School of War

Ocie Vest, retired Marine infantry officer, joins the show to talk about his experiences as a platoon commander in the Battle of Marjah and later as a combat leader in Nimruz Province, lessons learned in training and in combat, and how the war can continue after the fighting ends. First of a two-part conversation.▪️Times  • 01:46 Introduction • 02:24 Joining The Marines • 03:55 Quantico • 09:00 Becoming An Infantry Officer • 20:22 Camp Lejeune • 27:21 False Start • 35:06 Crossing The Line Of Departure  • 40:49 On The Job Learning • 44:40 Marjah • 50:43 First Combat    • 59:11 Sustained Combat • 1:02:45 Different Neighborhood, Different War

Alexander Watson, Professor of History at Goldsmiths, University of London, joins the show to talk about the Eastern Front in World War One, and how the events of 1914/15 foreshadowed tragedies to come and the crisis in Ukraine today. ▪️Times  • 01:43 Introduction • 02:40 WWI In The East • 05:29 Battlefield - Austria-Hungary  • 10:10 The Austro-Hungarian Army • 13:28 Coveted Galicia • 17:44 1914 - A Primordial Soup • 19:02 The Siege Begins • 26:27 Przemysl’s Defensive Plan • 29:50 The Russians Take A Direct Approach • 36:08 Inside A City Under Siege    • 40:19 Total Exhaustion  • 44:45 Military And Human Consequences • 50:00 Birthplace Of The Bloodlands • 55:09 Strange EndsMaps Courtesy of United States Military Academy West PointEastern Europe, 1914 and Planned Army Concentration Areas in Central Europe, 1914 Operations on The Eastern Front to 20 September 1914

Charlie Laderman, lecturer at King’s College London and co-author of Hitler's American Gamble, joins the show to talk about his latest book, which covers the crucial days between the attack on Pearl Harbor and Hitler’s perplexing declaration of war on the United States.▪️Times • 01:52 Introduction• 02:50 Wasn’t War Inevitable?• 07:12 Japan And Germany - Strange Bedfellows• 11:10 Hitler’s Blurred Vision• 14:45 Japan - Will They, Won’t They Attack • 15:51 Churchill’s Outlook• 22:58 Anti-Interventionist Sentiment• 26:57 Anti-Semitism• 31:18 Roosevelt Sees Things Clearly• 35:21 A War With Germany, Not Japan    • 38:40 Catastrophic German Strategic Errors• 43:23 Hitler’s American Gamble • 49:15 Pearl Harbor Condemned The European Jews• 53:54 Alarmingly Relevant Parallels

Brendan Simms, Professor at the University of Cambridge, and his co-author, Steven McGregor, a U.S. Army vet, join the show to talk about their new book, The Silver Waterfall: How America Won the War in the Pacific at Midway.▪️Times  • 02:12 Introduction • 02:30 Why Write About Midway? • 05:54 Strategic Situation In The Pacific  • 08:26 Who Is Chester Nimitz?  • 11:02 Small Scale Start To The Large Scale Fight • 14:20 Intelligence Breaches And Carrier Combat  • 17:12 Dueling Carrier Doctrines  • 22:09 Lt. Dusty Kleiss On The Day Of Battle • 24:45 Hide And Seek In The Pacific Ocean • 28:45 Finding The Kido Butai At Midway • 30:53 To Dive Bomb Or Not • 32:11 Never Call Me A Hero • 33:38 A Fine Days Work  • 36:23 Preparation + Opportunity = Luck

Andrew Corbett, author of Supreme Emergency: How Britain Lives With the Bomb, joins the show to talk about what it’s like commanding one of Her Majesty’s deadliest weapons, how deterrence policy actually works, and why Britain has the Bomb.▪️Times • 01:45 Introduction• 02:12 Why Join The Royal Navy?• 03:31 What’s In A Name?• 05:31 Day To Day Life • 10:33 Disorienting Conditions • 12:35 The Fighting Sub• 16:58 The Sound Of Silence • 21:50 The Nuclear Triad• 24:12 Developments Under The Sea• 26:05 The British And The Bomb• 30:12 Command By Sub-Committee• 32:23 Extreme Secrecy • 37:35 Morality In Nuclear Weapons • 45:04 Why Should The UK Have Nukes• 50:07 Who Shouldn’t Have Nukes • 54:46 Extended Deterrence

