S5E29: Dark Horizons: A Fictional Vision of America's Defeat – Ralph L. DeFalco III

Original Recording Date: 2026JUN01.

Audio editing by Stephanie Bosch.

Views and opinions of the participants are their own.

 

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Guest:

Ralph DeFalco - is a retired U.S. Navy Captain, former Pentagon intelligence professional, and distinguished graduate and faculty member of the U.S. Naval War College whose career has spanned five decades and five continents. Now a historian, writer, and national security expert, he is the author of The Counterfeit (released in April), a near-future novel imagining a Pacific war in which China defeats and bankrupts the United States.

 

Topics:

• Inside the Author’s Mind – A journey into the forces, obsessions, and experiences that shape a writer’s vision, and the truths hidden beneath the page.
• Where Fiction Meets Reality – Exploring how imagined worlds reflect tough realities, revealing deeper narratives that blur the line between what is and what could be.
• Warnings from the Future – Examining the real-world threats of today and following their darkest trajectories into tomorrow, where unchecked choices can reshape nations, societies, and lives.

 

References & Resources:

1. The Counterfeit: A Novel on Amazon: https://a.co/d/08HkeWdM
2. Ralph at the Law & Liberty online magazine: https://lawliberty.org/author/ralph-l-defalco-iii/
3. The Counterfeit on bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-counterfeit/0fce8c4d1d587850?ean=9781935448563&next=t