Hypervelocity

James Simpkin
  • 5.0 (2)
  • POLITICS
  • UPDATED BIMONTHLY

A podcast about the impact of military technology on strategy and ethics.

  1. Death Machines with Professor Elke Schwarz

    12/11/2025

    Death Machines with Professor Elke Schwarz

    Professor Elke Schwarz is Professor of Political Theory at Queen Mary University of London. Her work bridges philosophy, ethics and technology to examine how emerging military and digital systems reshape war, violence and political practice. She investigates how autonomous weapons, military AI, drones and the defence-technology complex challenge traditional moral, political and legal frameworks. She is the author of Death Machines: The Ethics of Violent Technologies and publishes widely on the ethical implications of algorithmic systems in warfare. In this episode, Elke draws on Hannah Arendt's concept of world-alienation to carefully build the case for the emergence of military drones as the logical outcome of a series of developments beginning around the time of the Reformation. Owing to the loss of their property, peasants grounded in local communities and life-worlds were reduced to alienated workers whose basic biological needs for food and shelter became paramount. Later, with the rise of Darwinism, society came to be seen as a biological organism (the body politic) with growth as its teleological goal, and so the ends of statecraft came to be understood as fulfilling the biological needs and health of this organism. Hence, in time, drones emerged as the perfect vector for protecting the body politic from external threats by “excising the cancer of terrorism”, for example. It is not that drones fulfil this role only because they place their pilots beyond physical harm — indeed, drone pilots experience high levels of PTSD — but also because they attempt to place warfare itself in an algorithmic, supposedly neutral technical zone beyond ethical reproach. Ultimately, however, algorithmic drone warfare can never be truly ethical precisely because ethics resides in the uncertain and incalculable terrain where difficult choices must be made. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Political Theory and Technology 02:51 Arendt's Critique of Darwin and Marx 06:02 World Alienation and the Human Condition 09:03 The Nature of Violence in Politics 11:54 Drones: The New Age of Warfare 14:42 Ethics and Algorithmic Warfare 17:27 The Distancing Effect of Drones 20:22 The Role of Machines in Warfare 23:15 Conclusion: The Ethics of Drone Warfare

    1h 4m
  2. Military Design Thinking with Dr Aaron P. Jackson

    11/06/2025

    Military Design Thinking with Dr Aaron P. Jackson

    Dr Aaron P. Jackson⁠ is Senior Lecturer in War Studies at Swedish Defence University in Stockholm, Sweden, where he specialises in researching and teaching operational art, military design thinking, and the ontology of military planning processes. Before commencing this role in February 2025, he was an Australian Public Servant for fifteen years. His public service appointments include Commander State Control Centre – Health in the South Australian Department of Health and Wellbeing, in which role he commanded the out-of-hospital elements of the Department’s COVID-19 pandemic response operations. He has also held a variety of roles in the Australian Department of Defence, including as a doctrine writer, where he was the lead author of the second edition of the Joint Military Appreciation Process doctrine, which is the Australian Defence Force equivalent to the United States’ Joint Publication 5.0 – Joint Planning. In addition to his civilian roles, Aaron is a part time Infantry Officer in the Australian Army Reserve. Holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, he is a former Commanding Officer of 10th/27th Battalion, The Royal South Australia Regiment, and he has previously deployed on Operations in Iraq, the Greater Middle East Region, Timor Leste, and domestically within Australia. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are exclusively his own. They do not represent the views of any institution with which he is, or was previously, affiliated.  In this month's episode, I speak with Dr Aaron P. Jackson about his book ⁠Military Design Thinking⁠. Military design thinking is an approach to military strategy and problem-solving that emphasises creativity rather than conventional methods, which often rely on linear, analytical approaches that may not adequately address the “wicked problems” encountered in complex and dynamic contemporary conflicts. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Military Design Thinking 02:09 Defining Military Design Thinking 04:59 The Role of AI in Military Design 10:12 Doctrinal Ontology in Military Context 20:51 The Equality of Starting Points in Warfare 28:24 The Impact of the Iraq War on Military Doctrine 40:55 Rethinking Military Problem Solving 44:34 Complex Adaptive Systems vs. Traditional Paradigms 48:58 The Influence of Postmodernism in Military Design 55:56 Wicked Problems and Military Contexts 01:01:06 Challenges in Embedding Design Thinking 01:04:09 Successful Applications of Design Thinking 01:11:46 The Future of Military Design Thinking Academic publications cited during this podcast:  4.12: Nelson & Stolterman (2014), The Design Way. 6.50: Bovet Emanuel, et al (2025), Comprehensive Shield 2025. 9.31: The Archipelago of Design website. 10.52: Jackson (2013), Doctrine, Strategy and Military Culture. 21.56: Howard (1974), Military Science in an Age of Peace. 27.48: Simpkin (2021),  ⁠Explaining Labour's Ballistic Missile Defence Policy 1997-2010. 30.08: Naveh (1997), In Pursuit of Military Excellence. 33.42: Ryan (2016), A Personal Reflection on Introducing Design to the U.S. Army. 37.56: Mann (1992), Chaos Theory and Strategic Thought. 56.08: Rittel & Webber (1973), Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning. 57.07: Nelson & Stolterman (2014), The Design Way. 59.11: Builder (1989), The Masks of War. 1.01.22: English (2004), Understanding Military Culture. 1.01.42: Weick (1996), Drop your Tools. 1.06.05: Weizman (2006), Walking Through Walls. 1.06.57: Stanczak et al (2021), Design at the Cutting Edge of Battle. 1.07.37: Martin (2015), a href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?

