The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.16 Why People Are Freaking Out About Pokimane, Bridgerton Sex Scene Controversy & Ukraine's New Problem

Episode Date: May 16, 2024

Visit  https://www.cozyearth.com/defranco and use my code DEFRANCO to get 35% off your purchase! Sign up to try Grammarly for FREE using my link https://grammarly.com/defranco05 ==== ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩- – 00:00 - Woman Wishes “Good Luck!” to Man She Allegedly Paid to Murder Ex-Husband 03:56 - MrBeast Empire Grows, Pokimane Canceled, & Bridgerton’s Steamy Scenes 06:46 - Assasin’s Creed’s Black Protagonist Causes Fan Uproar 08:42 - Sponsored by CozyEarth 09:39 - State of Emergency Declared in New Caledonia 12:09 - Gov. Noem Banned From 20% of SD After Most Tribes Block Her From Land 15:10 - Biden Announces New Tariffs on Chinese EVs and Other Goods  17:31 - Sponsored by Grammarly 18:46 - Ukraine’s Weapons Are Changing the History of Warfare ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Jared Paolino Associate Producer on Ukraine: Chris Tolve ———————————— #DeFranco #Pokimane #Bridgerton ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup, you beautiful bastards. We have a lot of wild stuff to talk about today. So I'm just gonna hit you with the chimp and we're gonna dive into it. This is a new show. You know that cute thing where you have like an important meeting or an interview or something coming up

and your partner puts an encouraging note in your lunch? Well, as it turns out, people also do that with checks to their hitmen. Because what I'm talking about right here is this crazy case of a Florida mom of two who allegedly plotted to murder her ex-husband for years. A woman who this week could be seen smiling and winking as she entered the courtroom to ask the judge to be released on bond. One of the wild details that has come out is that she and her current husband wrote good luck on a check written to the hitman that they allegedly hired to

carry out her ex-husband's murder in 2022. So this monster is Shanna Gardner. She is currently charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony, and child endangerment. Or to put it more simply, the chief allegation against her is that she and her current husband, a man by the name of Mario Fernandez, paid someone else $150,000 to kill her ex-husband, a Microsoft exec by the name of Jared Breidegen. While Gardner's trial hasn't actually yet started, this bond hearing today was very notable because it really brought a lot of clarity to what exactly the case is that the prosecutors have. So let me explain how we got here. One day in February of 2022, Breidegen dropped off their twins at his ex-wife and her husband's house. And

then on his way home, he came across a tire in the middle of a secluded road. The man getting shot multiple times as he apparently attempted to move the tire out of the way. All while his then two-year-old daughter, one of two children that he had with his new wife, was in the back seat. With this poor little girl telling police that she heard a boom boom and her daddy was sick after a shooting, according to a detective's testimony this week. And at the time, officials said that it was a miracle that the girl herself wasn't hit by the gunfire. But in any case, given the circumstances of Bridegan's murder, police quickly suspect that he had been lured to his death, calling it a targeted killing. And as the months passed with no official word from the investigation,

the mystery behind this brazen execution of a Microsoft boss gained national attention. And with this, there was a lot of speculation swirling around Shanna Gardner. And a lot of that had to do with messy details of their divorce. Reportedly, their relationship ended after Bright again found emails

implying that his wife was having an affair with her CrossFit trainer. And court filings relating to the divorce reveal arguments ranging from where to send the kids to school to accusations of mental and financial manipulation. And then, last year, a man by the name of Henry Tennant was arrested on a slew of charges all directly related to the murder of Breitigin. And notably there, Tennant lived in a house once owned by Gardner's current

husband, Mario Fernandez. With us eventually seeing Tennant pleading guilty to pulling the trigger and agreeing to testify against the other suspects. And so with that, it wasn't long before Mario Fernandez was arrested in connection with the murder. And finally, in August, Gardner herself was arrested and charged in what officials described as the cold, calculated, and premeditated murder of her ex-husband. What we're learning today is that she was actually looking for someone to make this guy disappear for a long, long time. With the detective actually describing Gardner's and her husband's multi-year process of coming up with scenarios and plans to kill Bright again. For example, they revealed text messages between Gardner and a friend saying things like,

I would happily watch them give him the lethal injection. We'll be dancing in the streets when he's gone. It gives me such great pleasure imagining slitting his throat. Like all of it just ringing like really bad, evil NPC dialogue. And while Gardner's attorney argued that, you know, this is just a woman who is engaging in hyperbole, it becomes very important to note that along with the throat-slitting message, she also said, I'm not even joking, I want him gone. Stupid and crazy is such a scary combination.

