Episodes
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In August of this year, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks announced the “Replicator Initiative” a new program to field thousands of less costly autonomous weapon systems. Aimed directly at offsetting China’s growing advantages in the Pacific, the ambitious program is set to deliver all within the next 18-24 months. Replicator is part of a growing concern that, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Charles Q. Brown framed the issue while still Chief of the Air Force, the Pentagon must, "Accelerate, change or lose."
But is the defense industry able to deliver on that promise? With new defense programs taking sometimes a decade or more to reach the battlefield, what is needed to transform the way the pentagon develops new technology? Can it keep up with the accelerating pace of change especially drones and AI?
To answer these questions and more, host John Sorensen speaks with:
Mike Brown who served as the Director of the Defense Innovation Unit at the Department of Defense. He also led the DoD-sponsored investment group, National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC) to fund dual-use technology companies. Prior to working in government, Brown served as the CEO of Symantec, Quantum, and Chairman of EqualLogic. He is currently a partner at the dual-use venture capital firm, Shield Capital and a visiting scholar at Stanford University.
Retired Rear Admiral Lorin Selby, who until this year was the Navy’s Chief of Naval Research. He has also served as a submarine officer, in acquisitions, as a nuclear engineer, and as Deputy Director in the Navy Office of Legislative Affairs, for the House.
And Steve Blank, adjunct professor at Stanford and a co-founder of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation. He is an entrepreneur and founder of multiple startups in Silicon Valley, the author of “The Four Steps to the Epiphany” credited with launching the Lean Startup movement, and most recently, “The Startup Owner’s Manual.”
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On today’s episode we return to an interview with Jonathan Schanzer, Senior Vice President for Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and the author of “Gaza Conflict 2021: Hamas, Israel and Eleven Days of War”. Host John Sorensen and RealClearDefense editor David Craig spoke with Schanzer in November of 2021 about an attack from earlier that year when Hamas launched more than four thousand rockets and mortars toward Israel killing 12 and injuring more than 100. Retaliatory Israeli air strikes resulted in the deaths of more than 200, including at least 129 civilians, and nearly 2000 injured, according to the United Nations. Schanzer details how the media covered the 2021 conflict, Iran's critical support for Hamas, and what Hamas’ strategy in Gaza means for the region.
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As China’s military capabilities grow, discussions about the US posture in the Pacific often return to the question how large a force does the US need to deter or possibly confront the Chinese Navy? If China were to launch an attack on Taiwan, how do the US and Chinese navies match up?
To find out, “Hot Wash” host John Sorensen speaks with Tom Shugart an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security. During his twenty-five years in the US Navy, Shugart served as a submarine warfare officer on both fast attack and ballistic missile submarines, including as commander of the attack submarine USS Olympia from 2013 to 2016. He also served on the Joint Staff as the principal officer responsible for nuclear strike planning, as well as in the Defense Department’s Office of Net Assessment.
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Note this episode contains explicit language and discussion of self-harm.
On the RealClearDefense podcast “Hot Wash” John Sorensen and RCD contributor John Waters speak with Miles Lagoze, the documentary filmmaker behind “Combat Obscura” a gripping unfiltered look at the war in Afghanistan in 2011 and 2012 during his time as an eighteen year-old Combat Camera with the 1st Battalion 6th Marines. Most recently he is the author of a new book about his experiences in Afghanistan and returning home. It’s called, “Whistles From the Graveyard: My Time Behind the Camera on War, Rage, and Restless Youth in Afghanistan”
"Whistles From the Graveyard" is available for pre-order.
Look for RCD Contributor John Waters’ new novel “River City One” published this fall.
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On the RealClearDefense podcast “Hot Wash,” host John Sorensen speaks with Dr. Peter Feaver, a long-time researcher of civil-military affairs about his new book, a comprehensive study of public attitudes towards the military called, “Thanks for Your Service: The Causes and Consequences of Public Confidence in the US Military.” He is also a professor of political science and public policy at Duke University, has served twice on the National Security Council staff, and as an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserves.