    1h 22m
  3. Origins of the Just War with Dr Rory Cox

    09/25/2025

    Origins of the Just War with Dr Rory Cox

    Dr Rory Cox, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, is Professor of History at the University of St Andrews, where he has taught since 2011. He studies how ideas shape human history, with research spanning the ethics of war, violence, and environmental history. His book Origins of the Just War: Military Ethics and Culture in the Ancient Near East (Princeton) won the 2024 Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award. His forthcoming book is Solar: A History of Humanity and the Sun.In this conversation, Dr. Rory Cox discusses his book 'Origins of the Just War' and explores the evolution of just war theory from ancient civilizations to modern times. He delves into the nature of warfare in the ancient Near East, the cultural perspectives of the Egyptians, Hittites, and Israelites, and how these perspectives shaped their justifications for war. The discussion also touches on the implications of ancient practices in contemporary warfare, the role of religion, and the modern revisionist approach to just war theory. 00:00 Introduction to Dr. Rory Cox and His Work 01:54 Warfare in the Ancient Near East 08:02 Understanding Just War Theory 15:12 Cultural Perspectives on War and Divinity 27:03 Rituals and Omens in Warfare 30:37 Legacy of Ancient Warfare in Modern Contexts 31:33 The Legacy of Vengeance in Warfare 33:03 Religion's Role in Modern Warfare 36:50 Evolution of Just War Theory 44:34 Modern Revisionist Just War Theory 53:26 Christianity and Just War Theory's Influence

    1h 2m
  4. Mission Command with Major Donald Vandergriff (U.S. Army retired)

    07/21/2025

    Mission Command with Major Donald Vandergriff (U.S. Army retired)

    Today’s guest is Major Donald Vandergriff (U.S. Army retired), a distinguished military thinker, educator, and reform advocate with over two decades of service across the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, and National Guard. As Director of Adaptive Leadership Training at Nemertes, and the author of multiple influential works, he brings a blend of operational experience and intellectual rigour. In this episode, I speak with Don about his edited volume Mission Command: The Who, What, Where, When and Why. What I really enjoyed about Don's book, and why it was a great fit for Hypervelocity, was how his and the other essays in it delved into the philosophical underpinnings of mission command and current U.S military culture. We tackle the key questions: How did the Prussian's defeat at the hands of Napolean lead Helmuth von Moltke to develop the philosophy of Auftragstaktik - or Mission Command? Why is Mission Command a cultural philosophy and not a social technology? How does the influence of Descartes mean that U.S. Army culture is French? Should U.S. Army culture be less Jominian and more Clausewitzian? Can Weber's theorizing on bureaucracy be used to explain current U.S. Army culture?Does the vast amount of data collected by situational awareness technology weaken mission command by encouraging excessive micromanagement of troops? Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Major Donald Vandergriff 01:53 The Origins of Mission Command 14:38 Moltke's Leadership and the Evolution of Mission Command 23:24 Mission Command as a Cultural Philosophy 29:20 Challenges in Implementing Mission Command 30:19 Empowering Decision-Making in Military Training 31:49 The Influence of French Military Philosophy 39:49 Cultural Shifts: Clausewitz vs. Jomini 43:00 Bureaucracy and Its Impact on Military Culture 46:21 Technology's Double-Edged Sword in Command 51:00 Lessons from Historical Commanders: Rommel's Approach 55:38 Building Trust for Effective Leadership