But besides that, the text messages also showed that Gardner had told her friend that her husband had been stalking Bride again, following him to learn his habits with the intention of killing him. Additionally, the detective testified that the friend had reached out to contacts on Gardner's behalf, asking if they could do magic or find a guy who does a permanent disappearing act. And multiple people came forward to say that they had been solicited by Gardner to kill Bride again. But that finally brings us back to the check.

Because Tennant reportedly told detectives that a $5,000 check, which read good luck in the memo line, was the first of many payments that were disguised as an investment into his company, but they were actually a payment for the homicide. So all in all, with everything that we've seen so far, the case against Gardner seems pretty damning, but we are far away from a verdict. So while the legal system figures this out, I will pass this on to the court of public opinion. What are your

thoughts here? And then in quickie entertainment slash entertainer news, we've got a few things to talk about, starting with the fact that Ticketmaster might be sweating right now. And that because the house just passed the Ticket Act, which would force sellers to list the full cost of a ticket up front, including fees. The bill would also rein in speculative tickets, secondary sellers and force sellers to refund tickets when events are canceled. Though notably, it still has to make its way through the Senate, and then it would have to get signed by Biden. Then we're still seeing the Mr. Beast empire growing.

I'm just recently announcing that he's doing a collab meal with Zaxby's, which starts today. But among other things, the meal coming with a Feastables bar. And so the inclusion of his chocolate is kind of a tweak on a model that we've seen working. Right, Dunkin' Donuts has partnered with the likes of Charli D'Amelio. Likes of McDonald's has worked

with more traditional celebrities like Cardi B and Offset, BTS, and Travis Scott. With the Travis Scott one probably being the most interesting because he actually did a clothing drop connected to it. But for MrBeast and Zaxby's, this is reportedly part of a year-long partnership. We're also seeing streamer and creator Pokimane getting some backlash.

Seemingly, because she posted this TikTok on her birthday. Looks like someone gifted her a massive bouquet of flowers, but then, oh, it's dollar bills. People condemning it, saying that it's dystopian, that it was giving them let-them-eat-cake vibes. With notably it appearing like a number of people wanted to include her in Blockout 2024, or that online movement that's encouraging people

to block celebrities and influencers who've stayed silent or not shared resources regarding Palestine. But the thing about people going after Pokimane here is they really seem to accidentally be bolstering the argument that for a number of people, this is less about actually getting support and more about canceling people. Because if you look into it,

she has actually spoken on the topic and has even encouraged people to donate to families in Gaza through a group called Operation Olive Branch. And then finally, for this quickie section, we have Nicola Coughlin. She's an actress you might recognize for a number of projects, but her biggest is Bridgerton, with a new season actually just coming out today, and it specifically follows her character. Right now, she's getting a lot of attention for giving a big fuck you to body shamers, because Bridgerton's become quite known for its sex scenes, which get talked about every time a new season drops. And right now, Nicola's getting a lot of attention

for being unapologetic about hers. Telling Stylist, I specifically asked for certain lines and moments to be included. There's one scene where I'm very naked on camera, and that was my idea, my choice. It just felt like the biggest fuck you to all the conversation surrounding my body.

It was amazingly empowering. I felt beautiful in the moment, and I thought, when I'm 80, I wanna look back on this and remember how fucking hot I look. And all of this is very notable, because for a long time, she's dealt with unwelcome comments about her weight. And it's something that she's vocally tried to push back against. For example, writing a piece for The Guardian back in 2018, saying, judge her for her

work, not her body. And that, after critics would bring up her weight while reviewing her work. And in a since-deleted Instagram post from 2022, she explained that whatever the comments about her body are, they're just unnecessary. And you know, with this, you have a lot of people praising her for this sort of fuck you approach right now. And personally, I fucking love this for her because while I try to, you know, embrace body neutrality, it's more about what my body can do and how it feels rather than just how it looks.

