The General & The Journalist

As Russia steps up sabotage, interference and intimidation across Europe, how far is Vladimir Putin prepared to go?

Former MI6 chief Sir John Scarlett joins Tom and Patrick to explain what Putin wants in Ukraine, whether Russia could escalate into a direct confrontation with NATO, and why intelligence back channels may be crucial to preventing escalation.

Get in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.uk

05:28 - Did the West misjudge Putin?
09:46 - Is Putin under pressure?
15:04 - What does Putin want in Ukraine?
17:30 - Russia’s hybrid war against NATO
23:49 - Why the CIA Chief went to Moscow

Guest: Sir John Scarlett, former MI6 Chief and co-founder of SC Strategy
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, Shabnam Grewal
Executive producer: Priyanka Deladia
Image: Kathia Mestanza, Getty
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America has 11 aircraft carriers. So why is the US Navy struggling to deploy more than three at once?

In this bonus video explainer, The Sunday Times’s Mark Urban examines the growing strain on America’s carrier fleet. These 100,000-ton floating airfields have long been symbols of US military power, but delayed ships, lengthy repairs and overstretched crews are making it increasingly difficult to keep them at sea. If Washington cannot reliably deploy the fleet it already has, what does that mean for America’s ability to project power around the world – and are aircraft carriers becoming a symbol not of US strength, but of its limits?

00:00 – America’s aircraft carrier problem
00:53 – Delayed ships and ageing carriers
02:24 – Trump’s proposed carrier redesign
03:25 – Longer deployments, greater strain
04:50 – The carrier gap in the Pacific
06:09 – The $25 billion carrier group at risk
07:30 – The cost to the wider fleet
08:38 – Shipyard decline and military power

Get in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.uk
Producer: Yasmin Butt
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More than 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement, Britain remains bitterly divided over how to resolve legacy cases from the Troubles. The government’s new Northern Ireland Troubles Bill would allow some halted inquests to resume and reform the system for investigating legacy cases, with ministers insisting that veterans will be protected from unnecessary repeat investigations.

But former senior SAS veterans Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton and George Simm argue it could reopen the door to repeated investigations that erode soldiers’ trust in the Government and ultimately weaken the SAS itself. Can Britain deliver justice for the past without undermining the soldiers it may need for the wars of the future?

Get in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.uk

00:47 – Inside the SAS
10:24 – Northern Ireland legacy lawfare
16:29 – Loughgall and shoot-to-kill claims
22:15 – How lawfare is damaging the SAS
27:30 – The fight to protect British soldiers

Guests: Former SAS Squadron Commander Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton and former SAS Regimental Sergeant Major George Simm
Hosts: Tom Newton Dunn
Producer: Julia Webster
Executive producer: Priyanka Deladia
Image: Kathia Mestanza, Getty

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Russia is holding its first State Duma election since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but the Kremlin has worked to ensure the outcome is never truly in doubt. Nina Khrushcheva, great-granddaughter of the former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, joins us to examine what the vote reveals about Putin’s rule and how the war in Ukraine is mounting pressure on Putin. With public patience under strain and unease growing among the elite, how much longer can Putin keep pressing this war on?

Get in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.uk

00:55 – Nina Khrushcheva on Putin’s Russia
07:50 – Inside Russia’s rigged election
16:37 – Putin’s mobilisation gamble
23:04 – Russia’s war economy and breaking point
30:04 – Putin’s escalating threat to NATO

Guest: Nina Khrushcheva, professor of International Affairs at The New School in New York City
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, Shabnam Grewal
Executive producer: Dan Box, Tim Walklate
Image: Dana Chan, Getty

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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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.uk

00:00 – Who blew up Nord Stream?
02:55 – Why Nord Stream mattered
06:39 – Inside the sabotage mission
17:19 – Russia, CIA or Ukraine?
24:00 – Evidence, arrests and who ordered it

Guest: Bojan Pancevski, chief European political correspondent for the Wall Street Journal
Hosts: Tom Newton Dunn
Producer: Julia Webster
Executive producer: Dan Box
Image: Kathia Mestanza, Getty
Clips: Getty Images, Danish Defence Command

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