Episódios
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This time, we’ve lured military analyst Anders Puck Nielsen, from the Royal Danish Defense College, into the bunker. Anders is also the host of the hugely popular YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@anderspuck
We started off feeling a bit gloomy, discussing the future of European security and Ukraine, but managed to cheer each other up along the way. Oh, and Darth is not happy—he claims two of us are stealing his podcast! Anders turns the tables and asks Katie a few questions about Belarus and its role in regional security. Don't miss it!
Like, share, and subscribe to our YouTube channel (or else!) — we’ve got plenty more guest episodes waiting for you over there!
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Melissa Chan is an Emmy-nominated journalist based between Los Angeles and Berlin. She has reported everywhere from Cuba to Canada, Mongolia to Moscow, North and South Korea.
These days she focuses on transnational issues, often involving China’s influence beyond its borders, as well as the rise of global authoritarianism and ebb of democracies. She is currently writing a graphic novel, YOU MUST TAKE PART IN REVOLUTION, in collaboration with Chinese Australian artist Badiucao. Sold at auction to Street Noise Books (US), the work of speculative fiction is set for publication in early 2025. https://www.melissachan.com/about
This episode was recorded on October 11, so if we sound a little October-ish, that's why. But don’t worry—everything we cover is still as relevant as ever. After all, some things just don’t go out of style, like Putin’s nuclear saber-rattling or Beijing’s geopolitical appetites!
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In our largest-ever gathering in "the bunker," scholars David Gioe, Huw Dylan, and Elena Grossfeld discuss their latest article, "The Autocrat’s Indispensable Service: How Russian Intelligence Secured Vladimir Putin’s Regime After Failing Him in Ukraine."
With the Prez presiding over the conversation from the end of the long table, we dive into a pressing research puzzle: Why does Vladimir Putin, a former intelligence operative himself, struggle to use intelligence data effectively in decision-making?
Professor David Gioe is Visiting Professor of Intelligence and International Security in the Department of War Studies. He joins the department as a British Academy Global Professor. He is Associate Professor of History at the US Military Academy at West Point, where he also serves as History Fellow for the Army Cyber Institute. David is also Director of Studies for the Cambridge Security Initiative and co-convener of its International Security and Intelligence program.
Elena Grossfeld is a PhD candidate in the Department of War Studies, King's College London (KCL), and a member of King's Intelligence and Security Group (KISG). Her research interests are strategic culture of Russian/Soviet intelligence, Cold War, and information warfare.
Dr Huw Dylan is a Reader in Intelligence and International Security at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. He is also an Associated Researcher at the Centre for Intelligence Studies in the Norwegian Intelligence School. His work is focused on intelligence in the Cold War and beyond, with a specific focus on deception operations, intelligence in diplomacy, and covert action.
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LINKS:
The Autocrat’s Indispensable Service: How Russian Intelligence secured Vladimir Putin’s Regime after failing him in Ukraine: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13691481241258108
The autocrat’s intelligence paradox: Vladimir Putin’s (mis)management of Russian strategic assessment in the Ukraine War: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13691481221146113
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Today's guest in the bunker refers to himself as an “Ex spymaster, specializing in taking over countries." Philip Ingram MBE BSc MA GCLI is a widely published journalist, specializing in the security and intelligence arenas, who has built on a long and senior career in British Military Intelligence, with years of experience in all aspects of intelligence and security as well as strategic planning. He maintains a close interest in global events. Philip now runs his own media company, Grey Hare Media, that specializes in delivering informed content. Between the Army and this, he was a sales and marketing director for a large cast steel manufacturer, learning about business, setting the conditions for over £100m of business, and then managing director and editor in chief of a B2B security-focused print and online publication. He keynote speaks across the globe on terrorism, cyber security, information and disinformation, leadership, and mental health, as well as global security issues.
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Keir Giles is a senior consulting fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme. Previously, he worked with the BBC Monitoring Service and the UK Defence Academy, where he wrote and advised on Russian military, defence and security issues including human factors influencing Russian security policy, Russian strategy and doctrine, the Russian view of cyber and information security, and Russia’s relations with its neighbours in Northern Europe.
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LINKS
What Deters Russia (Chatham House) https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/09/... Russian Nuclear Intimidation (Chatham House) https://www.chathamhouse.org/2023/03/...
Who Will Defend Europe? https://amzn.to/4cFI1b6
Moscow Rules: What Drives Russia to Confront the West https://amzn.to/3LePv6K
Oscar Jonsson's "The Russian Understanding of War" https://amzn.to/3cbMg3Y
Russia's War on Everybody: And What it Means for You https://amzn.to/3aPtKxB
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SUPPORT THE CHANNEL
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In this episode, we delve into the Belarusian legal system through Katie's firsthand experience as a co-defendant in a political trial. We discuss the challenges of finding a criminal defense lawyer—or any lawyer—willing to represent a dissident. Darth also reads an excerpt from his book and shares insights on the week's most significant tweets.