Everyone deserves to feel comfortable in their skin to love themselves. And I don't know, just in the age of social media, it feels harder than ever to do it. And I can't even imagine being a woman in the spotlight. And then we got video game drama to talk about. And because it's video game drama, you know, everyone's being really cool and hearing each other out, not being crazy. Yeah, definitely don't search this on social media to try to prove me wrong. But all of this starts with Ubisoft releasing the trailer for Assassin's Creed Shadows.

The franchise this time going to feudal Japan, and the main two characters are Naoe and Yasuke. And immediately, that seemed to piss off a lot of people. Primarily because one was a Japanese woman and one was a black man. With a ton of people pointing like they just saw a ghost and crying, WOKE! People saying things like, Ubisoft goes to Japan and instead of telling a unique story about Japanese people, a Japanese woman and one was a black man. With a ton of people pointing like they just saw a ghost and crying, woke! People saying things like Ubisoft goes to Japan and instead of telling a unique story about Japanese people, it has to be DEI'd up.

Good Lord, I won't buy this game. And after waiting, what, 15 plus years for an Assassin's Creed in Japan and we get to play as a black dude or Japanese woman only? No thanks, woke garbage. Or with some suggesting it just doesn't make historical or cultural sense to have a black protagonist. But also a key thing is you have a ton of people pushing back, noting

that Yasuke was an actual real person. So this is based on Japanese history. With Smithsonian Magazine explaining that he was the first black samurai and the first foreign-born warrior to enter samurai ranks. While some details about his life are unclear or some have questioned his rank, most outlets refer to him as a samurai, which is why you've seen people defending the choice to make him the lead character. Arguing that both him and Naoya's leads is actually the best route they could have done. Having a native perspective on the time period and an outsider who had to assimilate to that culture, that could be a very interesting story. And this is you had a number of people saying, you know, some of the backlash, not all

of it, it's just simply racist. And others arguing for the people that are upset that they wanted a Japanese lead, they have one. Ryosuke isn't the only character. But ultimately, we'll have to wait and see, you know, does this impact sales or anything like that? Well, of course, I'd love to know everyone's opinions. If you are a fan of this franchise, what are your thoughts on this recent scandal? Personally, I'm interested to see how the game turns out. But also, like, I was a bigger fan of the earlier part of the franchise. And I don't think I've actually finished an Assassin's Creed game since Odyssey.

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Thank you, you're welcome, and happy sleeping. And then, big international news. We've got to talk about a few things, but it first starts with an update. Because yesterday we covered the assassination attempt of Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fica. And the good news today is that he is reportedly in stable condition. Though the bad news is that his wounds

are still considered to be extremely serious. So while things are looking up, doctors and ministers don't wanna make it seem like he's out of the woods yet. And from there, we still don't know clear motives or anything, and authorities have only announced that the attacker has been charged with attempted murder. But as we learn more, we'll update from there. But then in other big international news,

we got to talk about France. Because a tiny island out in the Pacific is making massive headlines right now after days of riots have left five dead and hundreds injured. And the place that we're talking about is the French territory of New Caledonia. We're seeing locals there fighting against a bill in Paris that would heavily expand who can vote on the island, which, you know, sounds discriminatory, but the devil's in the details. For those who don't know, New Caledonia has a vibrant and active separatist movement, although it's never been the majority, and they've lost multiple independence referendums over the decades. However, one thing that they've managed to do is block anyone who has come after 1998 from being able to vote. So over the past 26 years or so, that's resulted in

nearly one-fifth of the island's adult citizens not being able to vote, a situation that the French government in Paris has called absurd. So on Tuesday, they adopted a law that would make French citizens who have lived on the island for at least 10 years able to vote in provincial elections. However, a sizable chunk of the native Kanak people worry that this is going to further dilute

their representation on their home island and kill any chances of independence ever, which has led to riots. But also with this, it should be mentioned that the biggest pro-independence party has actually denounced the riots and called for calm. But instead, these events have been organized by the Field Action Coordination Cell, which is also now in the sights of French officials who have declared a state of emergency and even banned TikTok on the island.

