Podcast · 76 episodes
Hidden Forces
by Demetri Kofinas · English
Get the edge with Hidden Forces where media entrepreneur and financial analyst Demetri Kofinas gives you access to the people and ideas that matter, so you can build financial security and always stay ahead of the curve.
Latest episodes
Why the China Threat Is Overblown | Logan WrightLogan Wright argues China’s economic troubles are structural, driven by an unprecedented credit expansion and a property-market collapse—not cyclical policy mistakes.28 Sep 2026 · 56 min
How to Invest for A Hundred Years | Inigo Fraser JenkinsInvesting for multi-generational horizons (framed as a “100-year portfolio”) amid regime change, inflation risk, geopolitical/technological disruption, and shifting market correlations.24 Sep 2026 · 53 min
Will AI Really Kill Us All? | Harper Reed & John BorthwickWhether AI agents pose existential danger (“AI will kill us all”) versus more grounded risks from agent “escape” incidents, token economics, reinforcement-learning post-training, and media/power…21 Sep 2026 · 1 h 35 min
All episodes
Why the China Threat Is Overblown | Logan WrightLogan Wright argues China’s economic troubles are structural, driven by an unprecedented credit expansion and a property-market collapse—not cyclical policy mistakes.28 Sep 2026 · 56 min · 22 chapters
How to Invest for A Hundred Years | Inigo Fraser JenkinsInvesting for multi-generational horizons (framed as a “100-year portfolio”) amid regime change, inflation risk, geopolitical/technological disruption, and shifting market correlations.24 Sep 2026 · 53 min · 21 chapters
Will AI Really Kill Us All? | Harper Reed & John BorthwickWhether AI agents pose existential danger (“AI will kill us all”) versus more grounded risks from agent “escape” incidents, token economics, reinforcement-learning post-training, and media/power…21 Sep 2026 · 1 h 35 min · 34 chapters
The Great Financial Reset Has Begun | Marieke Flament & Nicolas ColinThe guests argue the world is entering the “initial phase of a great financial reset,” comparable to the 1970s shift after Nixon ended dollar-gold convertibility.14 Sep 2026 · 54 min · 23 chapters
Are Rumors of an Imminent Russian Attack Warranted? | Yaroslav TrofimovHidden Forces episode with Yaroslav Trofimov on whether rumors of an imminent Russian attack on NATO are credible, what form it could take, and how Ukraine’s internal politics, Western unity, and…7 Sep 2026 · 50 min · 24 chapters
Bessent's Wager and Why the World is Calling America's Bluff | Henry FarrellHenry Farrell argues the U.S. is “weaponizing interdependence,” turning financial, military, and internet infrastructure into coercive tools.31 Aug 2026 · 52 min · 17 chapters
The West's Forgotten War and the New Russia | Mark GaleottiRussia’s war in Ukraine analyzed as multiple simultaneous conflicts (kinetic attrition in Donbass; economic deep strikes on refineries/ports; political struggle shaping a new global order).17 Aug 2026 · 56 min · 26 chapters
The Internet Will Die and So Will You | John WestThe episode discusses John West’s book The Internet Will Die and So Will You, arguing the web is structurally ephemeral (link rot, content drift) and that modern platforms shift power from human…10 Aug 2026 · 1 h 2 min · 34 chapters
The AI Enshittification Bubble | Cory DoctorowCory Doctorow argues that the internet and now AI are “inshittifying” as competition, regulation, interoperability, and worker bargaining power are dismantled.3 Aug 2026 · 53 min · 18 chapters
How to Win a Trade War | Chad BownHow to win a trade war—whether modern trade conflicts are about economics or “war by other means,” and how policy should differ.27 Jul 2026 · 48 min · 18 chapters
SpaceX, Europe's China Problem, and the Populist Backlash | Patrick BoyleSpaceX’s IPO/index inclusion mechanics and what they imply about market integrity; how eroding trust empowers charismatic individuals and left-wing populist backlash; Europe’s growth headwinds…20 Jul 2026 · 53 min · 21 chapters
How America Built A Durable Dollar Empire | Mary BridgesHow the US built a durable dollar-centered financial empire (1898–1930s), starting after the Spanish-American War when the dollar lagged behind the British pound, and tracing how overseas bank…16 Jul 2026 · 48 min · 18 chapters
The Strong Do What They Can and Suffer What They Must | Jonathan KirshnerJonathan Kirshner critiques how Thucydides is misread to justify modern U.S. foreign policy.13 Jul 2026 · 1 h 14 min · 26 chapters
Iran's New Grand Strategy | Vali NasrVali Nasr argues Iran’s Islamic Republic is driven less by religious ideology than by national insecurity and historical grievance from centuries of foreign domination.9 Jul 2026 · 50 min · 18 chapters
Schrödinger's Strait and the New Energy Order | Daniel YerginHidden Forces interviews Pulitzer Prize-winning energy/geopolitics author Daniel Yergin on why energy disruptions tied to the Ukraine war and Iran/Strait of Hormuz crisis have been less catastrophic…2 Jul 2026 · 46 min · 21 chapters
After the Fall: Reckoning with the End of History | Ian ShapiroHow post–Cold War optimism (“end of history”) collapsed into today’s fractured, combative politics, driven by Western unilateralism and missed opportunities—especially NATO enlargement, the Iraq War,…29 Jun 2026 · 55 min · 17 chapters
AI Governance and the National Security State | Dean W. BallAI governance for frontier models, framed as part of the broader computing/industrial revolution; how to oversee AI without both laissez-faire abdication and heavy-handed regulation; risks to…25 Jun 2026 · 52 min · 14 chapters
Ending the Iran War: a New Balance of Power in the Middle East | Hamidreza AziziHidden Forces episode with Iranian foreign-policy expert Hamidreza Azizi analyzing “Operation Epic Fury” and the emerging US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that follows a ceasefire, plus…22 Jun 2026 · 55 min · 14 chapters
Why History Can't Prepare Us for What's Coming | Alap ShahHedge fund manager Alap Shah argues AI is a substituting (not enabling) technology that will compress the “supply curve for intelligence,” reducing demand for human cognitive labor and potentially…1 Jun 2026 · 54 min · 17 chapters
How Demographics Will Break the Bond Market | Manoj PradhanManoj Pradhan (with Charles Goodhart) argues that aging demographics will structurally push real interest rates higher, worsening developed-world government finances and forcing central banks toward…25 May 2026 · 1 h 4 min · 26 chapters
AI and the Collapse of State Power | Miles TaylorMiles Taylor argues AI will cause an “order of magnitude” shift in national security and governance, weakening centralized state power and accelerating consensus breakdown.18 May 2026 · 1 h 1 min · 21 chapters
God, AI, and the Coming Violence | Will ManidisWill Manitas argues that Western secular institutions have exhausted their ability to provide order and meaning, and that a new cycle of “divine faith and savage violence” is emerging alongside…11 May 2026 · 59 min · 23 chapters
How China Is Winning the Iran War | Jon AltermanJohn Alterman argues that Iran is “winning” the U.S.-Israel-Iran war by refusing to capitulate, exploiting conventional weakness with a “constellation” of tools (proxies, ballistic missiles, cheap…4 May 2026 · 50 min · 17 chapters
US Grand Strategy & the Revenge of Geopolitics | Edward LuceEdward Luce and Demetri Kofinas debate how US grand strategy has shifted from Cold War-era strategic debate to post–Cold War risk aversion and process-driven policymaking, and how that affects…20 Apr 2026 · 58 min · 18 chapters