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John Waters speaks with entrepreneur, Army veteran, and author Mike Erwin about applying lessons from the military to positive leadership off the battlefield. Erwin is a graduate of West Point and served as an Intelligence officer in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning two Bronze Stars. After studying positive psychology and leadership at the University of Michigan he founded “Team Red, White, and Blue” a nonprofit connecting veterans through physical and social activity. He is also the author of two books on leadership, “Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leaders Through Solitude” and most recently, “Leadership is a Relationship: How to Put People First in the Digital Age.”
Team Red, White, and Blue
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As Republican candidates prepare for the first debate, does the GOP have a China strategy? In a recent piece for the Wall Street Journal, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin) challenges the candidates and the party to confront what he calls “America’s greatest geopolitical threat.” RealClearDefense contributor John Waters and guest columnist Stephen Young speak with Gallagher about developing a clearer strategy to deter China.
Read Rep. Mike Gallagher's article in the Wall Street Journal, "GOP Presidential Candidates Need to Talk About China"
Read Stephen Young's opinion piece on RealClearDefense.com, "How Xi Jinping Thinks"
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The war in Ukraine has rapidly reshaped how strategists think about the modern battlefield, especially the use of drones, cyber, social media, and the importance of electronic warfare. Looking at a potential conflict with China, what would a military confrontation over Taiwan look like in this new technological era?
On this episode of “Hot Wash,” host John Sorensen speaks with Retired Australian Major Gen Mick Ryan. Ryan is a frequent commentor on the transformation of warfare, and is a 35-year veteran of the Australian Army, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a graduate of the US Marine Corps Command and Staff College, the USMC School of Advanced Warfare, and is an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.. He is also the author of the nonfiction book “War Transformed,” and most recently the author of a new fiction book, “White Sun War: The Campaign for Taiwan”
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On today’s “Hot Wash,” CNN’s Jake Tapper talks about his new fiction thriller “All the Demons Are Here” about an AWOL US Marine back from the Vietnam War and lost in the chaos of the 1970’s. We also discuss his nonfiction book, “The Outpost” about the heroism and tragedy of one of the deadliest battles in the Afghanistan War, and the coverage of the current Russian war against Ukraine.
Subscribe to the RealClearDefense Podcast "Hot Wash"Ukraine for in depth conversations about military, defense, and national security.
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Welcome to the first episode of BLUF: Bottom Line Up Front, presented by Real Clear Defense, in which we ask a member of Congress 7 questions that cut to the chase of what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.
Today we hear from Republican Congressman Mark Green of Tennessee, who graduated from West Point, served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army, and later became an army physician serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. Today, he chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security and sits on the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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Subscribe to the RealClearDefense Podcast "Hot Wash"
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Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated film “Oppenheimer” opens this weekend. For the story behind one of America’s most consequential and controversial scientific minds in his own words, listen to a mini-audio documentary about Robert Oppenheimer: his connections to the Communist party, his troubled relationship with President Truman, and the legacy of his work on the most devastating invention of the 20th century.
This episode of the RealClearDefense podcast "Hot Wash" is sponsored by Pratt & Whitney. Pratt & Whitney’s F135 Engine Core Upgrade leverages the expertise and capabilities of RTX while saving taxpayers $40B—it’s the smart decision for the F-35.
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On Friday June 23rd Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group, took to Telegram to announce that he would, “march for justice” to stop the Russian defense ministry “evil”. By Saturday morning Wagner forces had claimed control of Rostov-on-Don, the Russian military headquarters near the Ukrainian border. His forces proceeded in a convoy into Russia toward Moscow, getting to within 200 km of the capital. Putin declared him a traitor and seemed destined for a bloody showdown. Then in a dizzying turn it was announced that Prigozhin would be allowed to retire to Belarus and his troops disbanded.
To try and understand what happened and what it means for Putin’s hold on power in Russia, "Hot Wash" host John Sorensen speaks with Kathryn Stoner, the Mosbacher Director at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at the Hoover Institution. Her most recent book is "Russia Resurrected: Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order."
Read Kathryn Stoner's article in the Atlantic, "Why Putin Let Prigozhin Go"
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RealClearDefense contributor John Waters speaks with Wall Street Journal National Security reporter Brett Forrest about his new bestselling book, "Lost Son: An American Family Trapped Inside the FBI’s Secret Wars.” Expanding on his investigation for the Journal, Forrest explores the disappearance of Billy Reilly, a gifted civilian who volunteered as an undercover FBI source inside Russia. When their son went missing, Reilly’s parents were shut out of the investigation by the FBI and turned to Forrest to uncover what happened.