And these riots aren't a joke either, with locals saying things like, the truth is that at night you can't even try to go out, and Caledonia will have a hard time recovering from this crisis. Riots have also led to France sending tons of security forces there, and also led to more than just property damage. You know, so far three Canucks have died, a 22 year old police official was shot in the head while talking to protesters. There was also another death of a French security officer due to an accidental shooting while getting ready to deploy.

But also these riots, they're not too surprising as New Caledonia kind of was a powder keg. You know, beyond anger about this voting law, New Caledonia used to have a thriving nickel industry, which is now on the rocks. With that leading to like 20% of the population living below the poverty line. So there's a lot of simmering anger and frustration. Internationally, there have been calls for calm with the prime minister of Vanuatu saying,

these events could have been avoided if the French government had listened. But this is the French government says they're open to discussions and want both pro and anti-independence leaders to meet in Paris soon. But also at the same time, they're making some pretty big accusations like Azerbaijan is influencing the protests. So the interior minister provided no evidence for that claim and Azerbaijan has denied it. And then, so South Dakota Governor Christie Nome just got banned from roughly 20% of her state. And no, this is not connected to people worried that she was going to come to their house and shoot their dog. Instead, it's actually because seven of the state's nine tribes have banished her from their land, with an eighth also recommending but not yet implementing the same decision. And a key thing here is that this united effort,

it comes after Noam has repeatedly alleged that tribes in the state have ties to drug cartels. Because we saw her back in January delivering a speech where she said that she would send resources to Texas to deter migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and claimed that cartels had infiltrated reservations in her state. What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? that cartels had infiltrated reservations in her estate. Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Make no mistake, the cartels have a presence on several of South Dakota's tribal reservations.

Murders are being committed by cartel members on the Pine Ridge Reservation and in Rapid City, and a gang called the Ghost Dancers are affiliated with these cartels. They have been successful in recruiting tribal members to join their criminal activity. And on the other side of the state, there is documented evidence of cartel activities on the Sisseton Wapiton Reservation and others. When Noam was asked, hey, can you back up those claims? Her office could only point to one cartel-related homicide on the Pine Ridge Reservation eight years ago and refused to provide any proof for any recent murders or any connections to the Ghost Dancers. With tribal leaders saying they've never heard of this gang and banishing Noam from their lands.

But that's not where it ended because a few months later, she took it even further while speaking at a town hall event, claiming with zero evidence that tribal leaders were benefiting from drug cartels while also questioning their commitment to their children, implying the tribal leaders were more interested in profiting off a cartel crime and busy just targeting her politically, the poor victim, than improving the lives of their children. And again, when asked to just provide a shred of proof that tribal leaders were profiting from cartels, the governor's office just told reporters

that drug cartel presence on Native American reservations has been documented in the news. So after that, you had three other tribes banning Nome, with many requesting that she apologize for her remarks. But instead, she just continued to double down even more, repeatedly claiming that cartels are responsible for a range of crimes on reservations and calling for tribal leaders to banish them instead of her. At one point, she even went as far as to argue the tribes banishing her

was proof that they were tied to or benefiting from cartels. And those comments have just continued in recent weeks. And so, you know, we've seen the tribes prohibiting her from entering the lands, many tribal leaders condemning her remarks, some outright denying that cartels have a presence on reservations or accusing her or blowing the situation way out of proportion. And that's also been echoed by experts as well, with a judge who served for Native American tribes in the state telling NPR that he hasn't seen cartel activity in the cases that he's covered, saying, I honestly don't know of any. I have never run across any allegations of cartel involvement, although there is normal drug use and sales you

see in the rest of South Dakota. But also some tribal leaders have said that this isn't about just her cartel remarks. This is a long time coming, arguing that she's actually long been anti-tribe. And this move comes after years of harmful policies and actions with outlets pointing to brewing tensions over COVID-19 checkpoints on reservations, state sales tax proposals, and the Dakota Access Pipeline. And while some have argued that she's kind of just auditioning to be Trump's VP, you also have some arguing that, yes, it's for political benefit, just not that one. Saying, I'm sure that Governor Noem doesn't mind a focus on tensions

