School of War - Nebulous Media

Latest Episodes:

Grading Operation Epic Fury, with Christian Brose May 19, 2026

Show notes

Christian Brose, president and chief strategy officer of Anduril Industries and author of The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare, joins the show to help us evaluate American performance against Iran so far and discuss the state of defense innovation in America. What is on the cutting edge? Where are we falling behind? And what happens if the war comes home?

Times:

01:58 - Audit of Operation Epic Fury

05:04 - Munitions and weapons shortages

08:30 - New lower-cost weapons

10:56 - The Barracuda cruise missile system

15:04 - Lessons from the battlefield

15:41 - Missile defense systems

21:47 - Software, data, and AI

24:39 - Homeland defense

27:02 - Containerization

28:05 - Industrial capacity

31:36 - Bringing Americans back into defense manufacturing

34:43 - The defense budget

39:02 - Anduril fundraising

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find more at The Free Press.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The New Middle Eastern Balance of Power, with Elliott Abrams May 15, 2026

Show notes

Elliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and chairman of the Vandenberg Coalition and the Tikvah Fund, joins the show to discuss Israel, Iran, and the new power dynamics in the Middle East. What new alliances have emerged since the chaos on October 7, 2023? How has the current war with Iran reshaped the region? With a storm of competing interests, fragile partnerships, and global stakes, can stability emerge, or is the Middle East heading toward an even wider conflict?

02:10 - Israel today

04:02- Israeli airport security

05:58 - Netanyahu’s domestic political situation

09:07 - Bibi’s secret visit to the UAE

10:15 - American military aircrafts in Israel

12:01 - Israel-UAE relationship

15:57- October 7th Middle East aftermath

17:17 - Erosion of Iranian proxies

19:20 - Israeli-Saudi relationship

20:27 - Egypt’s global decline

22:24 - Turkey’s role

29:09 - Israel-Lebanon relationship

28:30 - Hezbollah factor

32:25 - How to handle Hamas

36:31 - Iran and the future of the Strait of Hormuz

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find more at The Free Press.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

China’s War on Faith and Trump’s Trip to Beijing, with Governor Sam Brownback May 14, 2026

Show notes

Sam Brownback, former Kansas senator and governor, co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Summit, and author of China’s War on Faith, joins School of War to discuss the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of religious minorities and how its domestic oppression shapes America’s broader strategic posture toward China. How is Beijing using the digital revolution as a tool of political control? Should freedom of religion be treated as a central front in the U.S.-China rivalry? With President Trump currently in China for a summit with President Xi Jinping, the world is watching a clash that extends beyond economics and military power into a conflict over faith, freedom, and the moral future of humanity.

Times:

03:25 - Trump’s China summit

05:25 - Clash of civilizations

06:18 - History of Christianity in China

08:41 - Governor’s transformative past

11:07- Systems of communism

15:53 - Chinese surveillance technology

17:22 - Peter Xu history

19:40 - Dangers of the CCP

20:53 - Treatment of religious minorities

26:12 - Technologies for oppression

29:00 - Trump’s handling of disentanglement

32:25 - American religious freedom

35:20 - The Falun Gong

37:46 - Confrontation vs. accommodation

42:59 - Story of Wang Chun Yan

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find more at The Free Press.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump Heads to China: Who Has the Upper Hand? With Dan Blumenthal May 12, 2026

Show notes

Dan Blumenthal, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins the show to discuss the president’s upcoming summit in Beijing with President Xi Jinping. What are President Trump’s goals? How will war with Iran affect the meeting? And what do these discussions mean for the future of conflict in the Indo-Pacific?

02:12 Trump’s summit with Xi Jinping

03:38 Trump’s goals at summit

04:48 China’s leverage over Iran

05:57 China’s principal interest in the Middle East

08:14 U.S. sanctions on Iran and China

10:22 China’s diversified energy imports

13:05 American-Chinese competition

15:34 Defense industrial base issues

16:03 AI factor

16:34 China’s industrial leverage

19:05 Economic showdown

24:43 The Taiwan issue

26:22 Global conflict lessons for Taiwan

28:46 Division of Taiwanese politics

31:46 Stakes for the future

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find more at The Free Press.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

America’s Coming Population Crash—and China’s, with Nicholas Eberstadt May 08, 2026

Show notes

Nicholas Eberstadt, the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute, joins School of War to discuss global population decline. What does a shrinking and aging population mean for the United States? What does it mean for China, whose demographic crisis may be even more severe? How could population decline reshape economic growth, military power, and geopolitical competition? And what happens to the international order when the world stops growing?

03:02 Population decline in America

006:15 Deaths exceeding births in the US

07:31 Global birth crash

14:49 Grounds for optimism

17:12 Small family trend

18:17 GDP relationship with population size

19:23 Individual prosperity vs. National strength

21:24 Rise in human life expectancy

24:36 Ben Carson’s prediction

27:11 Ukraine’s military revolution

30:47 American bad habits

33:48 AI and the labor market

37:25 Chinese depopulation crisis

48:50 What would a world war look like today?

