The Dead Prussian Podcast

In this episode Mick chats with Dr. Aimée Fox, a teaching fellow in the history of warfare at the University of Birmingham. They discuss innovation in the British military during the First World war. They discuss common misconceptions about innovation and change in military forces as well as confirm whether or not Mulder and Scully were cooler than change agents.

Aimée also provides a new and interesting definition of war.

In this episode Mick sits down and has a coffee with August Cole, author of Ghost Fleet, a useful fiction thriller about the future of war. August discusses how fiction and narratives can drive innovation in national security and defence. Mick also asks August to discuss innovation and his project, The Art of Future War, that seeks to engage the creative mind in discussing how future war will evolve. August also gives a unique definition of war.

An easy 20 min episode for your mid week commute.

August Cole is an author and analyst specializing in national security issues.

He is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security at the Atlantic Council. He is the director of the Art of Future Warfare project, which explores narrative fiction and visual media for insight into the future of conflict. He is also writer-in-residence at Avascent, an independent strategy and management consulting firm focused on the defense and aerospace sectors.

His fiction writing tackles themes at the core of American foreign policy and national security in the 21st Century. His first book Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War, is a collaborative novel written with Peter W. Singer. This near-future thriller about the next world war was published in June 2015 by Eamon Dolan Books, a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt imprint. See more at www.ghostfleetbook.com.

In this episode Mick has a chat with Phil Walter about Force Structure vs Force Utility. They explore the concept of DIME (Diplomatic, Informational, Military, Economic) as a means of framing the levers of national power. Phil is able to summarise complex foreign policy issues as easily as he discusses the training program for a marine platoon. Mick just tries to keep up and throws in some history here and there.

Phil Walter has served in the military, the intelligence community, and the inter-agency. The views expressed here are those of the author alone and do not contain information of an official nature. He tweets @philwalter1058 and blogs at http://www.philwalter1058.com .

In this episode Mick has a chat with Dr Meghan Fitzpatrick, a defence analyst & researcher. The topic is war related nervous disorders in World War One. They focus their discussion specifically on the British Army and medical system. It is a topic that is as relevant to today's veterans as it was to those of the war to end all wars.

 Meghan also provides a definition of war.

In this episode Mick has a coffee and chat with Dr Huw Davies, a senior lecturer & historian at the Defence Studies Department, Kings College London. The topic is Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington and his influence on the strategic culture of 19th Century Britain. Mick attempts to confirm some of his 'populist' preconceptions about the Iron Duke whilst Huw is having none of it. 

It is a long listen, but one with an interesting topic and some great atmosphere.

In this episode Mick interviews debut author Carrie Morgan about her book, The Road Back from Broken. Carrie uses fiction as a way to explore contemporary veterans' issues and raise awareness in the broader community. Mick and Carrie also discuss some of the significant issues faces modern veterans. This week we will be turning to social media to discuss this episode further under the tag #thecostofwar.

There may not be much mention of Big Carl in this Episode, but don't fear Carrie is still gives a definition of War that'd make the old Staff Officer proud.

In this episode Mick talks with Dr Donald Stoker a professor at the US Naval War College in Monterey. Dr Stoker has written a biography of Carl Von Clausewitz, the famous 19th Century Prussian Officer whose work On War has influenced military thought for over 150 years. Their discussion highlights the career of Clausewitz and dispels the incorrect but popular idea that he was a mere academic. This episode brings the reconciles the reality of the man with his work, plus there are also a few laughs as they explore Big Carl's life.

In this episode Mick talks with Vanya Eftimova Bellinger, an author, who has written a biography of Marie Von Clausewitz, wife of the famous 19th Century Prussian Officer. Their discussion reveals the pivotal role Marie played in publishing Carl's magnum opus, On War, after his death. The discussion also reveals Marie's own significant achievements and the strength of the bond between Marie and Carl.

In the first Episode of The Dead Prussian Podcast Mick introduces himself, the podcast aims, and asks the question "What is War?"

Section One - Introduction to the Host (0:50 min)

The host of The Dead Prussian Podcast, Mick, introduces himself. He discusses his academic and professional background as well as what motivated him to produce this podcast. 

Section Two - The Podcast Aims (1:47 min)

Mick describes the aims of The Dead Prussian Podcast and the way these aims will be achieved. He also outlines some details on the format of future episodes.

Section Three - Explain the Title / Discuss Clausewitz (4:15 min)

Mick discusses the inspiration for the title of the podcast, Carl Von  Clausewitz. He  explains a who Clausewitz was and discusses his work, On War.

Section Four - What is war? (07:35 min)

Mick asks the question "What is War?and presents some the definitions offered by military theorists such as Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, Maurice Davie and Sir John Keegan.