with the Native Americans in South Dakota, because if we're not talking about that, we're talking about her shooting the dog. And then, we're seeing the U.S.-China trade war heating up right now. And that's in part because this week, President Biden announced new tariffs on electric vehicles, chips, and other goods from China. With this news coming as the administration has for months accused China of unfair trade practices

by flooding markets with goods at artificially low prices. Or with the argument being that this is the effect of putting US manufacturing at a disadvantage. And also with that, another key point being that Chinese industries are heavily subsidized by the government, meaning that they can overproduce without worrying about a profit. And on top of that, another argument being made is that many products made in China, they're just not subject to the

same environmental standards as American companies, which would give the country what some have referred to as an unfair advantage. When you make tactics like these, you're not competing. It's not competition, it's cheating. And we've seen damage here in America. And so as far as specifics, the changes notably include the tariff on electric vehicles from China being increased from 25 to 100%, with those on semiconductors being increased from 25 to 50%. And in addition to those,

we'll also be seeing substantial increases on tariffs on lithium ion batteries, solar cells, steel and aluminum products, and some medical supplies. Unsurprisingly with this, China has pushed back strongly against the higher tariffs, with for example, Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, saying it will harm the world's green economic transition

and climate action. And going on to claim that these are against a consensus that was reached last November by Biden and Xi. And you know, to that point, it is true that this is something of a reversal for Biden. He once fiercely criticized Trump's tariffs on China, but now he's seemingly building on them. And actually with that,

Trump commented on the tariff increases. While outside the courtroom on the 17th day of his hush money election interference trial saying, where have you been for the last three and a half years? They should have done it a long time ago. And adding they have to do it on a lot of other products. So with that, there are considerable differences between Trump and Biden's approach to the trade war.

If you look back, Trump routinely raised tariffs on Chinese goods during his four years in office. Trump also now proposing a 60% or more tariff on all Chinese imports and warning that the U.S. auto industry will face a bloodbath if he loses his election in November. And in fact, he's actually called for an indiscriminate 10% tariff across all imports. But there, Biden argues that Trump's across-the-board tariffs, they would raise prices for American consumers. With others saying that Biden's looking to increase production and jobs in a specific group of emerging high-tech industries, including the electric vehicles industry.

With that, the US has now also hinted at the possibility of imposing additional penalties on Chinese makers of electric vehicles if they move their production to Mexico, right, in an effort to get around these new tariffs. But in the meantime, we're gonna have to wait to see what this does, both internationally and for American jobs, the economy, and inflation.

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your writing a boost today. And then, you know, even after Speaker Mike Johnson broke the deadlock in Congress and Biden authorized $61 billion in aid to Ukraine back in April, there is a question of, is the U.S. doing enough? For the U.S. is setting things like artillery shells, anti-air missiles, armored vehicles. But also what many reports didn't mention at the time was almost none of what we're talking about is actually going to reach Ukrainian soil anytime soon. More than 23 billions meant to replenish U.S. military stocks that were depleted because they went to Ukraine. Then over 11 billions going towards current U.S. military operations in the region, around 10 billions going to Ukraine in the form of a loan, not weapons, and then as far as the cash meant to buy arms directly for Ukraine,

it's going to trickle out slowly. So in April, the Pentagon funneled 6 billion to U.S. contractors to manufacture new equipment, which will take months, if not years, with it immediately releasing only about a billion dollars worth of existing stockpiles to Ukraine so far. So while Ukrainians celebrated the new influx of aid, it may be too little too late to reverse the course of the war. I mean, since October, when U.S. assistance ran dry, Ukraine has lost over 200 square miles of eastern territory to Russian forces. And now you have experts unsure whether Kyiv will be able to retake the initiative. But with everyone so focused on the question of whether U.S. aid would keep flowing for the past several months, the question of how helpful that aid's

