

The Cove Podcast
The Cove
The Cove Podcast brings you candid, unfiltered conversations with the leaders, soldiers, and scholars shaping the Australian Army today. Each week, our host CAPT Todd Lempa sits down with uniformed officers and soldiers leading the change in the Australian Army as well as academics and international partners to unpack what modern warfare demands.
From redefining leadership and resilience in the modern Army to exploring lessons from combat operations, command culture, human performance, and the future of land power, The Cove Podcast reveals how the Australian Army thinks, learns, and fights. Whether it’s a Regimental Sergeant Major reflecting on combat, a general discussing Warrior Culture, or a psychologist unpacking mental readiness—each episode delivers a grounded look at the people and ideas driving the Australian Army forward.
Insightful, grounded, and authentic — this is where the Australian Army thinks out loud.
From redefining leadership and resilience in the modern Army to exploring lessons from combat operations, command culture, human performance, and the future of land power, The Cove Podcast reveals how the Australian Army thinks, learns, and fights. Whether it’s a Regimental Sergeant Major reflecting on combat, a general discussing Warrior Culture, or a psychologist unpacking mental readiness—each episode delivers a grounded look at the people and ideas driving the Australian Army forward.
Insightful, grounded, and authentic — this is where the Australian Army thinks out loud.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 3, 2021 • 44min
Brisbane Cove Conference 2021 | Military Ethics - LTCOL Tom McDermott
LTCOL McDermott conducts a presentation on Military Ethics at the Brisbane Cove Conference

Jun 3, 2021 • 49min
Brisbane Cove Conference 2021 | Ethics = Values squared - Professor Melinda Edwards
Professor Edwards from QUT conducts a presentation on Ethics at the Brisbane Cove Conference

Jun 3, 2021 • 1h 27min
Brisbane Cove Conference 2021 | Adolescent Learning Strategies - Colonel Brad Kilpatrick
Colonel Kilpatrick conducts a presentation on adolescent learning strategies at the Brisbane Cove Conference

Jun 3, 2021 • 50min
Brisbane Cove Conference 2021 | Putting Leadership Models to Work - Colonel Mal Brick
The first theme of 2021 'Knowing Yourself and Others as a Leader' has now concluded. The Cove team thanks all those who contributed articles and those who either organised or participated in the Brisbane Cove Conference.In this article you will find all the resources used to support this theme. As a reminder, The Cove are engaging in specific themes in a condensed period of time as this will allow for a breadth and depth of perspectives on a single topic to be presented at once. Ultimately, this may lead to better connection and appreciation of shared ideas and space for dialogue on a single theme.

Jun 3, 2021 • 30min
Cove Thoughts | Episode 2 - Achtung Twitter!
In this episode of Cove Thoughts, we are joined by Dr Emily Bienvenue from DST, Dr Zac Rogers from Flinders University, Clint Watts from the Foreign Policy Research Institute, MAJGEN Marcus Thompson from Information Warfare Division and Siobhan Heanue from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to talk about cognitive warfare, online manipulation and measures we can take to protect ourselves, our families and the Army from online threats.

Jun 3, 2021 • 36min
Cove Thoughts | Episode 1 - Lessons from Long Tan
As the years pass, and our veterans get older, there are fewer opportunities to hear their stories first hand. In this episode of Cove Thoughts, produced especially to commemorate the 2020 Vietnam Veterans' Day, we talk to David Sabben about his experiences as a platoon commander at the Battle of Long Tan.

Feb 11, 2019 • 25min
Occasional Podcast - Hall of Mirrors, Interview with Jim Storr
MR Jim Storr was interviewed by LTCOL Gregory Colton about his second book, Hall of Mirrors.

Dec 11, 2018 • 37min
Occasional Podcast - The Lavarack Papers hosted by Jessica Ward
In this podcast - we hear from a number of junior officers who contributed to the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment Lavarack papers.

Nov 19, 2018 • 59min
Interview with Major General Tim Cross CBE (Ret) ' The Changing Character of War'
In this Interview the Cove speaks with Major General Tim Cross on....

Jul 15, 2018 • 12min
7 RAR on Deployment: Episode Five - Warrant Officer Dean Close
In this final podcast we meet Warrant Officer Dean Close who deployed to Iraq from May to December 2016 as the Operations Warrant Officer and then as a member of the Training Team as part of Operation OKRA.


