{"id":6383,"date":"2026-10-16T09:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T09:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/inside-ausa-with-kevin-baron-anduril-and-palantir-mobbed-code-pink-crashes-hegseth\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T09:45:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T09:45:00","slug":"inside-ausa-with-kevin-baron-anduril-and-palantir-mobbed-code-pink-crashes-hegseth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/inside-ausa-with-kevin-baron-anduril-and-palantir-mobbed-code-pink-crashes-hegseth\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside AUSA with Kevin Baron. Anduril and Palantir mobbed. Code Pink crashes Hegseth."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm\/?e=\" width=\"100%\" height=\"210\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><b>The drone revolution is here. F1, Cadillac, and the sports-defense overlap. Plus: Friday Football Picks<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>Kevin Baron \u2014 founder of Elevation Global Strategies, former Defense One executive editor, and one of the sharpest national security minds in the business \u2014 joins Paul fresh off the AUSA conference in Washington. Forty thousand people. Seven hundred companies. Anduril and Palantir surrounded by throngs waiting for a meeting. Pete Hegseth on stage getting repeatedly disrupted by Code Pink protestors who registered their way in. And underneath all of it, a $1.5 trillion defense budget proposal, a drone revolution rewriting what a modern military even looks like, and private capital pouring into the sector at a pace Baron says he&#8217;s never witnessed before. This is the war economy the cable news cycle keeps missing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>From there, Paul and Kevin connect the dots most people don&#8217;t see: how Formula 1, NASCAR, and the global sports boom are now a live test track for American defense technology, why GM Defense brought a Cadillac F1 car to AUSA, and what Austin&#8217;s rise as a defense-innovation hub tells us about where the money and the talent are actually heading. They talk the Trump brothers&#8217; Florida ecosystem, the Neo Primes squeezing Lockheed and Boeing, the live sandboxes of Ukraine and Iran, and the dangerous short-termism baked into this moment. Plus Football Friday picks, Explosions in the Sky, and why the Washington Commanders is still a terrible name. If you want to understand the machine behind the headlines, this is the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/conversation.if\"><span>conversation<\/span><\/a><span>. If you want to know what\u2019s happening next in global security, this is your show.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-WATCH <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/wpgWvjq5a3A\"><span>full video of this episode here<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Check out <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.elevation-live.com\/\"><span>Elevation Live and everything Kevin works on<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Track the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/independentveteransofamerica.org\/polls\/\"><span>IVA candidates on our poll tracker<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/letvetsvote.org\/\"><span>See what we\u2019re doing to change that<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Visit <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/kalshi.com\/r\/INDEPENDENT\"><span>Kalshi and trade on anything<\/span><\/a><span>. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Head to <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/cozyearth.com\"><span>cozyearth.com<\/span><\/a><span> and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Join <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/noblemobile.com\/paul\"><span>Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus<\/span><\/a><span> when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Learn more about <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/americanveteransforukraine.org\/\"><span>American Veterans for Ukraine here<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Learn more about<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/theheadstrongproject.org\/\"><span> The Headstrong Project <\/span><\/a><span>for Veterans, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.taps.org\/\"><span>Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)<\/span><\/a><span>, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/health-care\/health-needs-conditions\/mental-health\/\"><span>Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area<\/span><\/a><span>. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It\u2019s a show of strength. <\/span><span>If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Connect with Independent Americans:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Subscribe on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@independentamericans\"><span>YouTube<\/span><\/a><span>, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0F1lzdRbTB0XYen8kyEqXe\"><span>Spotify<\/span><\/a><span>, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff\/id1457899667\"><span>Apple Podcasts<\/span><\/a><span>, and all podcast platforms<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Read more at<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/independentamericans.substack.com\"> <span>Substack<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>Support ad-free episodes at<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/independentamericans\"> <span>Patreon<\/span><\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Connect: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/IndependentAmericansUS\/\"><span>Instagram<\/span><\/a><span>\u00a0 \u2022 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/indy_americans\"><span>X\/Twitter<\/span><\/a><span> \u2022 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/indyamericans.bsky.social\"><span>BlueSky<\/span><\/a><span> \u2022 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IndependentAmericansUS\/\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PaulRieckhoff\"><span>X<\/span><\/a><span>, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/paulrieckhoff\/\"><span>Instagram<\/span><\/a><span>, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.threads.com\/@paulrieckhoff\"><span>Threads<\/span><\/a><span>, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/rieckhoff.bsky.social\"><span>Bluesky<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8211;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/independentamericans\/posts\"><span>Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community<\/span><\/a><span> of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8211;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/independentamericans.us\/merch\/\"><span>And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch<\/span><\/a><span> now in time for the new year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/righteous.us\/\"><span>Righteous Media<\/span><\/a><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And now part of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bleav.com\/shows\/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff\/\"><span>the BLEAV network<\/span><\/a><span>!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href=\"https:\/\/pcm.adswizz.com\">pcm.adswizz.com<\/a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kevin Baron \u2014 founder of Elevation Global Strategies, former Defense One executive editor, and one of the sharpest national security minds in the business \u2014 joins Paul fresh off the AUSA conference in Washington. Forty thousand people. Seven hundred companies. Anduril and Palantir surrounded by throngs waiting for a meeting. Pete Hegseth on stage getting repeatedly disrupted by Code Pink protestors who registered their way in. And underneath all of it, a $1.5 trillion defense budget proposal, a drone revolution rewriting what a modern military even looks like, and private capital pouring into the sector at a pace Baron says he&#8217;s never witnessed before. This is the war economy the cable news cycle keeps missing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-episodes","entry"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/author\/admin\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/category\/episodes\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Episodes<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Kevin Baron \u2014 founder of Elevation Global Strategies, former Defense One executive editor, and one of the sharpest national security minds in the business \u2014 joins Paul fresh off the AUSA conference in Washington. Forty thousand people. Seven hundred companies. Anduril and Palantir surrounded by throngs waiting for a meeting. Pete Hegseth on stage getting&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6383\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}