David Smith: Washington Bureau Chief, The Guardian

For the last year or so, I’ve traveled regularly to Ukraine to cover the war for The Australian Financial Review. My travelling companions have been Ralph Goff and Glenn Corn, two recently retired intelligence officers from the CIA's Directorate of Operations. We sat down in Kyiv on the last night of a recent trip to discuss current developments. Thank you to Ukrainian artist Indie Elephant for contributing some of the score. See his awesome music here: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/indie-elephant/1542824466

In 2020, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya led the largest popular uprising in the history of Belarus, defeating authoritarian dictator Alexander Lukashenko in a landslide victory before being chased out of the country. Today, she leads Belarus' democratic alternative government in exile. We sat down in Vilnius to discuss the Ukraine war, and the outlook for a democratic revolution in Europe's last dictatorship.

Congressman Eric Swalwell has held California's 15th congressional district since 2012, occupying seats on the House Intelligence, Judiciary, and Homeland Security committees over the period. He was impeachment manager at President Trump's second go 'round, and is the plaintiff in the current civil suit against the former president for his actions on January 6th. We sat down at his congressional offices in May to discuss President Trump's evolving legal jeopardy, the outlook for Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas War, and populism in Congress.

At the start of April I spent 10 days on the road in Ukraine with Ralph Goff, a 35-year veteran of the CIA, where he was a 6-time “Chief of Station” with extensive service in Europe, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia, including several war zones. As a Senior Intelligence Service executive, he was Chief of Operations for Europe and Eurasia, responsible for all CIA activities and operations in dozens of countries. At the end of our trip, Ralph and I sat down in Warsaw to discuss what we learned. ---LINK > Indie Elephant: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/indie-elephant/1542824466

John "Slick" Baum is a former F-16 combat pilot and Air Force Fighter Weapons School instructor who founded Draken International, later acquired by Blackstone private equity. Slick and I sat down to discuss F-16s in Ukraine, the importance of air power around the world, and what makes a good fighter pilot.

Captain John Burnham was a member of Seal Team Six, officially named the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, before being tapped by the Obama administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense. We discussed the conflict currently metastasizing around the Middle East, the Ukraine War, and the current situation in Afghanistan.

Yesterday, I sat down with David Smith, Washington Bureau Chief for The Guardian, to discuss the Iowa Caucuses and the outlook for the 2024 US presidential election.

Stephen Sackur, host of BBC Hardtalk, and I sat down at BBC Headquarters in London this week to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict, Ukraine, the 2024 US presidential election, and the importance of impartial journalism at this moment.

Last Friday I sat down with the crew of Polaris Dawn, the next planned civilian mission to space that will venture further from Earth than any human has since the moon landing. Before our interview, the crew took me flying in a MiG29 fighter jet to demonstrate how G-force affects the body during launch and re-entry.

Congressman Dean Phillips recently made headlines by encouraging his colleagues to challenge President Biden to represent Democrats in the 2024 presidential election. We sat down at his congressional offices in Washington to discuss his push to advance bipartisan initiatives, find common ground, and help America recover from the social division wracking the democratic process.