War College
By Reuters
To listen to an audio podcast, mouse over the title and click Play. Open iTunes to download and subscribe to podcasts.
Description
A weekly look at the weapons systems and tactics that both endanger the world and keep it safe.
| Name | Description | Released | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
CleanWhy do people blow themselves up? Not for the reasons you think | Suicide attacks in Paris, Brussels, Orlando, Istanbul. And where to begin in Syria, Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, Israel? Further back, attacks in the United States, Mumbai. Nearly commonplace in Afghanistan and Yemen. Why? What are these young men... | 6/29/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
2 |
CleanIs it time to get rid of the Air Force? | Until 1947, the Air Force was part of the U.S. Army. Of course, even then, the Navy had its own airplanes launching from aircraft carriers, protecting the fleets and attacking the enemy largely at sea. Nowadays, the Army has helicopters and transport... | 6/16/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
3 |
CleanWhy is it so hard to come home from modern war? | There’s an argument to be made that humans evolved to fight each other – and to be good at it. But as the United States approaches its 15th straight year at war, rates of post-traumatic stress disorder are high. Many soldiers come home uncertain... | 6/10/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
4 |
CleanThe AC-130 gunship and a tragedy in Afghanistan | The United States keeps some very old, very strange-looking planes in its arsenal. But each serves a purpose. The A-10 Warthog provides close-air support to ground troops. The B-52 drops bombs, but is so large and easy to spot that it also sends a... | 6/2/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
5 |
CleanDARPA brought us the internet - mind control could be next | For a group of scientists working on weapons — some of which could end the world — DARPA has a surprisingly good reputation. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is credited with creating the Internet and runs public contests for... | 5/27/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
6 |
CleanWill there be war in the South China Sea? | If you’re looking for a place on the globe likely to spark a world war, you could do worse than the South China Sea. The United States, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan all have claims there. China is building artificial islands and... | 5/20/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
7 |
CleanMeet the women who went in with the Navy SEALs in Afghanistan | It was just this year that U.S. women were officially allowed in combat roles. That’s officially. But in Afghanistan, American women were on the front lines on night raids with commandos, including the Navy SEALs, six years ago. This week... | 5/12/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
8 |
CleanWhat does it mean to be a modern spy? | The days of spy vs. spy in the Cold War are long gone. Not only have enemies changed, but their methods and how they can be monitored have also developed. So what is the role of a human spy in today’s conflicts? In this week’s episode of War... | 5/6/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
9 |
CleanWhat makes Vladimir Putin so special? | An economy in deep trouble. A scandal involving billions in off-shore bank accounts and shell companies. Seemingly endless military entanglements. Sounds like a recipe to bring down any world leader. This week, War College looks at what makes Russian... | 4/29/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
10 |
CleanLike video games? You may be playing with government propaganda. | Video games are an industry worth tens of billions of dollars. Games make more money than Hollywood and the music industry combined. Video games can be great fun and even great art, but they can also be great propaganda. A new game called IS... | 4/21/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
11 |
CleanWho was pulling the strings when Ukraine unraveled? | When Ukraine pulled itself apart in 2014, the world was confused over who was doing the pulling. Was the takeover of Luhansk, Donetsk and other regional capitals all part of a Russian plan, or a local movement? This week on War College,... | 4/14/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
12 |
CleanWhy the F-35 may not stink | This week on War College we're diving into the weeds on how weapons systems come into existence. Andrea Shalal, Reuters’ longtime aerospace correspondent, takes us through the steps. She also gives a counterpoint to the show’s very first... | 4/7/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
13 |
CleanHe had bin Laden in his sights, but no trigger to pull | Just months before the Sept. 11 attacks, Scott Swanson was piloting an early version of the Predator drone over Afghanistan. Swanson and his team were looking for Osama bin Laden and it looked like they found him. The predator, though, was unarmed.... | 3/29/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
14 |
CleanCaught in a draft: Where military service can last forever | This week on War College, we’re talking about a secretive nation where everyone serves in the military – and not just for a year or two. In fact, once you get pulled into service in Eritrea, you could be serving for a decade or more. And... | 3/17/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
15 |
CleanThe sniper’s role: Battlefield sinner or savior? | Snipers play a key role in the world’s armies. They target commanders on the opposing side and other targets with an outsize impact. Working by themselves, they can pin down a group, creating fear and confusion. This week on War College we look... | 3/10/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