    1 hr
  5. Atomic Steppe with Dr Togzhan Kassenova

    06/08/2025

    Atomic Steppe with Dr Togzhan Kassenova

    Dr. Togzhan Kassenova is a Washington, DC-based senior fellow at SUNY-Albany’s PISCES and a nonresident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She specializes in nuclear politics, WMD nonproliferation, strategic trade controls, sanctions, and financial crime prevention. Her current work focuses on countering proliferation financing. She holds a Ph.D. in Politics from the University of Leeds. From 2011 to 2015, she served on the UN secretary general’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. For this month’s episode of Hypervelocity, I was joined by Dr. Togzhan Kassenova to discuss her book Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb⁠ (Stanford University Press, 2022). Togzhan’s work powerfully recounts the impact of the Soviet nuclear programme on the people and nation of Kazakhstan, as well as the country’s efforts to denuclearise after the collapse of the USSR—an experience that echoes the histories of other colonial nuclear testing grounds, such as Australia, the Pacific Islands, and Native American lands. What stands out in Togzhan’s account are the deeply human stories of resistance, resilience, and at times, dark humour in the face of the devastating legacy of nuclear testing. Her work also challenges classic International Relations theories that treat states like ‘Kazakhstan’, the ‘USSR’, or the ‘United States’ as black boxes of foreign policy. Instead, she highlights the agency of individuals—both among the general public, who organised anti-nuclear protest movements, and among diplomats, who built personal relationships and trust across borders to make denuclearisation possible. These efforts were crucial in helping Kazakhstan give up the nuclear weapons it inherited from the Soviet Union and chart a new path. Togzhan’s writing also critiques the assumptions of game theory, demonstrating that it is possible for nations to enhance their security without resorting to the zero-sum logic of mutually assured destruction. In fact, following its decision to relinquish its nuclear arsenal, Kazakhstan emerged as a model state in upholding international law, swiftly joining agreements such as the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Later in the episode, we explore whether—given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—Kazakhstan was right to give up its nuclear weapons. Finally, we catch up on what is happening today with the survivors of the Soviet-era nuclear tests. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Toghzan Kassenova and Her Work 02:10 The Impact of Nuclear Testing in Kazakhstan 08:57 Kazakhstan's Decision to Denuclearize 16:07 The Infrastructure of Nuclear Testing 20:25 Kazakhstan's Role in Global Nuclear Disarmament 29:30 The Importance of International Treaties 35:17 Human Connections in Nuclear Disarmament 41:31 Kazakhstan as a Model for Disarmament 45:37 Reflections on Security and Nuclear Deterrence 50:05 The Legacy of Nuclear Testing on Survivors 55:32 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

    57 min
  6. Reconceptualizing War with Dr Ben Zweibelson

    05/02/2025

    Reconceptualizing War with Dr Ben Zweibelson

    All comments and opinions are those of the individuals recorded; they do not reflect any official policy or position of the Department of Defense or U.S. government. Dr. Ben Zweibelson is an author, philosopher, and a retired Army Infantry Officer with multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ben lectures and publishes on military strategy, operational planning, design thinking, and war philosophy. His latest book, Reconceptualizing War, was released on April 30th. He has published two other books on the military design movement and innovation in defence applications. Ben earned the Army’s Master Parachutist, Pathfinder, Air Assault, Expert and Combat Infantryman’s Badges, the Ranger Tab, and was awarded four Bronze Stars in combat. He resides in Colorado Springs with his wife and children. His hobbies include getting injured doing jiu-jitsu, snowboarding, and CrossFit. A magnum opus, a tour de force—Dr. Ben Zweibelson’s latest book, Reconceptualizing War, is all of these and more. I was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy, and it was a rich feast. If you’ve ever wondered what your favourite strategist, philosopher, or school of thought had to say about warfare, you’re more than likely to find them in the pages of Reconceptualizing War. From Clausewitz to Kant, Tolstoy, Engels, Mao, the Futurists, Marcuse, or Deleuze and Guattari—and several dozen more—every time I wondered if a thinker was about to appear, there they were. I especially appreciated how Reconceptualizing War complemented the aims of my Hypervelocity podcast: going deeper to examine the philosophical underpinnings of conflict. The cover art goes hard too. Our conversation delves into the themes of reconceptualising war through various philosophical and theoretical lenses. Dr. Ben Zweibelson discusses the importance of social paradigms, the historical context of anti-fascism, and the evolution of ideological movements like Antifa. The dialogue also explores the theoretical connections between Kant, Clausewitz, and contemporary armed movements, as well as the implications of game theory and the future of warfare in the age of artificial intelligence. Chapters 00:00 – Introduction to Reconceptualizing War 02:44 – Theoretical Foundations: Burrell, Morgan, and Rapoport 10:48 – Kant, Clausewitz, and Contemporary Movements 17:01 – Antifa: Historical Context and Modern Implications 26:03 – Understanding War: Paradigms and Frameworks 37:48 – Radical Structuralism and Omnism in Warfare 47:49 – The Marxist Vision of Utopia 50:15 – The Enduring Nature of War 52:04 – Game Theory and Warfare 57:57 – Complexity Science and the Afghan Conflict 01:06:28 – Radical Structuralism and Revolutionary Success 01:14:56 – Détente and Radical Structuralism 01:21:47 – Interpretivism and the Limitations of Diagrams All comments and opinions are those of the individuals recorded; they do not reflect any official policy or position of the Department of Defense or U.S. government.

