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Anand Gopal – No Good Men Among the Living

    Global Dispatches | 02 July 2015 | 0h 42m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify

    Interview with Anand Gopal about his book No Good Men Among the Living. Offers a unique perspective on the US intervention in Afghanistan by profiling individuals, both civilian and Taliban, in Khas Uruzgan. Describes his unconventional approach, living remotely and learning the language, revealed complexities often missed by journalists. Highlights how US troop presence destabilised regions, enabling local warlords to exploit them against rivals, contributing to the Taliban’s resurgence. Exposes how many detainees at Guantanamo Bay were innocent victims of these dynamics. Recounts his journey from science to journalism, driven by a desire to understand the conflict beyond mainstream narratives.

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    Ishmael Beah – A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

      The Jordan Harbinger Show | 8 February 2022 | 1h 33m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
      Interview with Ishmael Beah about his 2007 book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. Discusses his experiences during the Sierra Leone civil war: what the volatility of life in a warzone is really like from the perspective of a child; how desperation drives human beings to rationalize committing any number of atrocities to survive; why trusting old neighbors, friends, and even family in the midst of a civil war can arouse suspicion and cost you your life; the choice for all too many children in an area embroiled in armed conflict: accept recruitment into one of the factions as a soldier, or be killed before someone else can recruit you; and how rap music saved his life.

      I was prompted to look for this episode after remembering how much I liked this book.

      Andrew Fox – Tactical Lessons from Gaza

        EconTalk | 9 February 2026 | 1h 08m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
        Interview with Andrew Fox about his Henry Jackson Society paper Tactical Lessons from Gaza. Discusses the challenges of reporting and understanding the war amid the challenges of disinformation, why the IDF had few tactical alternatives to destroying infrastructure and buildings in the Gaza Strip, the claims that Israel deliberately targeted Gazan children and wielded starvation as a weapon, and explains why he believes that Israel succeeded in achieving its strategic war goals. Considers implications for UK military planning.

        Steve Coll on The Achilles Trap

          Reader’s Corner | 12 July 2025 | 0h 31m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
          Interview with Steve Coll about his book The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the CIA, and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq. Backgrounds the decades-long relationship between the United States and Saddam Hussein, and discusses his investigation into one of the costliest geopolitical conflicts of our time.

          Talking War-onomics

            A Long Time in Finance | 13 June 2025 | 0h 32m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
            Interview with Duncan Weldon about his book Blood and Treasure: The Economics of Conflict from the Vikings to Ukraine. Discusses the interplay between war, society, and economics from the violent larceny of the Vikings to the GDP-chomping total wars of the 20th century.

            Luis Schenoni on War and State Formation in Latin America

              The Economic and Political History Podcast | 8 March 2025 | 0h 48m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
              Interview with Luis Schenoni about his book Bringing War Back In: Victory, Defeat, and the State in Nineteenth-Century Latin America. Discusses Latin American state formation and varying state capacity, refining Charles Tilly’s claim that “war made the state” by showing the effect of war outcomes. Victorious states legitimise wartime institutions, consolidating state capacity, while defeated states suffer lasting decline.

              Exploring the Dynamics of War feat. Richard Overy

                unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc | 31 January 2025 | 0h 50m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
                Interview with Richard Overy about his book Why War? Explains the evolving nature of military history, the role of cultural and social factors, and the impact of major and minor conflicts throughout history. Discusses the war in Ukraine and how modern warfare strategies differ from traditional methods and whether World War II will start to decrease in importance as the generations who experienced it or stories of it pass on.

                David Kang on Beyond Power Transitions

                  On Humans | 15 November 2024 | 0h 51m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
                  Interview with David Kang about his book Beyond Power Transitions: The Lessons of East Asian History and the Future of U.S.-China Relations, co-authored with Xinru Ma. Considers questions about why wars start and how we can avoid them against the context of the hundreds of years-long piece between China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, drawing lessons quite different from those offered by a consideration of the history of Western countries.