School of War - Nebulous Media

Latest Episodes:

Ep 107: John Orloff on Masters of the Air Jan 23, 2024

Show notes

John Orloff, creator, writer and co-executive producer of Apple TV+’s Masters of the Air, joins Aaron to talk about the new show highlighting the WWII experiences of the men of the 100th Bomb Group, a part of the 8th Air Force’s strategic bombing campaign over Europe. Masters of the Air streams January 26th only on Apple TV+.

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Times

02:25 Introduction
03:00 Getting started
05:45 Band of Brothers
12:56 Finding the story
19:44 Masters of the Air
24:37 Core characters
30:12 Group level
32:11 Influences
37:38 Production challenges
40:25 Procedure as drama
43:50 Unique trauma
48:20 Casting

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Ep 106: John McManus on the U.S. Army’s Pacific War Jan 16, 2024

Show notes

John McManus, author of To the End of the Earth: The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945 and host of the We Have Ways of Making You Talk in the USA podcast, joins the show to talk about why the U.S. Army’s war in the Pacific during WWII merit deeper study and recognition.

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Times

• 02:12 Introduction

• 03:57 Lessons to be learned

• 05:32 The Army from Pearl to Tokyo

• 08:50 Winds of change

• 14:07 Europe first

• 21:16 Taiwan or the Philippines?

• 27:55 Battleground Manila

• 30:48 Bleeding the Americans

• 34:56 Failures in China

• 40:33 Chiang Kai-shek

• 45:07 Okinawa

• 48:06 Operation Downfall

• 52:24 Revisionist and reductionist history

• 55:19 Required reading

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Ep 105: Dmitry Filipoff on Modern Naval Tactics Jan 09, 2024

Show notes

Dmitry Filipoff, head of online content at the Center for International Maritime Security, joins the show to talk about modern naval tactics and the readiness of the U.S. Navy for a surface engagement with the PLA Navy.

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Times

• 01:26 Introduction

• 02:48 Evolution in naval warfare

• 05:46 Historical comps

• 08:01 Lessons from the Red Sea

• 09:37 Anti-ship missiles

• 12:16 DMO - Distributed Maritime Operations

• 15:00 What is the surface Navy’s purpose?

• 20:00 Massing fires

• 22:33 Defeating missile defenses

• 29:25 Scarcity and the network

• 34:12 Can the dynamic change?

• 37:13 Aircraft carriers

• 40:14 Is the U.S. Navy ready?

• 44:36 Exercises

• 47:51 Institutional knowledge

• 49:38 Is the PLAN ready?

A FLEET ADRIFT: THE MOUNTING RISKS OF THE U.S. NAVY’S FORCE DEVELOPMENT

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Ep 104: Peter Feaver on “Wokeness,” Politics, and the Military Jan 02, 2024

Show notes

Peter Feaver, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Duke University and author of Thanks For Your Service: The Causes and Consequences of Public Confidence in the US Military, joins the show to talk about the state of civil-military relations in America, and to call for a truce on the issue of “wokism.”

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Times

• 01:46 Introduction

• 2:40 Precedents

• 4:18 Citizen soldier to today

• 11:40 Expanding fissures

• 18:46 Downsides to a high approval rating

• 25:04 Isolationism and “wokeness”

• 33:56 Sloppy discourse

• 38:16 An echo of the ’90s

• 41:11 Progress

• 48:28 Race/Sexuality/Gender

• 55:03 A bit of Sparta in Athens

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Ep 103: Sean Mirski on American Hegemony Dec 19, 2023

Show notes

Sean Mirski, author of We May Dominate the World: Ambition, Anxiety, and the Rise of the American Colossus, joins the show to talk about how the United States came to its global position and China’s attempts to match it.

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Times

• 01:40 Introduction

• 2:22 An accidental project

• 6:41 The view from Washington

• 13:18 American paranoia

• 16:43 Post Civil War Mexico

• 22:04 Smedley Butler

• 24:46 The problem of order

• 31:12 After WWI

• 33:04 Strategic vulnerabilities

• 38:32 Regional hegemony

• 44:51 A desire to dominate

• 48:36 A lesson and a warning

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Ep 102: Paul Edgar on the Warfare of the Ancient Near East Dec 12, 2023

Show notes

Paul Edgar, Executive Director of the Clements Center for National Security at the University of Texas-Austin, a veteran of the U.S. Army, and a scholar of ancient Near Eastern warfare, joins the show to talk about war and peace in the old days—the very old days.

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Times

• 02:58 Introduction

• 10:07 Olmsted

• 16:00 The Bronze Age

• 22:07 Verifying history

• 27:12 Idrimi

• 35:03 How did they fight?

• 39:46 Tactics of the time

• 42:34 Continuities in geopolitics

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Ep 101: Iskander Rehman on Wars of Protraction Dec 05, 2023

Show notes

Iskander Rehman, Ax:son Johnson Fellow at SAIS’s Kissinger Center and author of Planning for Protraction: A Historically Informed Approach to Great-power War and Sino-US Competition, joins the show to talk about how future wars might be more a test of national endurance than expected.

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Times

• 01:56 Introduction

• 04:01 Sharp and short wars

• 09:07 After the first salvo

• 12:33 Geography as a predictor

• 15:21 Will nuclear deterrence work?

• 21:16 “An informationized local war”

• 25:13 What matters in protracted wars

• 28:59 Innovation and adaptation

• 33:51 The role of national leadership in protracted conflict

• 38:49 Sino-U.S. competition

• 44:50 Absorbing massive casualties

• 48:06 Polybius

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Ep 100: Alexander Mikaberidze on Ridley Scott’s Napoleon Nov 28, 2023

Show notes

Alexander Mikaberidze, Professor of History and Ruth Herring Noel Endowed Chair at Louisiana State University and author of The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History, joins the show to talk about director Ridley Scott’s Napoleon.

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Times

• 02:54 Introduction

• 04:52 First reactions

• 08:18 Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon

• 15:12 Propaganda of the time

• 17:14 No invention needed

• 21:22 Wellington and Talleyrand

• 23:24 Napoleon: Master Tactician

• 27:35 Waterloo

• 33:45 Josephine and Elba

• 35:44 More Napoleon content

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Ep 99: Nicholas Morton on the Mongol Invasions Nov 21, 2023

Show notes

Nicholas Morton, associate professor of history at Nottingham Trent University and author of The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East, joins the show to talk about the Mongol invasions.

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Times

• 01:40 Introduction

• 02:15 Central Asia before the Mongols

• 04:15 Mongol methods

• 09:15 Sailing the Eurasian Steppe

• 13:54 Temujin

• 18:38 A dearth of sources

• 21:50 Khwarazmian Empire

• 26:40 The Mongol secret

• 32:03 Selective savagery

• 36:30 The Near East

• 40:15 Mamluks

• 42:03 Mongol rule

• 45:17 Lasting effects

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Ep 98: Matthew Waxman on the Israel, Hamas, and the Law of Armed Conflict Nov 14, 2023

Show notes

Matthew Waxman, Liviu Librescu Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, joins the show to talk about what’s lawful on the battlefield, what’s not, and how the laws of war apply to Israel and Hamas.

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Times

• 01:49 Introduction

• 02:25 What is the law of war?

• 05:05 How does it all work?

• 08:15 What does it matter?

• 11:06 A rule of law society

• 12:16 10/7

• 15:14 Military necessity vs humanitarian interest

• 19:54 Bright line rules

• 25:23 Reasonableness

• 28:07 Sieges