Work With Me

History is the best intelligence. I help people see the forces that shape countries, markets, and crises before they reach the headlines.

I spent six years as an intelligence analyst, with time in the Air Force, Army Cyber Command, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the DoD Red Team at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Today I advise organizations on digital and geopolitical risk, from AI governance to the security of critical infrastructure. I also explain geopolitics to more than 250,000 followers on TikTok and YouTube. Whether I'm in a boardroom or on a stage, my work starts from one idea: if you want to know what a country, a competitor, or an adversary will do, map what it can't avoid before you guess what it wants.

Talks

I speak in person and virtually. Each talk can run as a 20-minute session, a 45-minute keynote, or a 60-minute keynote with Q&A.

Constraints Before Intentions: How an Intelligence Analyst Reads the World

Most analysis of countries, competitors, and crises starts with what the other side wants. Intelligence analysts learn to start with the geography, history, economics, and commitments that leave an actor fewer choices than it appears to have. In this talk, I walk through real cases, from a fly that still shapes politics in Central Africa to the war in Ukraine, and show why mapping constraints first produces better calls. It's the same method I use with companies to decide which risks to fix first, so your audience leaves with something they can apply to their own markets, competitors, and risks.

Already Inside: Nation-States, Critical Infrastructure, and the Companies in Between

For more than fifteen years, states have reached into each other's industrial systems, from Stuxnet's sabotage of Iran's nuclear program to the attacks on Ukraine's power grid. With Volt Typhoon, the goal shifted to quietly preparing for future conflict inside power, water, and communications networks, most of which private companies own. I explain how that pre-positioning works, why it matters to businesses that never thought of themselves as targets, and what leaders should ask their own teams.

Topics I speak on

• Nuclear deterrence and nuclear command and control

• Space, satellites, and counterspace

• Cyber operations against critical infrastructure

• AI governance and AI security

• How history shapes present-day conflicts

Briefings and Workshops

Private briefings. I lead closed-door sessions for leadership teams, boards, and investor groups that need to understand a specific region, threat, or decision in depth. Sessions run 60 to 90 minutes and are never recorded.

The Discipline of Doubt: Analytical Tradecraft for Decision-Makers. This half-day or full-day workshop teaches teams the methods intelligence analysts use to weigh evidence, challenge their own assumptions, and state uncertainty clearly.

Explainers and Partnerships

Explainers for institutions. I write and present explainer videos and short series for think tanks, foundations, associations, and companies that need a complicated subject made clear for a public audience. I can produce work for your channels or, where it fits my audience, publish it on mine with full disclosure.

YouTube partnerships. My long-form videos reach an audience that is mostly men, with the largest group aged 25 to 34, across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. I partner with a small number of brands each year whose products my audience would actually use. Every partnership is disclosed, and I keep editorial control.

Technical advisory for film, TV, and games. I advise writers, producers, and game studios on intelligence work, nuclear command and control, cyber operations, and geopolitics, so stories built on them ring true to people who have done the work. As a storyteller myself, I know how to keep accuracy from getting in the way of the story.

Keynotes, briefings, workshops, explainers, partnerships, and technical advisory for companies, associations, conferences, and studios are fee-based. Tell me your date, audience, and budget, and I'll reply with options that fit. I also keep a reduced rate for nonprofits, universities, and public-service audiences.

Invitations and Experiences

Some of the best work starts with an invitation instead of a contract. If you're offering a fellowship, a press trip, a site visit, or access to people and places that would help me explain the world more clearly, I want to hear about it, even if there's no budget. I'm most likely to say yes when the opportunity offers real access, keeps my editorial independence intact, and serves people who want to understand how the world works. I always disclose hosted travel to my audience, and I handle requests for sponsored posts as paid partnerships.

Media

I'm available for interviews and commentary on geopolitics, nuclear deterrence, space and counterspace, cyber operations, and AI security. Use the form below and choose "Media request" so I see it quickly.

Get in Touch

I read every inquiry myself and reply to every genuine one. You can also email booking@torinrussell.com.

Download: Speaker one-sheet (PDF)

Independence. No funder, sponsor, or host gets approval over what I say or publish, and I don't take sponsorship from an organization whose product or policy position is the subject of the same video. I disclose every sponsorship and hosted trip, on screen and out loud. I don't accept money from foreign governments, state-owned companies, or political parties.