The General & The Journalist

It was one of the most audacious acts of sabotage in modern history - in September 2022, explosions ripped through the Nord Stream pipelines carrying natural gas from Russia underneath the Baltic Sea. The attack reshaped European geo-politics but at the time, no one knew who ordered the bombing, or carried it out. Journalist Bojan Pancevski has spent three years tracing the operation - and says the answers to those questions involve a tiny team of divers, a rented yacht and a former erotic model known only as ‘Freya’. Get in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.uk00:00 – Who blew up Nord Stream?02:55 – Why Nord Stream mattered06:39 – Inside the sabotage mission17:19 – Russia, CIA or Ukraine?24:00 – Evidence, arrests and who ordered itGuest: Bojan Pancevski, chief European political correspondent for the Wall Street JournalHosts: Tom Newton DunnProducer: Julia WebsterExecutive producer: Dan BoxImage: Kathia Mestanza, GettyClips: Getty Images, Danish Defence CommandHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Across Nato’s eastern flank, defence planners are increasingly focused on one date: 2030. War games, military assessments and troop deployments are being shaped around a stark question – could Moscow be ready to test Nato within the next few years?The Times’s defence editor Larisa Brown examines why 2030 has become such a crucial deadline for European defence, how Russia could try to probe Nato’s borders and whether the alliance is moving fast enough to deter Vladimir Putin.Get in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.ukProducer: Jack Feeney

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have signed the Mecca Pact, a new defence alliance built around the promise that an attack on one is an attack on all.Together they bring Saudi money and religious authority, Turkey’s military strength and defence industry and Pakistan’s army and nuclear power. But would any of them really go to war for the others? Tom and Patrick are joined by Lieutenant General Sir Simon Mayall to explore why the pact has emerged now. Is it a response to Iran’s decline, growing doubts over America’s reliability or the changing relationship with Israel? Or is the Mecca Pact merely a strategic hedge, or the beginning of a new balance of power in the Middle East?How do you think the Mecca Defence Alliance will impact the region? Get in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.uk00:00 - Mecca Pact Explained05:04 - Saudi–Turkey–Pakistan Defence Alliance13:02 - Why the Mecca Pact Matters Now23:32 - Is the Mecca Pact a New NATO?32:53 - Future of Middle East SecurityGuest: Ltn Gen Sir Simon Mayall, KBE, CB, retired British Army officer and a Middle East Adviser at the Ministry of Defence.Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton Dunn.Patrick brings his experience as a former head of the British Army to the podcast. He is also a Conservative peer and advises the party on defence.Producer: Julia Webster and Shabnam GrewalExecutive producer: Priyanka Deladia Image: Dana Chan, GettyClips: GettyHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For more than a century, the Middle East has been made and remade by collapsing empires, colonial borders, revolutions, wars and powerful rulers. Now, Iran is weakening, Gulf states are becoming more influential and old alliances are shifting again. Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore joins Tom and Patrick to discuss how the modern Middle East was forged and why the forces that shaped it are still at work today. Who is gaining power, who is losing it, and are we watching the birth of a new regional order?Who do you think is reshaping the new Middle East? Get in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.ukChapters: 00:00 — How the modern Middle East was made13:15 — Colonialism, Sykes-Picot and the birth of “zombie states”23:45 — Is the term “Middle East” now obsolete? 29:30 — Iran’s regional empire and the October 7 wars36:45 — Six converging theatres—and reasons for hopeThe Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East by Simon Sebag Montefiore is available in stores nowGuest: Simon Sebag Montefiore, British historian and authorHosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton DunnPatrick brings his experience as a former head of the British Army to the podcast. He is also a Conservative peer and advises the party on defence.Producer: Julia WebsterExecutive producer: Priyanka Deladia Image: Dana Chan, GettyClips: GettyHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ukraine’s drone campaign is reaching deeper into Russia than ever before, striking oil terminals, ships and targets around Moscow and St Petersburg. As casualties rise and attacks put growing pressure on Russia’s economy and war machine, is Ukraine beginning to change the course of the conflict?In this bonus audio explainer, The Sunday Times’s Mark Urban examines how Ukraine’s long-range strikes are testing Russia’s defences – and whether Vladimir Putin is approaching a serious turning point in the war.Get in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.uk