16 |
CleanCan NATO still put up a fight against Russia? | With Vladimir Putin and the United States staring at each other like the gunfighters in the final scene in the "Good, the Bad and the Ugly," War College takes a fresh look at NATO. We wanted to know what kind of shape the nearly 70-year-old alliance... | 3/3/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
17 |
CleanWhy closing Gitmo isn't an open-and-shut case | President Barack Obama laid out a plan to close the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison this week. Even if it were to close by the time Obama leaves office, it will have been open for 15 years. So, why is the prison still open, and what would it take... | 2/25/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
18 |
CleanIs the Syrian war partly an ad for Russian arms sales? | Russia is pulling out all the stops in showing off new weaponry — especially in Syria. Nick de Larrinaga, an expert at Jane’s Defense Weekly, joins the show and explains that the display of force is about more than... | 2/18/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
19 |
CleanHow Garry Kasparov sees the chess match between Russia and the West | Garry Kasparov, a Russian opposition leader who was ranked as the world's best chess player for most of 20 years, has a problem with the West’s response to Vladimir Putin’s Russia and warns of the dangers of the nation's global influence.... | 2/9/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
20 |
CleanSurprising changes underway for Israel’s army | Israel’s defense forces are among the world’s elite. Their training methods are widely copied, actions taken by their soldiers and pilots are legendary. The Raid on Entebbe, the Six Day War, the 1981 air strike that took out a nuclear... | 2/4/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
21 |
CleanWhy the Saudi-Iran showdown is a gift to ISIS | Saudi Arabia executes a cleric who is a member of the Saudi Shi’ite minority. Iran’s government, which sees itself as the leader of the Shi’ite world, doesn’t work very hard to stop an attack on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran that... | 1/28/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
22 |
CleanOil's long good-bye and what comes next | Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia has used natural gas as a weapon against Ukraine and Europe as a whole. Threatening to turn shut off the pipes as the weather turns cold is a pretty effective way to influence foreign policy. But now it... | 1/20/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
23 |
CleanWhy in the world is the 60-year-old B-52 bomber still flying? | North Korea sets off a nuclear bomb and how does the U.S. respond? The Pentagon sends a 65-year-old airplane to buzz Korean airspace. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense if the warplane wasn’t the B-52 bomber. Designed in the aftermath of... | 1/12/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
24 |
CleanIn North Korea, kids learn to love the bomb - and Minnie Mouse | North Korea is the most mysterious and oppressive regime on earth. Few journalists penetrate Pyongyang and fewer still stay long enough to understand the country and its people. Jean Lee is one of those determined few. And she’s seen some... | 1/8/2016 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
25 |
CleanThe women warriors giving ISIS nightmares | Islamic State has many enemies, both around the world and in the Middle East. But there’s one group of fighters that the men of Islamic State fear more than others because, rumors say, to be killed by them doesn’t lead to martyrdom, but to... | 12/16/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
26 |
CleanWhat will cause the next Holocaust? | The conditions necessary to allow genocide – to provide one group the psychological “permission” to kill another en masse – come together all too often, in Europe during World War II, in Rwanda, in Bosnia, in Cambodia. This... | 12/9/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
27 |
Clean'Nothing is real, anything is possible': How Putin's propaganda machine works | The media in Russia is lively, often entertaining and largely state controlled. Still, an illusion of freedom remains key for the Kremlin to maintain its grasp over a country that spans 11 time zones. In this episode of War College, we look at... | 12/1/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
28 |
CleanWhy the U.S. sticks with an ineffective strategy against Islamic militants | Predator and Reaper drones hang in the sky above Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq and Syria. Mostly they observe, search for targets – and occasionally they unleash Hellfire missiles. Targets may be large gatherings of suspicious figures, convoys or... | 11/24/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
29 |
CleanOne phrase from Saudi clerics could begin the end of Islamic State | The recent terror attacks in Paris shook the world and put the focus back on Islamic State. This week on War College, we talk with American Special Operations intelligence veteran Malcolm Nance. Nance literally wrote the textbook on Iraq’s... | 11/19/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
30 |
CleanThe true horrors of living under Islamic State | Many in the West think of the Islamic State as a loose collection of fighters -- rabble who kill, loot and burn. But the truth is more complex, though no less terrifying. Islamic State actually governs the territory it takes and it’s not... | 11/11/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