Brett Forrest is a national security reporter for The Wall Street Journal where his work often focuses on the former Soviet Union. He has covered the war in Ukraine and was the first reporter to into the Kiev suburb of Bucha following the Russian military’s withdrawal, where he broke the news of alleged atrocities.
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Did the Cold War really end? As recently as this week, the New York Times confirmed that in 2020 Russian intelligence attempted to assassinate a defector on US soil, crossing a major red line even during the height of the Cold War. On today’s episode of the RealClearDefense podcast “Hot Wash” host John Sorensen and RCD contributor John Waters speak with Calder Walton, the historian who uncovered that attempted assassination and the author of a new book, “SPIES: The Epic Intelligence War Between the East and West.” Using archival evidence only declassified as recently as 2022, Walton looks at the 100 year espionage competition between the Soviet, American and British intelligence services. By comparing each side’s internal secrets the book reveals double agents, the tactics of disinformation, covert action, and assassinations. How did espionage shape the Cold War?
Walton is the Assistant Director of the Harvard Belfer Center for Applied History and Intelligence Project. He is also the author of the three-volume Cambridge History of Espionage and Intelligence and Empire of Secrets: British Intelligence, the Cold War, and the Twilight of Empire.
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On today's "Hot Wash," RCD contributor John Waters talks to the authors of a new book, “Unwavering: The Wives Who Fought to Ensure No Man is Left Behind.” It is the story of how the wives of Prisoners of War and those Missing In Action during the Vietnam War compelled the military and the US government to change policy and focused a nation on the unfinished business of a war it would rather forget. Symbolized by the rapidly ubiquitous black POW/MIA flags around the nation, the movement fundamentally changed how America thought about those lost in combat, and its obligation to those they left behind.
Taylor Kiland is a former naval officer, the third generation in her family to serve in the Navy, and is also the author of two other books about our nation’s POWs. And Judy Gray is a former correspondent for The Tampa Tribune who has published five books on military topics. A retired Coast Guard chief petty officer, she is the third generation in her family to serve in the military.
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On today's "Hot Wash," RCD contributor John Waters talks to the authors of one the site's most popular recent articles, “The Navy SEAL Who Went to Ukraine Because He Couldn’t Stop Fighting.” The tortured story of Daniel Swift, a decorated Navy SEAL who went AWOL, only to end up on the frontlines of Ukraine's war with Russia. It's a story about the complicated relationship some of America's most experienced veterans have with combat, the challenges of returning home, the desire to make a difference, and the pull to return to the fight. Brett Forest and Ian Lovett are journalists for the Wall Street Journal who cover Ukraine.
Read the article here, “The Navy SEAL Who Went to Ukraine Because He Couldn’t Stop Fighting.”
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Visit RealClearPublishing for more information on“Kissinger’s Betrayal: How America Lost the Vietnam War”
"Follow Hot Wash on Twitter @hotwashrcd
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Subscribe to the RealClearDefense Podcast "Hot Wash"
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Follow Hot Wash on Twitter @hotwashrcd
Email comments and story suggestions to [email protected]
Subscribe to the RealClearDefense Podcast "Hot Wash"
Subscribe to the Morning Recon newsletterfor a daily roundup of news and opinion on the issues that matter for military, defense, veteran affairs, and national security.
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Follow Hot Wash on Twitter @hotwashrcd
Email comments and story suggestions to [email protected]
Subscribe to the RealClearDefense Podcast "Hot Wash"
Subscribe to the Morning Recon newsletterfor a daily roundup of news and opinion on the issues that matter for military, defense, veteran affairs, and national security.
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Follow Hot Wash on Twitter @hotwashrcd
Email comments and story suggestions to [email protected]
Subscribe to the RealClearDefense Podcast "Hot Wash"
Subscribe to the Morning Recon newsletterfor a daily roundup of news and opinion on the issues that matter for military, defense, veteran affairs, and national security.
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