The General & the Journalist
Episodes
Fear and loathing in Moscow - Putin, Iran and a coup?
26 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Kremlin's treasury runneth-over with oil revenues, Moscow's military is being treated to a lesson in the latest US warfare in real time, and the w...
'As big as the Berlin Wall and 9/11': Peter Frankopan on the Iran war
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
World-renowned historian Peter Frankopan joins Tom and Patrick to dissect the escalating conflict in Iran through the lens of ancient history and shif...
What is Trump’s off-ramp for Iran?
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We are in the second week of a war that was supposed to be over by now. Yet the world is facing soaring oil prices, rising inflation and a regime whic...
How does America win a war with Iran?
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump has given sundry reasons for America's war on Iran. But if a clear objective cannot be defined, can that war be won? Admiral James 'Sa...
‘War with Russia in three years’, defence minister and ex-marine
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Two years ago, Al Carns was a colonel in the Royal Marines and, though he can never confirm or deny it, had also commanded the Special Boat Service.&n...
Why Poland is becoming Europe's new superpower
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A post-Soviet basketcase in the 1990s, Poland is now arguably Russia’s greatest adversary in Nato. Beginning with the annexation of Crimea in 2...
Reservists: your country needs YOU!
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
If the UK is to present a credible deterrence to any adversary, its armed forces need to be sufficiently large. They are not. And the fastes...
What happens to warfare when AI 'superintelligence' takes over?
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In the space race and the arms race, only a human could determine an outcome. But what happens to warfare when AI, and not a human, takes the decision...
Trump v Iran: what MAGA and the military are saying
01 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Our colleagues at The Times this week launched an American edition of their superb UK politics pod, The State of It. We thought you might want to hear...
Xi versus Japan and his generals
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Xi Jinping has effectively removed the last remaining rival power-base in Beijing. Until this weekend, Zhang Youxia was the highest ranking general in...
Are America and Europe divorcing?
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In a week that's marked an inflection point in European history and transatlantic relations, Tom and Patrick discuss whether the two continents' world...
Iran: Should Trump intervene, and how?
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
While President Trump ponders when, whether and how to take action against Tehran, Tom and Patrick discuss the options available to him, ranging from ...
Venezuela: where next for Trump?
07 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
With Maduro gone and Venezuela seemingly bending to Trump’s will, the world is now asking who will be next and where will it stop? General Jack Kean...
Why the west has one year to see off a polycrisis
01 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this New Year edition of The General and the Journalist, Tom and Patrick explore the idea of a looming 'polycrisis', a convergence of geopolitical,...
Q&A: From rogue Nato states to British fighting power, your biggest questions answered
25 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For their Christmas special, Tom and Patrick turn the entire show over to you. They answer as many listener questions as possible that have landed in ...
Is the UK finally stepping up to the Russian threat?
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we heard two strikingly blunt speeches from the UK’s most senior defence and intelligence chiefs, both aimed at recalibrating how Britain...
A continent prepares for war. Here's how it's done
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Europe is rearming at a pace not seen in decades, from the Baltics to France, where President Macron has called for a new era of “mobilisation,” s...
On the frontline of Nato's cyber war with Russia
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cyber warfare is played out in the shadows, never declared and never attributed. But, as the General in charge of Nato's cyber operations tells T...
What's Trump really doing in Venezuela?
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The largest deployment of US naval assets since the Cold War has been sent steaming across the Atlantic for the Venezuelan coast. The CIA has reported...
BONUS: Is peace coming to Ukraine?
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An American 28-point peace plan, widely regarded to have been made in Moscow, was countered by a 24-point plan from the Europeans, minus the 'capitula...
Inside the Pentagon's nuclear war game
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist Annie Jacobsen joins Tom to discuss her bestselling and harrowing book Nuclear War: A Scenario, which maps out in minute-by-minute detail w...
The Generals vs The Lawyers
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's warfare or lawfare, but it can't be both. Patrick and Tom chat with General Sir Nick Parker, Patrick's friend and mentor of old, to talk about a ...
Meet Skyfall and Poseidon, Putin’s new nuclear threats
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the space of only three days, President Putin announced the arrival of two new super weapons. Both powered by nuclear reactors, they have...
