Today, I spoke with Will Storr, who is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in titles such as The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The New Yorker and The New York Times. He is the author of six critically acclaimed books, including ‘Selfie: How the West became self-obsessed’, ‘The Heretics: Adventures with the enemies of science’, as well as the Sunday Times Bestseller ‘The Science of Storytelling’.

He also recently published the book 'The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It' and he joins me today to explore how status influences our behaviour, relationships, and how it contributes to so much of what’s good as well as bad in our world.

Some of the topics we covered are:

• The Significance of Status: Understanding Its Purpose and Implications

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Today, I spoke with Robert Hartley, who is a former Australian Army Officer who served for 12 years in the Artillery Corps before transitioning to a civilian career in the technology sector. During his time in the military, Robert deployed on exchange with the British Army on Operation Herrick XII (12) to Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2010. In his civilian life, Robert has worked for a number of technology companies, including Microsoft, before joining a start-up where he is an Executive Director.

Robert joins me today to discuss his life in the Army, how his deployment to Helmand resulted in a PTSD diagnosis, as well as his journey to recovery, which includes being part of the ketamine program that I discussed at length with Dr Alex Lim a few episodes ago.

Things we covered include:

• Rob’s entry into the Army and the Artillery Corps

During this discussion, we referred to the following previous episodes:

Ashley Judd – On combat, mental health and the road to recovery

Dr Alex Lim - On veterans’ mental health: the good, the bad and the promising

Given the nature of this discussion, and the fact that many in our audience are veterans, there is a risk that elements of this episode might be difficult listening for some. If this is the case, I encourage you to seek help through one of the many channels nowadays available, some of which are listed below (Australian audiences only):

All-hours Support Line

(1800 628 036 / +612 9425 3878 if O/S)

Open Arms (VVCS)

1800 011 046

https://www.openarms.gov.au/

1800 IMSICK

(1800 624 608)

Defence Community Organisation (DCO)

Defence Family Helpline

1800 624 608

http://www.defence.gov.au/dco/

Lifeline

13 11 14

https://www.lifeline.org.au

Suicide Call back service

1300 659 467

https://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au

Soldier On

1300 620 380

www.soldieron.org.au

Today, I spoke with Dr Christopher Coyne, who is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University and the Associate Director of the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center.

He is the author of five books and numerous academic articles, book chapters, and policy studies. He joins me today to discuss his latest book, In Search of Monsters to Destroy: The Folly of American Empire and the Paths to Peace (2022), which is a pragmatic and unashamedly critical appraisal of American foreign policy.

Some of the things we talked about are:

• Chris’ background and entry into academia and

Previous episodes that address similar topics and were referenced in this discussion include:

• Samuel Moyn - On ‘Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War‘

My guest today is Dr Elizabeth Boulton, who is an eco-military theorist with Destination Safe Earth, and a research affiliate with the ‘Climate Change & (In)Security Project’ which is a collaboration between the University of Oxford, the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research (CHACR) and the British Army.

My guest today is Amos Fox, who is an officer in the US Army with more than 24 years of service in uniform. Amos has written extensively on war and conflict over the past decade, producing over 60 publications. His work focuses on causal mechanisms to explain patterns in armed conflict. Much of Amos’ current writing addresses proxy war, land warfare, the Russo-Ukrainian War, and military thinking.

He joined me to discuss some of his views on the state of Western military thinking, particularly our potential over-reliance on the concept of manoeuvre warfare. Some of the topics we covered are:

• Amos’ background in the military and path into academia

During our chat, I made reference to my conversation with Marc Garlasco, Chief of High Value Targeting at the Pentagon between 1997 and 2003 where he led targeting teams during operations Iraqi Freedom, Desert Fox, and Allied Force. You can find that episode here.

Additionally, you can find all the articles Amos mentioned at the links below:

"Moving Beyond Mechanical Metaphors: Debunking the Applicability of Centers of Gravity in 21st Century Warfare," The Strategy Bridge, https://thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge/2017/6/2/moving-beyond-mechanical-metaphors-debunking-the-applicability-of-centers-of-gravity-in-21st-century-warfare. 

