Defense One Radio

Defense One's Audrey Decker speaks to Chief of the Space Force Gen. Chance Saltzman; and Defense One's Lauren Williams interviews Air Force Col. Michelle Idle, deputy commander of Space Systems Command. You can also watch either of these interviews on Defense One's events page, here.

The author and Marine veteran discusses the future of technology, the promise of AI, the perils of toxic politics, and other themes packed into his latest work of speculative fiction. Guest: Elliot Ackerman, co-author of "2054: A Novel," which was published on March 12. Find our previous discussions with Ackerman here: Ep. 107: The legacy of America's Afghan war; And Ep. 79: "2034: A Novel of the Next World War".

Audrey Decker unpacks the top news from this year's Air & Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium. Here's a roll-up of her reporting from the AFA symposium: Air Force announces major shakeup to prep for war with China; Air Force will narrow its pool of robot wingman vendors within 'next few months'; 'Unexpected' engineering slows price negotiations on USAF radar plane USAF plans stealthy tankers for 'extreme threat areas'; Lockheed vows steady F-35 production amid demand shifts And First Ukrainian F-16 pilots will complete training as soon as May.

How does the Kremlin force an entirely new reality on an occupied city? And how do Europeans feel about the invasion and U.S. hesitation to rearm Ukraine? Guests: Karolina Hird, analyst and Russia Deputy Team Lead at the Institute for the Study of War; Karin von Hippel is Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute. You can find Hird's recent report, "The Kremlin's Occupation Playbook: Coerced Russification and Ethnic Cleansing in Occupied Ukraine," here.

Guests: Bruce Hoffman, senior fellow for counterterrorism and homeland security at the Council on Foreign Relations; Jacob Ware, research fellow also at the Council on Foreign Relations. Their book "God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-right Terrorism in America" was published in January.

We review how the Iran-backed Houthis are disrupting global shipping in the Red Sea, and we look back at similar dynamics near the end of the so-called tanker wars of the late 1980s. Guests: Fabian Hinz, research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies; Patrick Tucker, science and technology editor at Defense One; And Bradley Peniston, Defense One executive editor.

We take stock of our last 12 months of interviews, featuring conversations with generals, White House officials, researchers, authors, our own reporters, and many more. Guests include: U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Joel "JB" Vowell, who at the time commanded the United States Army Japan; he is now commander of the ISIS-focused Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (from episode 115); Monica Toft, professor of international politics and the director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; and Sidita Kushi, assistant professor of political science at Bridgewater State University (from episode 116); Michael Knights, security analyst with the Washington Institute (from episode 124); Defense One's Sam Skove (from episode 125); Sam Bendett, advisor in Russian studies at CNA (from episode 126); Defense One's Patrick Tucker (from episode 129); Decker Eveleth, graduate research assistant at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California (from episode 130); Martin Pfeiffer, a PhD candidate in anthropology at the University of New Mexico (from episode 131); Patrick Tucker again (from episode 132); Sam Skove again (from episode 134); Cindy Cohn, Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation; and Joshua Geltzer is Deputy Assistant to President Joe Biden and Deputy Homeland Security Advisor at the National Security Council (from episode 135); And Barak Mendelsohn, Professor of Political Science at Haverford College in Philadelphia (from episode 138).

The Army's top buyer and the Pentagon's integration chief talk Ukraine, non-traditional suppliers, and more. Guests: Army Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology Doug Bush sat down with Defense One Global Business Editor Marcus Weisgerber. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Integration, and Interoperability Dave Tremper spoke with Defense One Technology editor Patrick Tucker.

Audrey Decker, Defense One staff reporter, discusses the impact of ongoing conflict on the Dubai Airshow, including the absence of the US military, empty booths of major Israeli defense firms, and Boeing's success. The podcast also covers the competition between Boeing and Airbus in the tanker market, uncertainties surrounding the pending $23 billion UAE deal, and Decker's unique experience in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

This episode, we discuss the daunting task of clearing Gaza City of Hamas as well as Israel's goal of crushing the group once and for all. Guests: Ret. Army Gen. Joseph Votel, distinguished senior fellow on national security at the Middle East Institute (beginning at the 2:15 mark); And Barak Mendelsohn, Professor of Political Science at Haverford College in Philadelphia (at 15:52).