Defense One Radio

Guests: Peter W. Singer, strategist at New America and the author of multiple books on technology and security, including Wired for War, Ghost Fleet, Burn-In, and LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media; And August Cole, non-resident senior fellow at the Scowcroft Center on Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council, and associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute working on AI and future warfare. With Singer, he is the co-author of Ghost Fleet and Burn In.  Both authors have teamed up again for a new monthly series on Defense One called "Fictional Intelligence," which explores the future of technology and warfare through the lens of short speculative fiction. The first story, "Mission ahead, heavens above," was published in February. 

This roundup includes developments from the following newsletters, which you can read in greater detail at the links below:  • Friday, Feb. 20 • Thursday, Feb. 19 • Wednesday, Feb. 18 • Tuesday, Feb. 17 And if you're not already subscribed, you can do that here.

This roundup includes developments from the following newsletters, which you can read in greater detail at the links below:  • Friday, Feb. 13 • Thursday, Feb. 12 • Wednesday, Feb. 11 • Tuesday, Feb. 10 • Monday, Feb. 9 And if you're not already subscribed, you can do that here.

This roundup includes developments from the following newsletters, which you can read in greater detail at the links below:  • Friday, Feb. 6 • Thursday, Feb. 5 • Wednesday, Feb. 4 • Tuesday, Feb. 3  • Monday, Feb. 2 And if you're not already subscribed, you can do that here.

This roundup includes developments from the following newsletters, which you can read in greater detail at the links below:  • Friday, Jan. 30 • Thursday, Jan. 29 • Wednesday, Jan. 28 • Tuesday, Jan. 27 • Monday, Jan. 26 And if you're not already subscribed, you can do that here.

A scholar of civil wars warns against repeating the past mistakes from U.S. military interventions abroad.  Guest: Monica Duffy Toft, director of the Center for Strategic Studies and a professor of international politics at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; her essay "Can the US 'run' Venezuela? Military force can topple a dictator, but it cannot create political authority or legitimacy" was published earlier this month in The Conversation.

A new audio roundup of leading national security news for the week ending January 23, 2026.  If you'd like to read our daily newsletter, The D Brief, you can find that here: https://www.defenseone.com/topic/The-d-brief/ And if you're not already subscribed, you can do that here: https://www.defenseone.com/newsletters/  Note: While we plan to use AI audio cloning in future "D Brief Weekly" episodes, we did not use it for this episode. 

CFR's Paul Stares unpacks the latest annual survey of foreign policy experts bracing for what might lie ahead.  Guest: Paul Stares, General John W. Vessey senior fellow for conflict prevention and director of the Center for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations. Read the 2026 Preventive Priorities Survey results published this week at CFR here.

The former Army Ranger explores how AI might reshape drone warfare, America's tech race with China, Russia's war in Ukraine, and much more. Guest: Paul Scharre, executive vice president at the Center for a New American Security and author of several books, including "Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence," and "Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War."

The Virginia Republican discusses the Pentagon's acquisition reforms, the defense secretary's legislative-affairs bottleneck, and his priorities for the upcoming spending bills. Guest: Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, in conversation with Defense One Executive Editor Bradley Peniston. 

A veteran of the National Security Council shares what the movie got right and wrong on U.S. missile defense and nuclear command and control.  Guest: Jon Wolfsthal, Director of Global Risk at the Federation of American Scientists.

Patrick Tucker explains what he learned during a recent trip to Eastern Europe.

A celebrated historian shares years of research into the quiet and not-so-quiet struggles of millions of American veterans returning home from World War II.  Guest: David Nasaw, historian, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of "The Wounded Generation: Coming Home After World War II." 

The EU's ambassador to the U.S. underscores the importance of the bloc's $910 billion defense plans known as Readiness 2030.  Guest: European Union Ambassador to the United States Jovita Neliupšienė.

Our editors explore the vibe, the headlines, the aircraft, the drones, and the other news coming out of the Air Force Association's big annual conference at National Harbor, Maryland. Guests: Tom Novelly, Defense One senior reporter covering air and space warfare; And Lauren C. Williams, Defense One senior editor.

A researcher unpacks recent adaptations in drone technology after more than three years of Russia's ongoing Ukraine invasion.  Guests: Sam Bendett, advisor in Russia Studies at the Virginia-based research organization CNA; And Patrick Tucker, Defense One science and technology editor.

A Munich-based developer with a new air-to-air counter-drone system shares insights into Europe's growing defense industry and recent lessons from Russia's Ukraine invasion.  Guest: Jan-Hendrik Boelens, co-founder and CEO of Alpine Eagle. 

A researcher uses his work with U.S. special operations forces to explain a new neuroscientific approach to intuition, imagination, emotion, and common sense. Guest: Angus Fletcher, Professor of Story Science at Ohio State University's Project Narrative. His latest book is called, "Primal Intelligence: You Are Smarter Than You Know," from Penguin Random House. 

Guest: Patrick Tucker, Defense One science and technology editor.  Read Tucker's recent reporting on the topic below:  Related reading: "New Golden Dome details emerge from industry day," Tucker reported on August 14;  "Pete Hegseth Doesn't Want to Talk About Golden Dome," former Naval War College professor Tom Nichols wrote for The Atlantic on August 8; "Lockheed Martin aims to test a missile-killing satellite by 2028," also via Tucker, reporting August 5; "Effects of Lower Launch Costs on Previous Estimates for Space-Based, Boost-Phase Missile Defense," May 5, via the Congressional Budget Office with an estimated total price tag for Golden Dome somewhere between $831 billion to $542 billion;  See also, "Trump wants a Golden Dome over America. Here's what it would take," via NPR's Geoff Brumfiel, reporting April 22.   Watch the futuristic, satirical news clips from 1987's "Robocop," via YouTube, here.  And you can find a trailer for the 1985 film, "Real Genius," also via YouTube, here. 

Guest: Journalist and writer Kevin Maurer, whose work focuses on U.S. special operations forces around the world. Read Maurer's report for Rolling Stone, "Here's What Trump's Mexico Invasion Plan Could Look Like."