The General & the Journalist

Two years ago, Al Carns was a colonel in the Royal Marines and, though he can never confirm or deny it, had also commanded the Special Boat Service.

He pivoted to politics when he realised that the country's military leadership did not fully grasp the seismic shift in warfare brought about by drones and AI - but he did.

Having risen at breakneck speed to become armed forces minister, Al talks candidly to Patrick and Tom about the need for the country to prepare for war with Russia in "three to five years."

Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton Dunn
Guest: Al Carns DSO OBE MC MP
Producer: Shabnam Grewal
Executive producer: Fiona Leach
Image: courtesy of Al Carns
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Beginning with the annexation of Crimea in 2014, but accelerated by the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has super-charged its military to become the third largest in Nato, behind only Turkey and the US.

It spends more on defence as a proportion of national wealth than even America and is soon to have more large tanks than the UK, Germany and France combined.

So how did this happen, what are the implications, and are there lessons to be learned for the UK?

Host:Tom Newton Dunn
Guests: Oliver Moody and Bartosz Kielak
Producer: Shabnam Grewal
Executive producer: Fiona Leach
Photo: Getty Images
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If the UK is to present a credible deterrence to any adversary, its armed forces need to be sufficiently large. They are not. And the fastest, most economical, way of plugging the gap is by growing the reserves.

The Chief of the defence staff recently called for an 'all in mentality', urging civilians to step up to the very real threat posed by Russia.

Not 'weekend warriors', but people from high-tech industries and professions, skills the regular army lacks. He meant all of us. So, who could join the reserves, how quickly, and what would they get out of it?

Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton Dunn
Guests: Elisabeth Braw and Peter Apps
Producer: Shabnam Grewal
Executive producer: Fiona Leach
Photo: Getty Images
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In the space race and the arms race, only a human could determine an outcome. But what happens in war when AI, and not a human, takes the decision to pull the trigger? If AI can equal human capabilities, Artificial 'superintelligence' is smarter, potentially putting ASI beyond human control.

Jon Wolfsthal worked in the Obama White House on nuclear non-proliferation. He, like scores of others in defence, diplomacy and AI, has signed a petition calling for a ban on superintelligence, unless and until it can be controlled. He joined Patrick and Tom from New York to spell out exactly why we must stop our nuclear and biological weapons being run by machines.

But, don't worry, it gets lighter. Jon is a massive fan of sci-fi. Turns out, so are Patrick and Tom. The three of them swap film and book faves, from Prometheus to Frankenstein, Alien to Terminator, and talk about how they all foreshadowed this artificial intelligence moment.

Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton Dunn
Guest: Jon Wolfsthal
Producer: Sophie McNulty
Clip: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Photo: Getty Images

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Our colleagues at The Times this week launched an American edition of their superb UK politics pod, The State of It. We thought you might want to hear the fabulous first episode.

Welcome to the first ever episode of The State of It: USA. An attack on Iran looks imminent: we reveal what senior military and political figures are saying about it.
Also, is Donald Trump taking a softer line on immigration after the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis?
And get ready for Melania, the movie.

Katy Balls, Washington editor and columnist at The Times and The Sunday Times
Gerard Baker, columnist at The Times and editor at large at The Wall Street Journal

Producer: Euan Dawtrey
Executive producer: Molly Guinness

Email us: [email protected]
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