In Katie's guest appearance on the Silicon Curtain podcast, she provides an in-depth look at the everyday lives of civil society and political actors in Belarus. The conversation explores themes of surveillance, precautionary measures, and the challenges of understanding the (un)successful protests in the country. Full episode: Youtube/SiliconCurtain
As always, thank you for your support on buymeacoffee.com/inthebunkerwithdarth and patreon.com/IntheBunkerwithDarth
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John Sipher, former CIA officer and a co-founder of Spycraft Entertainment, in the bunker.
We are asking our guest how it would be if the CIA were tasked to invade Canada; what were John's impressions from working in Moscow; and many details about Russian intelligence services.
Follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@InTheBunkerWithDarth
John Sipher’s podcast: “Mission implausible” https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Thank you for your support on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/IntheBunkerwi... and Buy me a coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/inthebunkerw...
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In this episode, we sit down with Edward Lucas, who is British writer, journalist, and politician.
Did you know that Edward was among the first 100 Darth's followers back in the days?
Here is some context for Edwards' reference to Lennart Meri's speech.
Full address by Estonian President Lennart Meri in 1994 is here.
As usual, we are most thankful to each of our Patreons for the material support.
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In this episode, we sit down with General Ben Hodges to talk about Ukraine's counteroffensive in Kursk, as well as Russian army capabilities (lack thereof) and corruption.
We are most thankful to each Patreon for the material support of our podcast.
If you are not ready for a long-term commitment, such as on Patreon, but you enjoy our chatter in the bunker, buy us some coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/inthebunkerwithdarth
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In this episode Eto Buziashvili joins us in the bunker to discuss the recent arrest of Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram. We talk about how telegram works, what the Kremlin uses it for, what kind of content is on there and what the implications are for the Kremlin now they believe western intelligence has access to the platform.
In June Eto wrote "Another battlefield: Telegram as a digital front in Russia’s war against Ukraine" so she's been popular recently. Here's the article: https://dfrlab.org/2024/06/10/another...
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Apparently, Maria Snegovaya survived visiting us in the bunker in Season 1. So we decided to invite Maria again, this time to talk about her recent article, "Dissecting Putin's regime ideology," which she co-authored together with Jade McGlynn: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1060586X.2024.2386838.
Jade appeared on our pod as well, and we had a nice chat about evil Anglo-Saxons plotting against Moscow: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-the-bunker-with-darth-putin/id1732865476?i=1000648848793
In this episode:
Darth is messign with his mic Dive into Maria's publication: Does Putin have an ideology? How to research the elites using open sources Indoctrination in culture and education Do Russians really believe this ideology? What Russians are being told about the unpleasantries of Ukraine's offensive -
Did you miss us this summer? We finally caught our sound editor, who's been in hiding, and we're back with season 2 of our podcast.
This time we sit down with Brendan B. Brown, the frontman of the Wheatus rock band, to talk about music censorship, Russian tsar Nicholas II, and many other things in between. When Brendan is not touring and performing on stage, he is quite a geopolitical commentator.
Find us on Youtube/IntheBunkerWithDarth
We now have video recordings of our podcast; subscribe to not miss our upcoming live sessions where you can ask questions and share your perspective.
Since Darth has decreed to exile everyone to Siberia, you may at least buy some tea on the plane or upgrade to a window seat. Payments are accepted via our Patreon page, www.patreon.com/IntheBunkerwithDarth
On a more serious note, we greatly appreciate your material contribution to our podcast.
Yours truly,
Katie from Minsk
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In this episode, we welcome David Frum, a Canadian political commentator and former speechwriter for President George W. Bush. David is currently a senior editor at The Atlantic and an MSNBC contributor.
What we discuss:
David expresses his belief that Trump will soon lose: "He would seem like a stronger candidate if he just stayed at Mar-a-Lago and kept quiet." We explore how Fox News broadcasts, let's say, false remarks on television and corrects them on Twitter. This implies that the modified message would only be seen by a considerably smaller audience. "That is an impressive disinformation project," David remarks, "to tell people things are going bad when they are going well." As I watched the first 2024 Trump-Biden debate, this struck a chord with my own thinking. Do you remember Russian-backed disinformation that the evil West is managing biolabs in Ukraine? David explains how the U.S. and Europe supported researchers from the former USSR who possessed sensitive knowledge to make sure they had continuous employment and didn't end up working for malicious actors. This disinformation was debunked on the BBC as well: https://www.bbc.com/news/60711705 We briefly mention Lee Harvey Oswald—yes, that guy who apparently shot JFK. He defected to the USSR and worked at a factory in Minsk, my hometown. He lived in the city center. Fancy. The Soviets were happy to award him for his change of loyalty.Yours truly,
Katie from Minsk
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* This episode was originally recorded for our Patreon supporters who receive premium content on Belarus, Russia, and Darth's insights on Twitter debates.
