Defense One Podcasts

This roundup includes developments from the following newsletters: • Friday, March 13 • Thursday, March 12 • Wednesday, March 11 • Tuesday, March 10 • Monday, March 9 And if you're not already subscribed, you can do that here.

An Army researcher unpacks new initiatives to expand research into human performance. Guest: Lt. Col. David deGroot, director of the U.S. Army Heat Center at Fort Benning, Ga. See also Patrick Tucker's related recent reporting on the topic, here.

This roundup includes developments from the following newsletters, which you can read in greater detail at the links below: • Friday, March 6 • Thursday, March 5 • Wednesday, March 4 • Tuesday, March 3 • Monday, March 2 And if you're not already subscribed, you can do that here.

This roundup includes developments from the following newsletters, which you can read in greater detail at the links below: • Friday, Feb. 27 • Thursday, Feb. 26 • Wednesday, Feb. 25 • Tuesday, Feb. 24 • Monday, Feb. 23 And if you're not already subscribed, you can do that here.

Guest: Matthew Delmont, professor of history at Dartmouth College and an award-winning author of several books including Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad, and his latest, Until the Last Gun Is Silent: A Story of Patriotism, the Vietnam War, and the Fight to Save America's Soul.

Guests: Peter W. Singer, strategist at New America and the author of multiple books on technology and security, including Wired for War, Ghost Fleet, Burn-In, and LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media; And August Cole, non-resident senior fellow at the Scowcroft Center on Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council, and associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute working on AI and future warfare. With Singer, he is the co-author of Ghost Fleet and Burn In. Both authors have teamed up again for a new monthly series on Defense One called "Fictional Intelligence," which explores the future of technology and warfare through the lens of short speculative fiction. The first story, "Mission ahead, heavens above," was published in February.

This roundup includes developments from the following newsletters, which you can read in greater detail at the links below: • Friday, Feb. 20 • Thursday, Feb. 19 • Wednesday, Feb. 18 • Tuesday, Feb. 17 And if you're not already subscribed, you can do that here.

This roundup includes developments from the following newsletters, which you can read in greater detail at the links below: • Friday, Feb. 13 • Thursday, Feb. 12 • Wednesday, Feb. 11 • Tuesday, Feb. 10 • Monday, Feb. 9 And if you're not already subscribed, you can do that here.

This roundup includes developments from the following newsletters, which you can read in greater detail at the links below: • Friday, Feb. 6 • Thursday, Feb. 5 • Wednesday, Feb. 4 • Tuesday, Feb. 3 • Monday, Feb. 2 And if you're not already subscribed, you can do that here.

This roundup includes developments from the following newsletters, which you can read in greater detail at the links below: • Friday, Jan. 30 • Thursday, Jan. 29 • Wednesday, Jan. 28 • Tuesday, Jan. 27 • Monday, Jan. 26 And if you're not already subscribed, you can do that here.

A scholar of civil wars warns against repeating the past mistakes from U.S. military interventions abroad. Guest: Monica Duffy Toft, director of the Center for Strategic Studies and a professor of international politics at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; her essay "Can the US 'run' Venezuela? Military force can topple a dictator, but it cannot create political authority or legitimacy" was published earlier this month in The Conversation.

A new audio round-up of leading developments national security news for the week ending January 23, 2026. If you'd like to read our daily newsletter, The D Brief, you can find that here: https://www.defenseone.com/topic/The-d-brief/ And if you're not already subscribed, you can do that here: https://www.defenseone.com/newsletters/ Note: While we plan to use AI audio cloning in future "D Brief Weekly" episodes, we did not use it for this episode.

CFR's Paul Stares unpacks the latest annual survey of foreign policy experts bracing for what might lie ahead. Guest: Paul Stares, General John W. Vessey senior fellow for conflict prevention and director of the Center for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations. Read the 2026 Preventive Priorities Survey results published this week at CFR here.

The former Army Ranger explores how AI might reshape drone warfare, America's tech race with China, Russia's war in Ukraine, and much more. Guest: Paul Scharre, executive vice president at the Center for a New American Security and author of several books, including "Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence," and "Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War."

The Virginia Republican discusses the Pentagon's acquisition reforms, the defense secretary's legislative-affairs bottleneck, and his priorities for the upcoming spending bills. Guest: Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, in conversation with Defense One Executive Editor Bradley Peniston.

A veteran of the National Security Council shares what the 2025 movie got right and wrong when it comes to U.S. missile defense and nuclear command and control. Guest: Jon Wolfsthal, Director of Global Risk at the Federation of American Scientists.

Patrick Tucker explains what he learned during a recent trip to Eastern Europe.

A celebrated historian shares years of research into the quiet and not-so-quiet struggles of millions of American veterans returning home from World War II.  Guest: David Nasaw, historian, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of “The Wounded Generation: Coming Home After World War II.” 

The EU's ambassador to the U.S. underscores the importance of the bloc's $910 billion defense plans known as Readiness 2030.  Guest: European Union Ambassador to the United States Jovita Neliupšienė.

Our editors explore the vibe, the headlines, the aircraft, the drones, and the other news coming out of the Air Force Association’s big annual conference at National Harbor, Maryland. Guests: Tom Novelly, Defense One senior reporter covering air and space warfare; And Lauren C. Williams, Defense One senior editor.