Radio War Nerd

Guest: Rob Ashlar Recorded: September 12, 2026 We continue our series on the pivotal Iraqi insurgency with researcher Rob Ashlar. In part 5, we cover the events of the summer of 2006: the assassination of Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) founder/emir Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, which the Bush Admin promised would a

Guest: Rob Ashlar Recorded: July 18, 2026 Researcher Rob Ashlar resumes his RWN series on the Iraqi insurgency, now moving into the eventful year 2006. Subscribe to Rob Ashlar's substack. Follow Rob on Twitter here. Read Rob Ashlar's article "Monotheism and Struggle: The Story of Iraqi Insurgency, 2

Part 2 in our series with Rob Ashlar on the early Iraqi insurgency that gave birth to Islamic State and its many affiliates across Africa and Eurasia. This episode, we look at the year 2005, when the insurgency radicalized and exploded under Zarqawi's Al Qaeda in Iraq. Guest: Rob Ashlar Recorded: Ju

Guest: Rob Ashlar Recorded: March 28, 2024 To make sense of the ISKP (Islamic State-Khorasan Province) attacks in Moscow last week, and Iran earlier this year, we dive into its murky origins during the US occupation in Afghanistan and the terrorist group's remarkably friendly relations with occupied

Recorded: April 7, 2022 With the battle for Mariupol in its second month, we look back at some other recent examples of urban warfare, focusing on the battles in Marawi, Jenin, Fallujah, Raqqa, and Mosul. Total time: 1:45:52 Direct link to this episode's mp3 here

Recorded: August 31, 2021 The War Nerd and Ames try to answer the two most important questions about IS-K that no one seems interested in asking, or answering: Which interests bankrolled IS-K, and what strategic purpose(s) does IS-K serve? We reference Antonio Giustozzi's excellent book "The Islamic

Guest: Anatol Lieven, author Recorded: August 11, 2021 We talk to author Anatol Lieven, who first reported on Afghanistan back in the late 1980s, about the the shocking speed of the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, and the collapse of US-backed Afghanistan regime. At 58:40 - the Nerd & Ames discus

Recorded: July 6, 2021 20 years ago, the US Pentagon and its media cheerleaders were celebrating "victory" over the Taliban in Afghanistan. Today, the US is hastily abandoning the last of its bases, while the Taliban is routing US-backed Afghan National Army forces. The War Nerd and Ames discuss the

Guest: Nick Bedi Recorded: August 25, 2020 First: We discuss northeast Mozambique's insurgency and ISIS...then, Ames reads a letter from Belorussian author Vladimir Kozlov on his insider view of the anti-Lukashenko protests... At 27:27 - We go mondo war nerd with friend of the show Nick Bedi — DevOp

Guest: Patrick Cockburn, author & Middle East correspondent for The Independent (UK) Recorded: July 8, 2020 BELFAST—After a harrowing escape from the looneyland of pandemic America, the War Nerd awakens in Northern Ireland to talk to roving war correspondent & previous RWN guest Patrick Cockburn abo

Recorded: January 3, 2020 A special rushed-out episode to get out our first impressions of Trump's assassination of Iran's legendary Quds leader, Gen. Qasem Soleimani. Total time: 1:39:35 Direct link to this episode's mp3 here

Recorded: October 28, 2019 The War Nerd looks back at the period after the US Civil War known as "Reconstruction" as a form of warfare — a dirty war, with all the ingredients. Why is there so little historical grasp of the Reconstruction as another form of warfare? Why don't we even know the casualt

Guest: Joey L., photographer & filmmaker Recorded: July 6, 2019 For non-subscribers, here is a 30+ minute preview of Radio War Nerd episode #189 with guest Joey Lawrence about his incredible stories & photos from his journeys to Iraqi Kurdistan & Rojava. Joey talks about his new book, "We Came From

Guest: Joey L., photographer & filmmaker Recorded: July 6, 2019 The War Nerd talks to photojournalist Joey Lawrence about his incredible stories & photos from his journeys to Iraqi Kurdistan & Rojava. Joey talks about his new book, "We Came From Fire"—a collection of his photos and reporting from th

Guest: Max Blumenthal, author, journalist, podcaster Recorded: April 26, 2019 For non-subscribers, here is a 30+ minute preview of Radio War Nerd episode #179 with guest Max Blumenthal talking about his controversial new book "The Management of Savagery: How America's National Security State Fueled

Guest: Max Abrahms, author & Assistant Professor at Northeastern U Recorded: October 14, 2018 For non-subscribers, here is a 25+ minute preview of Radio War Nerd episode 153 with Max Abrahms. In this episode, the War Nerd talks to terrorism expert Max Abrahms about his new book, "Rules For Rebels: T

Guest: Max Abrahms, author & Assistant Professor at Northeastern U Recorded: October 14, 2018 The War Nerd talks to terrorism expert Max Abrahms about his new book, "Rules For Rebels: The Science of Victory in Militant History" - a study of various rebel groups in different contexts that boils down

Guest: Rania Khalek, journalist Recorded July 18, 2018 The War Nerd invites Beirut-based journalist Rania Khalek back on the show to update us on the Syria war, and changes since the last time Rania was on RWN [EP #69, January 2017]. Rania discusses western myths about the Syria war versus western c

Recorded July 11, 2018 In this episode we try something new and untested—a podcast version of a media criticism piece on another podcast: "Caliphate" the 10-part New York Times series on Islamic State, hosted by reporter Rukmini Callimachi. We made it extra-hard on ourselves by choosing a deep dive