In the bunker with Darth Putin

Nov 13 2024 26 ep. 56 mins 52

In the bunker with Darth Putin Podcast artwork

The Darth Putin Master Strategist podcast recorded from the bunker using a 56k dial-up modem. Features Darth and a co-host, plus frequent guests. You may hear Medvedev snoring drunkenly on the sofa.

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S2 Ep 12 - Navigating NATO Security Without the U.S.: A Semi-Optimistic Perspective with Anders Puck Nielsen

Nov 13 2024 74 mins

This time, we’ve lured military analyst Anders Puck Nielsen, from the Royal Danish Defense College, into the bunker. Anders is also the host of the hugely popular YouTube channel ‪https://www.youtube.com/@anderspuck We started off feeling a bit gloomy, discussing the future of European security and Ukraine, but managed to cheer each other up along the way. Oh, and Darth is not

S2 - Ep 11 - Melissa Chan: Could Xi really stop Putin's war?

Nov 03 2024 72 mins

Melissa Chan is an Emmy-nominated journalist based between Los Angeles and Berlin. She has reported everywhere from Cuba to Canada, Mongolia to Moscow, North and South Korea. These days she focuses on transnational issues, often involving China’s influence beyond its borders, as well as the rise of global authoritarianism and ebb of democracies. She is currently writing a graphic

S2 - Ep 10 - David Gioe, Huw Dylan & Elena Grossfeld: How Russian Intel Serves—and Fails—the Tsar

Nov 01 2024 79 mins

In our largest-ever gathering in "the bunker," scholars David Gioe, Huw Dylan, and Elena Grossfeld discuss their latest article, "The Autocrat’s Indispensable Service: How Russian Intelligence Secured Vladimir Putin’s Regime After Failing Him in Ukraine." With the Prez presiding over the conversation from the end of the long table, we dive into a pressing research puzzle: Why d

S2 - Ep 9 - Philip Ingram: Ukraine’s Military Outperforms U.S. and China

Oct 17 2024 69 mins

Today's guest in the bunker refers to himself as an “Ex spymaster, specializing in taking over countries." Philip Ingram MBE BSc MA GCLI is a widely published journalist, specializing in the security and intelligence arenas, who has built on a long and senior career in British Military Intelligence, with years of experience in all aspects of intelligence and security as well as s

S2 - Ep 8 - Keir Giles: Europe should get back from a defense holiday

Oct 13 2024 64 mins

Keir Giles is a senior consulting fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme. Previously, he worked with the BBC Monitoring Service and the UK Defence Academy, where he wrote and advised on Russian military, defence and security issues including human factors influencing Russian security policy, Russian strategy and doctrine, the Russian view of cyber and information security, and

S2 - Ep 7 - Darth & Katie 1-1: Belarusian lawyers without rights & Tweets of the week

Sep 23 2024 46 mins

In this episode, we delve into the Belarusian legal system through Katie's firsthand experience as a co-defendant in a political trial. We discuss the challenges of finding a criminal defense lawyer—or any lawyer—willing to represent a dissident. Darth also reads an excerpt from his book and shares insights on the week's most significant tweets. In Katie's guest appearance on

S2 - Ep 6 - John Sipher - Putin’s calculus: "I’m going to keep going until you stop me"

Sep 16 2024 64 mins

John Sipher, former CIA officer and a co-founder of Spycraft Entertainment, in the bunker. We are asking our guest how it would be if the CIA were tasked to invade Canada; what were John's impressions from working in Moscow; and many details about Russian intelligence services. Follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@InTheBunkerWithDarth John Sipher’s podcast: “Mission

S2 - Ep 5 - Edward Lucas: "If you worry about nuclear escalation, it is vital that Ukraine wins"

Sep 10 2024 41 mins

In this episode, we sit down with Edward Lucas, who is British writer, journalist, and politician. Did you know that Edward was among the first 100 Darth's followers back in the days? Here is some context for Edwards' reference to Lennart Meri's speech. Full address by Estonian President Lennart Meri in 1994 is here. As usual, we are most thankful to each of our Patreons for th

S2 - Ep 4 - Ben Hodges: "Gerasimov should be arrested"

Sep 06 2024 58 mins

In this episode, we sit down with General Ben Hodges to talk about Ukraine's counteroffensive in Kursk, as well as Russian army capabilities (lack thereof) and corruption. We are most thankful to each Patreon for the material support of our podcast. If you are not ready for a long-term commitment, such as on Patreon, but you enjoy our chatter in the bunker, buy us some coffee! ht

S2 - Ep 3 - Eto Buziashvili - Russia is now afraid of using Telegram

Aug 31 2024 52 mins

In this episode Eto Buziashvili joins us in the bunker to discuss the recent arrest of Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram. We talk about how telegram works, what the Kremlin uses it for, what kind of content is on there and what the implications are for the Kremlin now they believe western intelligence has access to the platform. In June Eto wrote "Another battlefield: Telegram as a