actually been has gotten a lot less attention. So for this story, what we're talking about today, I want to take a look at some of the ways that we Americans have sorely disappointed our friends in Ukraine. Starting with a device that's brought about what some call a technological revolution in modern warfare, drones. The conflict in Ukraine is the first war to feature small drones as a central part of the battlefield. I don't mean the big winged kind that fly at 30,000 feet and fire missiles at targets on the ground. Rather, I'm talking about the small commercial kind that drop off your Amazon package or take cool YouTube videos. Because those things, they cost a fraction of an artillery shell. They can be mass produced and they are extremely effective at what they do. People can just strap a bomb to one of these things, fly it into a tank, a truck, a group of

soldiers. They don't even know what hit them. Potentially knock it out a several million dollar piece of armor with something that's literally held together by duct tape. Around the middle of the war, these little bastards were giving Putin the ass whooping that he deserves. With the Russian offensive in winter of 2022, 2023, stalling after drones helped shred columns of tanks and armored vehicles. Or in other cases, surveillance drones pinpointed targets for rockets and artillery. And then in the summer, that pattern flipped. With the Ukrainian counteroffensive stalling because every time they gathered more than a few tanks and infantry fighting vehicles together, Russian surveillance drones spotted them and called in the artillery, chopper fire, and attack drones, causing enemy forces to disperse

into smaller units. And so with all this, some observers have concluded that this new technology alters the traditional logic of warfare. The way conventional fighting usually works is that both sides confront each other on the battlefield. They set up their fortifications and they try to push the other back. But if neither one can get the upper hand, they basically sit still, and they look for opportunities to make a breakthrough. Right, that being when one side quickly concentrates its forces at one point on the front before the other can react, then punching through, forcing the enemy to retreat. But now, with surveillance drones buzzing around everywhere, feeding real-time intelligence on enemy troop movements back to headquarters, it has become much harder to hide

large concentrations of soldiers from the enemy. And once they spot you, it's only a matter of minutes before the missiles, artillery, or kamikaze drones come flying in. So amassing the forces necessary to create a breakthrough on the front, it's challenging in a way that it's never been before. Which also may be one reason why both sides have struggled to make rapid territorial gains in Ukraine. And it's certainly a big reason why Ukraine withdrew US M1 Abrams tanks from the front lines recently. I mean, these $10 million tanks, 31 of which the US sent to Ukraine, either have to find a new purpose or just admit that they were a waste of money. But each side has also tried to

outmaneuver the other with countermeasures that render their technology useless. Right, most notably they target the enemy's drones with jammers, scrambling certain radio frequencies that either leave the drone operator blind or make the drone fly off course. But then, you know, the drone operators, they respond by switching frequencies, prompting the jammers to follow suit, and so it becomes this endless game of cat and mouse. Also, there's a technology that can trace a drone signal back to its pilot, exposing their location, which is naturally followed up

by a barrage of artillery fire on that spot. We have the operators responding to that threat by using signal repeaters, where basically a device that works kind of like a VPN. It obscures the original source of the directions being sent to the drone. Also with this, AI-operated drones could theoretically solve both problems, or because they just fly and select targets themselves, no pilots or operators required.

Though that also gets us into that thorny debate about the ethics of completely AI-driven killing machines that have no human oversight. But the point that we're touching on here is that half the battle, that's getting a technological advantage over your opponent, which is why it's so important that the technology America sends to Ukraine actually serves their needs. And so far, we're not doing great there. Pretty much everyone, from former U.S. defense officials to Ukrainian commanders to drone company employees, are telling the Wall Street Journal that American drones tend to be expensive, glitchy, and hard to repair. Adding that they're fragile and unable to overcome Russian jamming and GPS blackout technology.

