, he has worked in DC, and he has a lot of academic ties as well. His knowledge in this space is immense, and we are tickled pink to have him here at the ‘Ranch.

We ask Joe:

• What are the goals of a robust threat intelligence program?
• What is narrative intelligence and why does it matter?
• Compare and contrast this to traditional threat intelligence?
• How do adversaries influence the narratives? Is this the realm of bots and deepfakes?
• Does narrative intelligence replace, complement, or improve on traditional approaches?
• How can narrative intelligence enable you to get in front of problems?

It's an excellent conversation, well worth a listen.

Y'all be good now!