51:48 US Alliance relationships

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find more at The Free Press.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Trump Forcing the Strait of Hormuz Open? With Rich Goldberg and Garrett Exner May 04, 2026

Show notes

Rich Goldberg, senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and Garrett Exner, adjunct fellow at Hudson Institute, return to School of War to discuss the complicated news out of the Strait of Hormuz. What is President Donald Trump’s new plan, “Project Freedom”? Does it put the ceasefire at risk? What’s really happening in this critical waterway?

Times:

02:31 - President’s statement

04:00 - Understanding Project Freedom

07:15 - Attacks against tankers

09:53 - Central Command statement

12:15 - Ceasefire breakdown

16:25 - Coordination cell or escort

18:00 - Trump buying time

20:40 - US Navy escort option

23:06 - Missile defense

24:45 - Economic impacts

27:01 - Iran under pressure

31:50 - Live news US vessel transit

34:15 - Human factor of outbound transit

37:30 - American gas production

39:28 - Predictions in America’s favor

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more at The Free Press.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NORAD and Protecting America From Nuclear Attack, With Lance Blythe May 01, 2026

Show notes

Lance R. Blyth, command historian of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), joins School of War to discuss the evolution of North America’s air defense. How has NORAD adapted to shifting threats over the decades? Are today’s threats manageable? Are we in a new Cold War? And what can the command, with operations deep inside a Colorado mountain, teach us about defending the continent in an era of renewed great-power competition?

Times:

02:04 History of NORAD

07:02 Threats of the 1950s

13:50 Sensors, effectors, and connectors

15:15 Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE)

19:45 SABRE travel system

21:14 Aerospace missile warning systems

22:07 Cheyenne Mountain Complex

24:13 NORAD in films

27:56 False missile launches

31:31 Adapting to new threats

34:23 New joint surveillance system

35:19 Importance of Canada

36:21 September 11

40:21 Operation Noble Eagle

43:00 Today’s threats

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find more at The Free Press.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Attempt on Trump’s Life and Political Violence in America, with Douglas Murray Apr 27, 2026

Show notes

Douglas Murray, journalist and author of On Democracies and Death Cults, joins School of War to discuss the assassination attempt that we both witnessed in person at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday. Was there a lapse in appropriate security? Is political violence being normalized? Can it be contained?

Times:

02:44 - White House Correspondents Dinner
04:38 - Shots fired
06:51 - Security at the dinner
09:58 - Bobby Kennedy and Erika Kirk
16:25 - Secret Service valor
17:25 - Israeli security style
19:42 - Trump’s ballroom
21:35 - The shooter’s manifesto
27:26 - Past American political violence
29:13 - Assassinations can change history
31:09 - Hitler comparison
34:47 - Civic hygiene
36:49 - Justifying violence on NYT podcast
40:22 - Echoes of the Russian Revolution
47:05 - Failure of the education system
54:23 - The melding of the president and media

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find more at The Free Press.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How the British Army Learned to Win, with Huw Davies Apr 24, 2026

Show notes

Huw Davies, an associate dean and professor of British military history at King’s College London and author of several books, including The Wandering Army, joins School of War to discuss what the 18th-century British Army can teach us about modern warfare. How does battlefield failure drive military innovation? How did institutions of the past respond to change? And in an era of drones, autonomy, and AI, have we learned from the past, or are we destined to repeat it?

Times:

02:40 18th century military enlightenment

06:30 War of the Austrian Succession

12:43 The British officer class

18:39 Tension between ancients and moderns

20:20 Discovering Sir Henry Clinton’s notebook

20:48 False caricature of the British Army

27:02 Challenges of North American warfare

29:32 Battle of the Monongahela

35:09 Importance of light infantry

38:17 Rifle evolution

39:00 Why armies resist change

43:40 Lessons for today

46:42 Human behavior in war

47:10 Learning curve of war technologies

49:11 Is Ukrainian drone warfare a turning point?

Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast

Find more at The Free Press.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Has America Fought Well in the Iran War? With Mick Ryan Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

Major General Mick Ryan, Australian Army (retired), Senior Fellow for Military Studies at the Lowy Institute, adjunct fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and author of the Futura Doctrina Substack joins the show to dissect the current state of the war in Iran. Is this conflict entering a postmortem phase, or are we still in the middle of it? How has America performed so far? How does this war connect to the Pacific theater? Are we adapting for a broader global conflict, and are our adversaries adapting as well?

Times:

002:20 Iran war impact on Australia

05:06 American performance in this war

06:22 Israeli partnership over NATO

08:21 Strait of Hormuz closure

13:07 Is the US prepared for a long-term war?

15:50 Importance of AI

18:17 Israeli performance

18:55 Iran frustrating US objectives

19:26 Lessons for Taiwan

20:31 Does political decapitation work?

22:41 How is the Axis learning from this conflict