"Ukraine and Proxy War: Improving Ontological Shortcomings in Military Thinking," Association of the United States Army, Land Warfare Paper 148, https://www.ausa.org/sites/default/files/publications/LWP-148-Ukraine-and-Proxy-War-Improving-Ontological-Shortcomings-in-Military-Thinking.pdf

"Maneuver is Dead? Understanding the Conditions and Components of Warfighting," RUSI Journal, https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2022.2058601.

"On Sieges," RUSI Journal, https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2021.1924077.

"The Reemergence of the Siege: An Assessment of Trends in Modern Land Warfare," Institute of Land Warfare, Land Power Essay 18-2, https://www.ausa.org/sites/default/files/LPE-18-2-The-Reemergence-of-the-Siege-An-Assessment-of-Trends-in-Modern-Land-Warfare.pdf.

"Sieges in Modern War," Presentation delivered at Harvard Law School, 31 March-1 April 2021, http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.31870.25929. 

Lastly, Amos has extended an invite to anyone who may with to take this conversation further to email him on [email protected].

This a reminder that The Voices Of War is transitioning to a subscription model from February. More info here.

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My guest today is Dr Samir Puri, who is a visiting lecturer in War Studies at King’s College London and has previously taught at Cambridge and John Hopkins.

He joined me for a deep dive into his two most recent books. The first one, ‘The Great Imperial Hangover: How Empires Have Shaped the World’, explores how empires of the past still influence geopolitics today. And the second one, ‘Russia’s Road to War with Ukraine: Invasion amidst the ashes of empires’, published in late August, explores the role of imperialism in Putin’s ultimate decision to invade Ukraine and traces Ukraine’s fate as a nation caught in a geopolitical tug-of-war between Russia and the West.

Samir has also served as an international observer at five Ukrainian elections, including during the Orange Revolution in 2004. Soon after the first Donbas war began in 2014, he spent a year in east Ukraine working on both sides of the front line as part of an international ceasefire monitoring mission. Since Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine, Samir’s analyses of the war have been featured by the BBC, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, and other media outlets.

Some of the topics we discussed are:

• Samir’s background and how it influenced his academic interests

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This a reminder that The Voices Of War is transitioning to a subscription model from February. More info here.

Those wishing to subscribe can already do so here.

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Today, I’m speaking with Professor Greg Barton, who is a Research Professor in Global Islamic Politics at Deakin University. Greg is one of Australia’s leading scholars of radicalisation, terrorism and countering violent extremism. He is frequently interviewed by the Australian and international media on these topics as well as on Indonesia and the politics of the Muslim world.

He joins me today for a deep dive into radicalisation, extremism, and terrorism as well as their causes and potential solutions.

Some of the topics we explored are:

• Greg’s background and research in countering violent extremism (CVE)

Professor Greg Barton podcasts, understanding radicalisation podcasts, radicalisation podcasts 2023, understanding extremism podcast 2023, Professor Greg Barton podcasts, professor greg barton podcast on terrorism

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My guest today is Dr Alexander YC Lim, who is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine with the Queensland Brain Institute. He is a Psychiatrist in private practice, and now almost exclusively looks after members of the Australian Defence Force, the Australian Federal Police, and the veteran community more broadly.

In 2019, Dr Lim set up Australia’s first integrated ketamine program for veterans, known as the ReVive Ketamine Program. Starting in February 2023, this program will become the subject of an ethics-approved clinical study into the long-term effectiveness and safety of ketamine for treatment-resistant depression and treatment-resistant PTSD.

Dr Lim joined me today to discuss some of the mental health challenges faced by our veteran community and to shed light on some emerging treatments that could aid them on their path to wellness.

Some of the topics we covered are:

• Dr Lim’s entry into psychiatry and veteran mental health

As mentioned in the introduction, you can find Australian Defence Force personnel suicide statistics here.