Welcome back to Hell Cats.

In the finale of the series, Maura Sullivan and Rebecca Bennett ask the question that should sit under every fight we're having: what are we actually fighting for? They open on a war Congress won't own, eighteen service members killed with no defined mission or vote, and an economy squeezing families and small businesses. Then they turn to the country they believe is still possible: paid family leave, affordable housing, education, and healthcare, an America that out-innovates its competitors instead of drowning in bureaucracy, and a government that answers to voters instead of gerrymandered maps and unlimited money. They close on leadership, the coaches and mentors who shaped them, and a reminder that none of this future is guaranteed. We have to build it.

Thank you for being part of the first run of Hell Cats.

Production

Hell Cats is a production of Public Square Media in partnership with VALOR Media Network.

Executive Producer: Kristofer Goldsmith

Producer: Lauren Hust

Brought to you by Meidas Defense.

Welcome back to Hell Cats.

This week, Maura Sullivan and Rebecca Bennett ask what a country owes the people it asks to sacrifice. They hold that question up against the news, a costly war with Iran that Congress won't vote on, a Defense Secretary blocking some of the Navy's most qualified women while rolling out testosterone testing in the middle of that war, and a push to cut the disability benefits veterans already earned. They make the case that a nation that can't afford to take care of its veterans can't afford to go to war. 

Then they turn to something more hopeful: service has never belonged only to those in uniform, and rebuilding a culture of it, in classrooms, hospitals, nonprofits, and neighborhoods, from AmeriCorps to City Year, might be one of the few ideas that still crosses the political aisle. Along the way, a listener Q&A on the habits, and the hard-won lessons, that service leaves behind.

Look for more conversations ahead about the experiences, leadership, and service of women veterans.

Welcome back to Hell Cats.

This week, Maura Sullivan and Rebecca Bennett take on leadership as the thing it really is — responsibility for human lives — and hold that standard up against the news: the U.S. back at war with Iran with Congress still refusing to vote on it, a Defense Secretary lecturing his own generals, and ICE agents killing people on American streets with no accountability. They make the case that decisions about who gets sent into danger and who gets protected demand discipline, accountability, and moral courage, and that the people who've carried the cost belong in the rooms where the decisions are made. Along the way they trace the people who shaped how they lead, how becoming parents changed the way they think about responsibility, and the advocates giving them hope.

Look for more conversations ahead about the experiences, leadership, and service of women veterans.

Welcome back to Hell Cats.

This week, right after the Fourth of July, Maura Sullivan and Rebecca Bennett turn from their own stories to a bigger question: what does it actually mean to be patriotic in America right now? From Trump's approach to NATO and Ukraine to the Supreme Court's latest ruling on guns, the two veterans are clear-eyed about where the country's leadership is failing, and just as clear that the instincts service gave them — mission over self, and finding common ground with almost anyone — are what it needs more of. Along the way they share deployed Fourth of July memories, the pride of wearing the flag overseas, and the bipartisan veterans' caucus giving them hope, before they start taking listener questions.

Look for more conversations ahead about the experiences, leadership, and service of women veterans.

Welcome back to Hell Cats.

This week, the roles reverse. Maura sits down with her co-host, Rebecca Bennett, to trace her journey — from growing up in small-town Texas, to choosing Navy ROTC and the hardest engineering program she could find, to flying helicopters through the Strait of Hormuz, to becoming the eighteenth woman to qualify as a U.S. Navy test pilot. Along the way, they talk about why women's voices belong in equipment and policy decisions, what it takes to land a helicopter on a ship at night, and the disorienting work of building a life of service after leaving the military.

Look for more conversations ahead about the experiences, leadership, and service of women veterans.

Most Americans don't picture women like Maura Sullivan and Rebecca Bennett when they picture a military veteran. Hell Cats exists to change that. In this premiere, two women veterans whose lives have run on strikingly parallel tracks — a Marine and a Navy helicopter pilot, both ROTC, both deployed, both moms — start telling the stories of women who served, led, and kept serving long after they left the uniform.

The two go back further in spirit than in time: "We've had parallel lives, basically," Rebecca says — same ROTC start, same path into the military, same MBAs, same young kids at home. The first time they really compared notes, Maura's reaction said it all: "How did we not meet earlier?" This first conversation digs into Maura's journey — from a public-school kid who'd never seen a woman in the military, to a Marine officer who volunteered to deploy to Fallujah, to a presidential appointee fighting to fix veterans' health care, and beyond — with Rebecca pulling the thread as someone who's walked the same road.