Steven Pressfield, author of A Man at Arms and Gates of Fire, joins the show to talk about writing historical fiction, telling the truth about war, and why the hardest part of art is “doing the work” .▪️Times  • 01:38 Introduction • 03:49 Why Historical Fiction? • 08:25 Creating The “Distant Mirror” • 12:12 Special Forces  • 14:17 Characters  • 19:44 A Man at Arms  • 22:01 Post-Warrior Life   • 23:46 The Warrior Ethos • 27:20 Society Needs, But Doesn’t Want, Warriors • 32:52 Citizen-Soldier  • 34:10 Reading History  • 37:48 Characters Are Uncovered, Not Made • 40:19 The War Of Art • 45:52 Telling Stories

Barry Strauss, Bryce and Edith M. Bowmar Professor in Humanistic Studies at Cornell University, joins the show to talk about Octavian, Antony, and Cleopatra, and the battle of Actium, the clash that “made the Roman Empire”.Times  • 02:04 Introduction • 02:36 Events Leading To Actium • 07:45 What Breaks The Second Triumvirate • 13:29 Strategy Is Not Sterile  • 15:04 Antony’s Will, Octavian’s Weapon • 20:24 Caesar’s Inheritance  • 22:42 Audacious Agrippa   • 25:26 Ancient Marines And War In The Mediterranean  • 31:18 Breakout Is Victory • 38:27 Antony In Defeat • 42:16 End Game

Rich Goldberg, senior advisor at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies and host of both the Cryptonite podcast and Jewish Insider’s Limited Liability podcast, joins the show to talk about economic sanctions and financial warfare.Times • 01:30 Introduction• 08:19 The Dollar Is Still King• 10:10 Access Is Everything• 13:00 Whom Do Sanctions Effect • 15:42 Uneasy Lies The Head That Wears A Crown• 21:50 Warfare By Other Means• 30:20 Working With Allies• 38:33 Exquisite Calibration • 43:42 Usurping The Power Of The Dollar• 49:02 Integrated Deterrence • 51:01 The Potency Of Sanctions

Guy MacLean Rogers, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of History and Classical Studies at Wellesley College and author of For the Freedom of Zion: The Great Revolt of Jews Against Romans, 66-74CE, joins the show to talk about the great uprising of the Jewish people against Rome—including moments that resonate to the present day, like the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem and the siege of Masada. Times  • 02:20 Introduction • 04:21 The Jewish Revolt In Roman History  • 08:09 Flavius Josephus  • 13:41 Herod the Great  • 22:29 Little Causes, Big Revolt • 26:40 The Leadership Of Rebellion • 30:11 Jewish Strategy And Logistics • 35:03 Vespasian • 41:04 The Temple  • 50:01 The End of the Sacrificial Cult • 52:01 Destruction of the Temple • 56:00 The End Of The Revolt • 1:01:02 Josephus’ Speeches • 1:06:13 Could The Jews Have Won?

Wesley Morgan, journalist and author of The Hardest Place: The American Military Adrift in Afghanistan's Pech Valley, joins the show to discuss his experiences in the Pech valley, one of Afghanistan’s most contested battlegrounds, and to talk about the U.S. counterinsurgency’s successes and failures. Times  • 01:25 Illicit Economies • 04:13 Green Berets And CIA “Lost The Forest For The Trees” In Kunar • 06:57 Who Is Jim Gant? • 11:36 Self-Aware Proxy Warriors • 13:42 Counterinsurgency Styles and Outpost Building • 20:44 Central Government - Whether They Want It Or Not • 33:18 Cash For Calm - Paying For Peace • 37:22 War Winds Down In The Pech  • 41:30 The Afghan House Of Cards Collapses • 44:13 A Tired Afghan Army With No Good Options