podcasts – Techin' Geek

Kate Knibbs: So, you went there twice?

Makena Kelly: Yes, Kate. I went there twice.

Kate Knibbs: I missed that detail.

Zoë Schiffer: Hold on, is the Pentagon Pizza thing a joke about the pizza foretelling the war?

Makena Kelly: Yep.

Zoë Schiffer: Oh, my gosh.

Makena Kelly: Because they had these Pentagon pizza trackers set up. When I returned the second night, most things were running. Some displays were still off, and I didn’t spot any real Bloomberg terminals. There were a few self-made monitors that looked like Bloomberg terminals, but there was no authentic $50,000 Bloomberg terminal around. The second night was again crowded with people eager to witness the event, though I did run into a couple of individuals who wagered on sites like Polymarket and Kalshi. One of them, William, claimed he was in the military but didn’t provide his full name. He began betting last year with all his tax refund on Oklahoma City sports wagering.

Makena Kelly, archival audio: So, you’ve used Kalshi?

William, archival audio: Yes.

Makena Kelly, archival audio: When did you first start using that service?

William, archival audio: Probably when I got my tax refund back.

Makena Kelly, archival audio: Got it.

William, archival audio: So, I filed my taxes early and thought, “Awesome, I got my tax refund. What should I do with it?” So, I chose to put it on Kalshi.

Makena Kelly: He noted he’s fluctuating by $100 but hasn’t scored any big wins. Unlike some tales of people making enormous insider bets and winning millions, he’s just in it for the enjoyment.

Brian Barrett: Kate, what’s your take on a pop-up like this and Polymarket’s intentions—is it a move to legitimize or just a promotional strategy? And how does it align with these companies’ rapid growth and their effort to attract a wide audience?

Kate Knibbs: This event clearly appears to be a strategic effort to appeal to journalists based in DC. One observation Makena made encapsulates the current situation—the individuals in the Palantir hoodies. The week this bar launched, Polymarket announced a collaboration with Palantir, who will assist them in ensuring the integrity of their sports market by identifying insider traders and market manipulators. I inquired with Polymarket last week if they had additional agreements with Palantir while investigating the Iran bets that are stirring up a lot of attention. They stated Palantir is only involved with sports, which seemed peculiar. It indicates how rapidly they’re growing, but in a chaotic, rushed manner that doesn’t seem coherent. If you’re engaging Palantir, why not use them for geopolitical issues instead of March Madness? Truly wild times.

A couple of weeks back, John Kiriakou got a call from his 16-year-old niece who said, “Uncle John, you’re blowing up on TikTok.” Kiriakou, a 61-year-old ex-CIA officer who was incarcerated in 2013 for disclosing classified information about the agency’s torture program in the Middle East, was unaware of what she meant. He doesn’t use TikTok and mainly relies on Facebook. Nevertheless, excerpts from a podcast Kiriakou recorded in January with Steven Bartlett, the host of the Diary of a CEO show that boasts over 15 million YouTube subscribers, were going viral without any input from him.

For almost two decades, Kiriakou has been pursuing a presidential pardon. From 1990 to 2004, he served as a CIA analyst and counterterrorism officer, leading a 2002 operation to capture Abu Zubaydah, a figure linked to al Qaeda’s training camps. The CIA subjected Zubaydah to waterboarding during his detention. Kiriakou later revealed the agency’s torture practices in a 2007 ABC News interview, after which he worked as a terrorism consultant. Five years later, the Justice Department indicted Kiriakou, who confessed to leaking the identity of a covert operative to the media, who was involved in CIA interrogations.

Even though Kiriakou completed his prison term by 2015, he is still seeking a presidential pardon to restore his reputation and recover years’ worth of pension contributions. “I served 20 years with pride at the federal level. My pension was $700,000,” Kiriakou explains. “Without that pension, I’ll have to work until the end of my days. It was unjust for them to take it from me, and I want it back. A pardon is the only way I can reclaim it.”

Lately, he has explored official avenues and engaged with President Donald Trump’s informal and pricey clemency market. Thus far, his efforts have not yielded results. Now, he’s adopted a different strategy, appearing on some of the same podcasts Trump frequented during the 2024 election cycle. Clips of his conversations with Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan, among others, continue to circulate, and the internet is reveling in it.

When Kiriakou joined Bartlett for the January podcast, it was a profound discussion regarding his CIA experiences, whistleblowing, and his nearly two-year incarceration. However, the anecdotes Kiriakou shares, such as gathering intelligence in nations like Pakistan or discussing the CIA’s MKUltra program, have garnered millions of views in “brainrot”-style edits across platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels.

“Catch you in two scrolls,” one commenter quipped on a clip featuring Kiriakou, humorously noting the abundance of his videos on their For You page.

A user known as @_bamboclat has been credited by Know Your Meme for popularizing these edited clips of Kiriakou recounting remarkable stories from his time abroad. These excerpts have racked up around 50 million views on the account.

“I first learned about him through podcasts on TikTok. I believe the reason everyone is drawn to him is that he’s an excellent storyteller,” says @_bamboclat, who chose not to disclose his real name. “He’s been sharing these tales for 20 years. The sped-up, slowed-down meme format of him is quite popular with Gen Z and the TikTok demographic.”

This virality has transformed Kiriakou into a cultural icon. In light of his newfound popularity, the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) signed him on. Cameo—the platform where users order customized videos from famous individuals—enlisted Kiriakou last month. He has produced over 700 videos for fans, priced at approximately $150 each. In one Cameo video, Kiriakou was requested to promote a woman’s nail salon. The clip is now being utilized to advertise the salon on TikTok.