Join us on patreon.com/IntheBunkerwithDarth to engage directly with our team, ask questions, and shape the content you love. *
Greetings from the Bunker! In this 1-on-1 episode with Darth, we discuss:
Russia-Belarus integration process: Yeah, we all have heard about it for over two decades, and Russia's appetite to swallow Belarus sounds like a false alarm—until it isn't.
Putin's visit to Belarus on May 23, 2024. After all, Vladimir doesn't have many choices for traveling these days. The ICC warrant might have something to do with it. It's a good thing that Luka simply can't say no to him, so they can keep each other company.
The Kremlin placed tactical nukes in Belarus a year ago. Why bother? Since it doesn't give Moscow's management an actual strategic advantage.The reorientation of Belarusian state-owned enterprises towards servicing Russian military needs.
Grotesque trials against Lukashenka's opponents in absentia, where I am among the defendants.
Yours sincerely,
Katie from Minsk
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Isn't it exciting that Darth and I are now talking to the smart guys at the GOP?
Tune into our chat with Rick Wilson, an American political strategist who ran campaigns for George W. Bush (R), Dick Cheney (R), and Rudy Giuliani (R).
In this episode:
Why is U.S. support for Ukraine being micromanaged? Why do Putin's policies resonate with Trump supporters? Rick, who is the fifth-generation Floridian, is boasting that his soon-to-be-born granddaughter gets a parole officer at birth. Oh, those Floridians!Yours truly,
Katie from Minsk
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Darth and I welcome Michael Weiss, an investigative journalist renowned for his extensive coverage of the wars in Syria and Ukraine, as well as his publications on Russian espionage and disinformation.
Amid a fair amount of jokes and sarcasm, we delve into discussions about the GRU and how its spy culture contrasts with that of the SVR, Russia's foreign intelligence service.We look at some of the GRU’s “successful” operations, as Michael is currently writing a book about this infamous institution. Interestingly, some of the most talented individuals who served in the GRU during its inception in the 1920s-1930s, were foreigners rather than Russians.
My favorite takeaways:
How the appeasement of Russia failed: attempts by the Obama and early Biden's administrations to restart relations and "tickle Putin's tummy" were fruitless. Michael nearly developed a PTSD from dealing with the divided Syrian opposition, which had a hard time uniting against the common enemy. I can relate to this, since there are similar conflicts among the Belarusian democratic groups in exile. Do you remember the footage of Russian soldiers shipping the looted fridges and other stuff from Ukraine via Belarus post offices? The footage of that circus was actually leaked to the public by the Belarusian state services, so there is a bit of the Fifth column in the Belarusian power vertical.Yours truly,
Katie from Minsk
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This is our first episode in the monthly series on Belarus.
You'll gain insights into Belarusian domestic politics as we discuss how our guy is running the country, relying on his family and the network of "mini-garchs.". According to Wikipedia, he is the "longest-serving European president." That's one way to put it. Tune in and learn more about our lovely dictator's adventures.
On a more serious note, there are over 1,300 political prisoners, political repressions continue as we speak, and my home country is at its biggest political crisis in its modern history. More on this in the upcoming episodes.
Subscribe to our Patreon/IntheBunkerwithDarth to get fast access to our newest episodes and to ask questions to the Master Strategist.
Yours truly,
Katie from Minsk
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In this episode, Ben Wittes agrees to serve as a token for the gender equality balance, as he is the second male guest in our podcast series. On a more serious note, we're discussing Trump’s trials and how they'll impact the 2024 elections. While Darth’s parody plots to bring the bad guy back to the White House, we are discussing the unfavorable consequences for U.S. foreign policy if that happens.
Follow Ben’s work on www.lawfaremedia.org and on Instagram at instagram.com/benjaminwittes, as he was blocked on Twitter for mischief. We hope you like our talk, as we shed some light on why it happened and dive into the details of Ben’s challenge to fight Putin, “Any Time, Any Place He Can't Have Me Arrested.”
Consider supporting us on patreon.com/IntheBunkerwithDarth,
Yours truly, Katie twitter.com/kshmatsina
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Darth & I are joined in bunker by Natalia Antonova. Natalia is an OSINT researcher, writer, playwright and close watcher of Russia. Based in DC, she's from Ukraine but also lived in Moscow for a number of years.
Listen and learn about Russian homo-romanticism, as opposed to homo eroticism, incels who hate women but love Putin, techbros who love Putin and sex offenders who also lvoe Putin. There's a fair few double meanings and Darth pointing out and important spelling point.
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In this episode Darth is joined by Maria Snegovaya. Maria is a post doc at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service, a Senior Fellow with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a Fellow at the Illiberalism Studies Program at George Washington University.
More interesting, the Kremlin declared her a foreign agent so Darth and her discuss Russian public opinion, what they think and know and the crazy stuff the Kremlin believes.
She decided to choose a drink not on the menu, presumably thinking she'd have a better chance of survival
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