And at times, they can't take off, complete missions, or return home. And they often fail to fly the distances advertised or carry substantial payloads. And this is some American and Ukrainian officials say that legal restrictions on drone parts and testing make U.S. companies too slow to respond to the changing battlefield needs. Which is especially bad for drone battles that sometimes require daily updates and upgrades. And so with Western help largely a big flop, Ukrainians turned to China for tens of thousands of cheaper off-the-shelf drones instead. Which for each one can cost tens of thousands of dollars less than their American competitors. I mean, you have workers and factories soldering together components and then mounting them onto carbon fiber frames for no more than $350. And according to the journal, Ukrainian forces are

burning through about 10,000 drones a month like this, which they definitely could not afford if they had to buy them from the United States. But also, while we talk about this, I don't want to overstate how transformative this tech is. Even if the traditional model of forcing breakthroughs at that front is less viable now, there are ways to adapt with different strategies. With one analyst arguing in Foreign Policy that Ukrainian commanders have found success using so-called bite-and-hold infiltration tactics, where infantry supported by artillery fire makes smaller incremental gains. So for example, armored personnel carriers ferry small groups of soldiers to the front lines and then push forward one tree line after another. Also, there are ways to evade detection from drones, like going underground, as well as taking

advantage of the terrain, time of day, and weather conditions to stay hidden, which is something that the Ukrainians have done, conducting most of their assaults under cover of darkness. Sure, infrared cameras can nullify that tactic, but they cost more, and so there's less of them leaving blind spots. But nevertheless, it is undeniable that drones have changed the face of modern warfare. And one thing that they've done besides blow up fancy equipment is show how important information is. Because when you've got thousands of drones buzzing around, taking videos of everything, you need a way to bring all that data together and create a single coherent picture. And that is where Project Maven comes in. And this US military software is one of the most successful

examples of what the Pentagon now calls algorithmic warfare. With Ukrainian commanders feeding not just drone videos, but also commercial satellite imagery, geolocation data, and information taken from Twitter, Instagram, and Telegram channels into it. Then the algorithm sifts through all of that, connecting the dots and doing work that would have traditionally taken

hundreds of intelligence analysts to accomplish. And finally, it predicts where troops are moving and where attacks might happen, spitting up potential targets for commanders to choose from. But also, of note, as amazing as all that sounds, you have the New York Times reporting that its effectiveness so far has been mixed. Because while the flow of data

did help Ukraine target Russian artillery, field commanders say that the initial hope that soldiers in the trenches would access that data in real time using phones or tablets, it's never really been realized. So unsurprisingly, US and NATO officials are recording everything that we've talked about this far in a series of lessons learned studies.

And not just to better help Ukraine, but also to prepare for potential future conflicts with Russia or China. Because this is the first time a lot of Western equipment has actually been tested on the battlefield against another modern industrialized military. Because the United States hasn't fought a war like the one Ukraine's embroiled in since Korea in the early 1950s. And since then, its battlefield experience has primarily been against weaker guerrilla forces in places like Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, or places where fancy expensive weapon systems are more feasible because they don't have to worry

about countermeasures from comparable adversaries. Or so you have the director of a foundation that raises money to provide Ukrainian units with equipment telling the journal, "'A lot of Western armor doesn't work here "'because it had been created not for an all-out war, "'but for conflicts of low or medium intensity. "'If you throw it into a mass offensive, "'it just doesn't work here because it had been created not for an all-out war, but for conflicts of low or medium intensity. If you throw it into a mass offensive, it just doesn't perform. So he says that the military should focus on making larger quantities of cheaper, simpler systems. Kind of

like what the Allies did in World War II, mass-producing American Sherman tanks and Soviet T-34s. Those were much weaker than German Tiger and Panther tanks, but there were far more of them and they were easier to repair in the field. But today in Ukraine, while that World War era quantity over quality rule is arguably still true, the epic tank on tank battles of old are extremely rare now because of drones. And that striking mixture of old and new, that's why a former Pentagon official once referred to Ukraine as World War I with 21st century weapons. You've got trenches and minefields, drones and AI all on the same battlefield. But as the Times points out, the old stuff like basic weapons, ammunition and artillery, they're just as if not more important for winning the war than the new toys.

So that's why I really want to clarify and hit that even as disappointing as much of the Western aid has been, it is still a total game changer for Ukraine. And the latest package approved in April could rescue their defenses, which gives us all the more reason to study our mistakes and improve. And by us, I actually mean the Pentagon, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, and pretty much all the assholes that I'm usually criticizing. Because yeah, I mean, that's actually how the world is run. Information, death, and money. But that is the end of your Thursday, evening, Friday morning dive into the news. But don't worry, because of course, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces, and I'll see you right back here on Monday.