Resilience State Podcast

"They put a gun to my head. I fainted. And then I kept talking." In this episode, I sit down with my Iranian friend, someone who actually grew up under the Islamic regime. We discuss the dark side of the war that nobody is truly reporting on, and the reality of the life she endured. There is a constant stream of misinformation and truths regarding Iran by the repressive regime. This episode offers another rare perspective on the state of Iran and what it's really like to live under the regime. This is the last part of the episode. Check us out on our other social media platforms: https://linktr.ee/resilience.state.podcast

"They put a gun to my head. I fainted. And then I kept talking." In this episode, I sit down with my Iranian friend, someone who actually grew up under the Islamic regime. We discuss the dark side of the war that nobody is truly reporting on, and the reality of the life she endured. There is a constant stream of misinformation and truths regarding Iran by the repressive regime. This episode offers another rare perspective on the state of Iran and what it's really like to live under the regime. Part 2 of this episode will be released next week. Check us out on our other social media platforms: https://linktr.ee/resilience.state.podcast

A conversation with Mark Neville, a war photographer, on how the media portrays contemporary war and war trauma, from Afghanistan to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.Check us out on our other social media platforms: https://linktr.ee/resilience.state.podcast Help support Ukraine through Mark’s charity: https://www.postcodeukraine.com

As states become increasingly dependent on space-based infrastructure, the orbital domain is emerging as a critical site of geopolitical competition.In this episode, Honey Louise speaks with Bleddyn Bowen about astropolitics, space as a warfighting domain, and the strategic vulnerabilities created by modern reliance on satellites and other space-based assets.Check us out on our other social media platforms: https://linktr.ee/resilience.state.podcast

In this episode of Resilience State, we dive into one of the defining features of modern warfare: the rise of drones.Ukraine has become a real-world laboratory for drone warfare — testing cheap, expendable UAVs at scale, under brutal combat conditions. But what does this actually mean for how wars are fought today, and how states like the UK should be thinking about defence tomorrow?We're joined by David Kirichenko, Ukrainian-American journalist and Associate Research Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, who has spent extensive time reporting from the front lines of Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion. David walks us through how drones are used on today's battlefield, from FPV strike drones and fibre-optic systems to long-range deep-strike operations inside Russia.David's suggested commentators:https://x.com/solonko1648https://x.com/Y_Chornomoretshttps://x.com/BohdanKrotevych

In Episode Two of Resilience State, we look beyond defence spending headlines to examine how procurement failures shape real military capability. Joined by Professor Keith Hartley, one of the UK’s leading defence economists, we examine why defence procurement repeatedly fails, and why these failures are not accidents, but the result of how defence markets are structured. The episode explores defence as a public good, the incentives shaping procurement decisions, and why governments struggle to cancel failing programmes even when costs spiral. We also discuss the trade-offs between defence spending and other public priorities, the role of competition and substitution, and whether market principles can realistically improve defence outcomes. Together, the conversation explains why fixing defence procurement is not just a technical problem, but a political and economic one.Check us out on our other social media platforms: https://linktr.ee/resilience.state.podcastEpisode Links:Professor Hartley's suggested reading listhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Economics-Arms-Big-Business/dp/191111624XProfessor Hartley suggested that for those interested in working with the Ministry of Defence, a strong grounding in economics (such as an MSc in Economics) is particularly valuable, while a solid economics degree more broadly is well-suited to careers across the defence industry.