This is fascinating! Abigail Adams begins a letter to John Adams in Philadelphia that she won't finish until eight days later on March 10. Why? Because she is continually interrupted by bombing in nearby Boston, which unbeknownst to her is the beginning of the consequential taking of Dorchester Heights by the Colonial Army. She also talks about attacks on Adams' reputation, the trouble some friends get into defending him, and her thoughts on "Common Sense."
We get into the love/hate triangle between Anthropic, OpenAI, and the Pentagon and discuss the details of these contracts for AI weapon and surveillance systems, what’s actually at stake here with debates over the terms of “guardrails”, “red lines” and “lawful uses,” and how the competing (a)moral visions for AI and war that are represented in this debate really come down to a difference of opinion about technical capabilities at this current moment, not about the fundamental ethics and politics at play in weaponized AI. Plus, why this lovers spat between Anthropic and Pentagon must not trick you into labelling Dario Amodei as a righteous purveyor of resistance tech. Get real!
••• How Talks Between Anthropic and the Defense Dept. Fell Apart https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/technology/anthropic-defense-dept-openai-talks.html
••• Inside Anthropic’s Killer-Robot Dispute With the Pentagon https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/inside-anthropics-killer-robot-dispute-with-the-pentagon/686200/
••• The Adolescence of Technology https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/the-adolescence-of-technology
••• A Few Observations on AI Companies and Their Military Usage Policies https://sarahshoker.substack.com/p/a-few-observations-on-ai-companies
••• "All Lawful Use": Much More Than You Wanted To Know https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/all-lawful-use-much-more-than-you
••• Who loses from the Anthropic fight? Maybe Elon Musk and Alex Karp. https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/who-loses-from-the-anthropic-fight
••• AI vs. the pentagon https://jasmi.news/p/ai-pentagon
••• What Rights Do AI Companies Have in Government Contracts? https://jessicatillipman.com/what-rights-do-ai-companies-have-in-government-contracts/
Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)
The U.S. is in its third day of war with Iran, prompting inevitable warnings of another Iraq-style quagmire. But is that the right historical analogy? Long-time national security reporter Eli Lake (The Free Press) joins Mike to explain why this air-only regime decapitation strategy is completely unprecedented in modern warfare. They break down the dangerous math of missile defense, the race to secure Iran's nuclear material, and why this is Trump's ultimate foreign policy gamble.
Produced by Corey Wara
Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig
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It’s too early to know how long the U.S. and Israel war against Iran will last. One certainty? All-out war comes at a cost. Already, Qatar has cut natural gas production, bond yields and gas prices are up, and shipping firms are rerouting cargo. The extent of the economic impact, however, remains to be seen. In this episode, we break down how the conflict is already shaping the economy and what to expect if it continues.
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Trump’s actions in Iran have massive global impacts, but they also have serious legal implications. On this extra episode of Amicus, exclusive to our Plus members, Mark Joseph Stern is joined by military law expert Eugene Fidell, a visiting lecturer and senior research scholar at Yale Law School. Their conversation focuses on constitutional constraints, the role of Congress, and the principles of international law, and emphasizes the need for Congress to reclaim its war powers. While it seems like real consequences are unlikely for those responsible for flouting these laws, there are serious implications for American democracy. Fidell explains why he’s calling for impeachment as a response to these unconstitutional actions––even if such a move is very unlikely to succeed.
This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock weekly bonus episodes of Amicus—you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen.
U.S. Central Command says a total of 6 military members have died in Operation Epic Fury so far.
Secretary of State says a "more punishing" phase of the mission is yet to come.
House Oversight Committee releases video of depositions given by Former President Bill and Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regarding the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Regime change, nuclear weapons, terrorism …Why is the U.S. at war with Iran?
In the days since the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran, the Trump administration has given a wide range of reasons why the US is now at war. On Saturday, Trump seemed to indicate the U.S. and Israel were trying to clear the way for regime change. On Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the conflict in Iran was not about regime change. A couple of hours later in Trump's first public comments, not prerecorded on video, he listed four objectives. Regime change wasn't among them.
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This episode was produced by Lauren Hodges and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane.
It was edited by Andrew Sussman, Patrick Jarenwattananon and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
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The U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran continue. Meanwhile Iran is retaliating, firing missiles Israel, but also U.S. allies in the Gulf like Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and even air bases Cyprus, threatening to expand the conflict. And the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon entered the fight, launching its first attacks on Israel in more than a year.
We get an update on developments throughout the Middle East. And we hear the voices of people experiencing the war. In Iran, there are mixed emotions for some. In Israel, the familiar feeling of needing to rush to shelters as they are under Iranian missile fire.
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President Donald Trump says the US continues to carry out "large-scale combat operations" in Iran to eliminate threats posed by the Iranian regime. As explosions thunder across the Iranian capital, we'll hear from a journalist in Tehran.
Also on the programme: the conflict spreading into Lebanon and across the Gulf, and why one Trump-supporting American commentator believes this war of choice was a mistake.
(Photo: President Donald Trump attends a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House in Washington, DC. Credit: Reuters)