    1h 25m

  7. 01/09/2025

    Theorising Future Conflict Out to 2049 with Dr Mark Lacy

    Dr Mark Lacy, a senior lecturer at Lancaster University, joins me to discuss his book "Theorizing Future Conflict: War Out to 2049." We explore the evolving nature of warfare, focusing on the impact of new technologies like AI, drones, and cyber warfare. Mark highlights the challenges of predicting future conflicts, citing the ongoing war in Ukraine as a case study. He contrasts the liberal and authoritarian ways of war, emphasizing the potential for AI to make warfare more humane and pose significant risks. Mark also discusses the concept of "protopia" and "necropolitics," and the unpredictable nature of technological advancements in warfare. Questions: 1. Upon the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 2049, what lessons will the PLA have learnt about warfare from today's conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East? 2. Is Bakhmut the 21st Centuries Guernica, with drones representing a revolution in military in military affairs without which a combatant has no hope of winning? 3. In what way do drones manifest the protopian and necropolitical aspects of the liberal way of war? 4. I was struck by your thought experiment Drones Over Aleppo 2042: Terrorism in an Age of AI, with its depictions of granular drones delivering humanitarian aid amidst the lawless liminal space of a sprawling refugee camp while searching for a terrorist leader who taunts the West with atrocity deepfakes and who may in fact be an AI. Drawing on Virilio, is it inevitable that the invention of AI entails the AI incident, where AI escapes our control and turns on us, leading to bitskrieg and cybotage?

    52 min

  8. 11/29/2024

    The Insecurity Trap with Emeritus Professor Paul Rogers

    Paul Rogers⁠ is Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University and an Honorary Fellow of the Joint Service Command and Staff College (JSCSC). Paul lectures on changing drivers of international conflict with particular interests in the Middle East and paramilitary violence, and also has a long-term research interest in the interaction between socioeconomic marginalisation, climate disruption and security. Paul has written/edited 30 books and over 150 papers and book chapters. Paul is a regular broadcaster on radio and TV networks worldwide. He also writes a weekly column on international affairs for ⁠Open Democracy.⁠ In this conversation, I speak with Professor Rogers about his latest book, ⁠The Insecurity Trap⁠, which explores the intersection of ecological, economic, and military issues and their collective impact on global security. The discussion spans topics including climate breakdown, military-industrial complexes, socio-economic inequalities, and practical actions individuals can take to foster positive change. Questions covered: 1. How do ecological, economic and security issues combine to create the insecurity trap? 2. What is 'liddism', and why do Western governments prefer it to dealing with the root causes of insecurity? 3. Why is it so hard for conventional military commanders to see ecological collapse as a spur to conflict, and what do those that do suggest to address it? 4. What impact do you think the new Trump administration could have on ecological issues as a source of insecurity? 5. Could you envisage a perfect storm, so to speak, of ecological, economic and security issues coming together to create a new conflict; such as rising sea levels causing mass migration from Bangladesh into India, destabilizing the whole subcontinent and leading to a regional war with Pakistan? 6. What would be your most optimistic hope for how the intertwining threads of the insecurity trap might play out as we move past the first quarter of the 21st Century?

    52 min
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About

A podcast about the impact of military technology on strategy and ethics.

Information

  • Creator
    James Simpkin
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2025
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © James Simpkin
  • Show Website
    Hypervelocity