North Korea has supplied Russia with millions of artillery rounds, thousands of troops and workers for its drone factories to support its war in Ukraine. In return, Russian money, food, energy and weapons are reviving Pyongyang’s economy, giving it military battlefield experience and potentially advancing Kim Jong Un’s nuclear and missile capabilities.Dr Victor Cha, former White House national security official and one of America’s leading Korea experts, joins The General & The Journalist to explain how Russia has made an isolated regime richer and more dangerous. How powerful has North Korea become? Why have decades of denuclearisation diplomacy failed? And could talks with Washington loosen Kim’s alliance with Putin?Should the West accept a nuclear North Korea? Get in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.ukChapters: 00:00 North Korea’s economic boom08:31 Russia fuels Kim Jong Un14:18 China, Russia and North Korea18:32 North Korea’s nuclear threat26:16 Why denuclearisation failed33:46 Kim Jong Un’s successor and futureGuest: Dr Victor Cha, president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International StudiesHosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton DunnPatrick brings his experience as a former head of the British Army to the podcast. He is also a Conservative peer and advises the party on defence. Producer: Julia WebsterExecutive producer: Priyanka Deladia Image: Dana Chan, GettyClips: Reuters, Getty

Mossad has spent decades building intelligence networks inside Iran, using spies, cyber operations and covert technology to penetrate the regime at the highest levels.Yossi Cohen, former director of Mossad, joins The General & The Journalist to reveal how Israel’s spies recruit agents, operate behind enemy lines and target Iran’s leadership. How far is Mossad willing to go? And can Israel’s intelligence successes ultimately bring about regime change in Iran? And where does covert action cross the line?The Sword of Freedom: Israel, Mossad, and the Secret War by Yossi Cohen is available at Harper Collins.00:00 - Former Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen on Israel’s Intelligence Strategy03:01 - How Mossad Penetrated the Iranian Regime’s Deepest Secrets09:24 - HUMINT vs. SIGINT: Why Human Spies Outperform Cyber Intelligence14:16 - Exploding Pagers, Sabotage & The Ethics of Covert Operations24:28 - The Future of Iran, Regime Change & Yossi Cohen’s Political AmbitionsGuest: Yossi Cohen, former director of MossadHost: Tom Newton DunnProducer: Julia Webster and Shabnam GrewalExecutive producer: Priyanka Deladia Image: GettyClips: BBCHow should Andy Burnham approach the UK’s relationship with Israel? Get in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.uk

Could Britain replace billion-pound warships with fleets of uncrewed vessels – and what happens when the technology fails?In this bonus audio explainer, The Sunday Times’s Mark Urban examines Britain’s £5 billion bet on uncrewed warfare, shaped by the lethal lessons of Ukraine. Military planners hope networks of specialised drones and automated platforms can cut costs, protect personnel and transform the battlefield.But with major conventional programmes still competing for funding, is Britain building the armed forces of the future or creating dangerous new vulnerabilities? Producer: Stephanie Bosset Image: Dana Chan, GettyGet in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.uk

Pete Hegseth has turned the Pentagon into a stage for warrior bravado – renaming it the Department of War, ordering testosterone screening for troops over 30, and cheering on a US Navy jet's ultra-low flypast over a packed Florida beach.Former RAF Air Vice-Marshal Sean Bell joins Tom and Patrick to give his verdict on Hegseth's shake-up of the US armed forces and to ask whether a similar culture could take hold in the British military. Chapters:00:00 — Pete Hegseth and the dangerous flybys08:50 — Who is Pete Hegseth?10:55 — Fitness, testosterone and the “warrior ethos”14:30 — Diversity, standards and the military beard debate21:40 — Does machismo belong in the military?Guest: Sean Bell, Former Air Vice-Marshal in the Royal Air ForceHost: General Sir Patrick Sanders & Tom Newton DunnPatrick brings his experience as a former head of the British Army to the podcast. He is also a Conservative peer and advises the party on defence. Producer: Elle Scott & Julia WebsterExec Producer: Priyanka DeladiaClips: US Department of War.Image: Shaun Parkinson, GettyGet in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.uk