“A cauldron of pressure”, reporting from Ukraine’s frontline
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For three and a half years, BBC correspondent James Waterhouse was the face of the Ukraine war, reporting nightly from Kyiv through air raids, blackou...
How does a war over Taiwan play out?
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While trade wars hog the headlines ahead of next week's historic meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, it's the potential of a real, kinetic wa...
Undersea cables: just how close is Russia to causing a catastrophic disaster?
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While Nato looks up at the skies to Russian drones buzzing its airspace, a far more serious threat lurks below, on our ocean beds. And evidence is mou...
What does the military do when a president goes rogue?
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As President Trump orders the Texas National Guard into Chicago, America stands poised on the brink of a constitutional crisis. With troops already st...
Putin’s drones probe Nato's defensive lines
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A wave of drones targeting airports, threatening critical infrastructure and potentially endangering the lives of civilians brought a number of Nato c...
India the new giant: will it be forced to pick a side?
24 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Patrick and Tom turn their attention to India - the world’s most populous country, a rising military power, and a state determined to hol...
Whose wars do we care about and why, with war reporter Anthony Loyd
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week Tom is joined by award-winning war correspondent Anthony Loyd for a special “Journalist & Journalist” edition. Together, they explor...
China’s power: Is Xi's strategy to supplant the West working? (Part 2)
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Patrick and Tom turn from China’s military power to its less visible, but no less powerful, tools of economic dominance. Their guest, Sam...
China’s power: The PLA vs the USA (Part 1)
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The People’s Liberation Army put on one of the largest military displays in China’s modern history this week as the country marked the 80th annive...
The story of Ukraine's heroic 'Iron People'
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Tom and Patrick take you inside Ukraine’s railways, the country’s lifeline since the full-scale Russian invasion began. With over 20,00...
Why Trump doesn't understand Putin, with Gen Sir Nick Carter
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sir Patrick's away this week, so Tom persuaded another four-star General, the UK's former Chief of the Defence Staff, Sir Nick Carter, to join hi...
What is the Israeli strategy for Gaza?
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tom and Patrick discuss Israel’s new Gaza strategy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set a controversial new goal - the full occupation of Gaza...
The future of war, with U.S. General James Rainey
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Patrick and Tom sit down with General James E. Rainey, the head of the United States Army Futures Command, to discuss what the wars of tomorrow will l...
Was British involvement in Afghanistan worth it?
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been four years since the Taliban retook control of Kabul, marking the end of the UK’s 20-year military presence in Afghanistan. This week, P...
What's happening to the Ukrainian children taken by Russia?
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tom and Patrick have been in Ukraine updating the story of the tens of thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia following their full-scale i...
Andriy Yermak: The second most powerful man in Ukraine
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While in Ukraine, Tom and Patrick sit down with President Zelensky’s Head of Office, Andriy Yermak. A long-time friend and trusted advisor to Volody...
Where will Russia attack next?
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Patrick and Tom have both been in countries where there is a very strong feeling that President Putin won’t stop with Ukraine: Tom in Poland and Pat...
A new age of nuclear weapons
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Patrick and Tom unpack a troubling question - are we entering a third nuclear age? With Iran’s nuclear programme back in the headlines and countries...
The Nato summit - waving or drowning?
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A behind the scenes look at the 2025 NATO Summit. The summit was billed as a turning point—Secretary General Mark Rutte even called it a “quantum ...
Iran and Israel - how does this end?
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
During an unprecedented war between Iran and Israel, and ahead of the much anticipated Nato summit next week, Lord Robertson, former Secretary General...
The shadowy world of targeted killings
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A pattern is seemingly emerging with a series of high profile targeted killings taking place inside Russian territory, blamed on Ukrainian forces. Thi...
The Strategic Defence Review
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Britain unveils a new and ambitious Strategic Defence Review outlining ways to make Britain battle-ready in the years and decades ahead. But is time a...
Can Ukraine survive if President Trump walks away?
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, President Trump said in reference to the war in Ukraine: "I think something’s going to happen. And if it doesn’t, I just back away and ...
Simon Case: If you want peace, prepare for war
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Simon Case, the former Cabinet Secretary examines how much Britain should be spending on defence “right now” to protect ourselves against spiralli...
Introducing - The General & the Journalist
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A new podcast on the intricacies of geopolitics in an age of uncertainty at a time when conflict is never far from the headlines. Patrick and Tom - th...