31 |
CleanWhat makes a historical arsonist? | A conversation with Dan Carlin | 11/3/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
32 |
CleanGet a look inside the secretive world of U.S. Special Ops | America’s Special Operations Forces have become instrumental in the war against radical Islam. But few in America know their story or how they operate. Sean Naylor wants to change that. His new book, Relentless Strike: The Secret History of... | 10/28/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
33 |
CleanMost of Russia's military still 'rubbish' despite Ukraine, Syria deployments | The annexation of Crimea, the war in eastern Ukraine and the military operation in Syria present the image of a confident Russian President Vladimir Putin willing to expend military power for political gain. The truth, according to Dr. Mark Galeotti... | 10/20/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
34 |
CleanHow the machine gun brought modern war to the world | None of the world’s great powers were ready for the carnage World War I. The armies of 1914 looked a lot like the armies of 1814 … but they didn’t go to war with 19th century weapons. The modern world was born in blood on the... | 10/14/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
35 |
CleanComing soon, a pizza that stays fresh for three years - courtesy of the U.S. Army | The need for armies, both ancient and modern, to travel long distances to thwart enemies and take territory has made militaries one of the driving factors behind food science. | 9/30/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
36 |
CleanThe AK-47, a weapon so simple, even a child can use it - and they do | It’s the world’s most famous weapon, popular with soldiers, insurgents and video gamers alike. As many as 100 million of the world's guns are descended from Mikhail Kalashnikov's original Avtomat Kalashnikova, first prototyped in 1947. How... | 9/23/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
37 |
CleanWho are Europe’s migrants, and do they pose a threat? | War College talks to author and journalist Robert Young Pelton talks about the waves of immigrants washing up on the shores of Europe and why things have gotten worse in the last few months. | 9/15/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
38 |
CleanJust how strong is Iran’s military? | This week’s War College examines the state of Iran’s conventional military, as well as its guiding strategies. Jason Fields, Matthew Gault and Robert Beckhusen also discuss the likely impact of the nuclear treaty on its regular forces. | 9/9/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
39 |
CleanWhat a real war in space might look like | There are approximately 1,000 satellites currently in orbit, but how many of them are really weapons in disguise? | 9/2/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
40 |
CleanWhat nuclear strategy? World powers play dangerous game by ear | This week’s War College looks at nuclear threats around the world and whether U.S. strategy has kept up. Thomas Nichols, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, says it hasn’t and explains why that makes the world a more dangerous place. | 8/25/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
41 |
CleanWeird weapons of Vietnam: Combat tree houses, a nuclear rifle and more | This week War College looks at some of the weirdest weapons that the U.S. military came up with for use during the Vietnam War. While the nuclear rifle didn’t go anywhere, another invention can be found at raves around the world. | 8/18/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
42 |
CleanHow China’s military might matches up with the United States | To understand just how strong China’s military really is, it’s important to understand its true mission and objectives. And those are very different from what the United States is trying to accomplish around the globe. | 8/11/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
43 |
CleanWill drones get too smart for humanity's own good? | Drones linger over battlefields all over the world, and over places that don’t realize that they’re battlefields until the Hellfire missiles strike. | 8/4/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
|
44 |
CleanAmerica’s Joint Strike Fighter flies into a world of trouble | The United States plans to replace all of its fighter jets with the F-35 in the next decade or so, at a cost estimated to be at least $1 trillion. But the plane’s development hasn’t been smooth. So, is the Pentagon’s plan the smart... | 7/28/2015 | Free | View In iTunes |
| 44 Items |
Customer Reviews
Interesting topics
I’ve listened to about a half-dozen episodes and most have been interesting. Not having expertise in the topics, find the casual discussion informative with more background and depth than a typical newspaper or magazine article. Although this is produced by Reuters, the discussion is not necessarily neutral. Some of the guests express strong opinions.
War College
Overall very interesting. Great topics both historical and current . Please keep them coming.
Only rated 4 stars because the goofy drum music sounds like the intro to some vegan natural birthing mommies podcast. Jarringly un scholarly nor militaristic.
Probably my Favorite
This is an excellent Podcast. Wide range of topics, fascinating analysis and discussion, and great guests.
Listeners also subscribed to
- War on the Rocks
- War on the Rocks
- View In iTunes
- Covert Contact: The Blogs of War Podcast
- John W. Little
- View In iTunes
- Foreign Affairs Unedited
- Foreign Affairs
- View In iTunes
- FP's The Editor's Roundtable (The E.R.)
- Foreign Policy /Panoply
- View In iTunes
- War Studies
- Department of War Studies
- View In iTunes