The Pen and the Sword

The Military Writers Guild

The Pen and the Sword, the podcast of the Military Writers Guild, seeks to examine war and the written word through discussions with service members, veterans, civilian analysts, and writers.

Episodes

  1. AUG 4

    Writing as a Community with Nathan Finney

    Today on the Pen and the Sword, we kicked off the reboot of our podcast with a focus on collaborative writing and on informal communities of practice like the Military Writers Guild that advance their missions as volunteer-run organizations. There is nobody better to discuss those topics than Dr. Nathan Finney. Nate is a historian, a Strategist in the United States Army, and the President of the Military Writers Guild. Nate was the editor of the book “On Strategy”, published by Army University Press, and co-editor with Ty Mayfield of the book “Redefining the Modern Military”. We discussed the challenges of editing a book with multiple authors. Nate Finney is also one of the founding members of our guild, and since every nerd likes a good origin story, we decided to ask him about that as well.

    39 min

  2. 09/06/2016

    On remembering war

    In today's episode of The Pen and the Sword, Adin is joined by Randy "Charlie Sherpa" Brown, author of "FOB Haiku" and Barry Alexander, author of "On Afghanistan's Plains." The trio discuss the various ways in which we talk about and remember war, the role of humor in bridging the civilian-military divide, and more.

    50 min
  3. Guest Episode - War Stories, 1.1

    08/22/2016

    Guest Episode - War Stories, 1.1

    Today, we're featuring a guest episode of a new project from MWG members Adin Dobkin and Angry Staff Officer. You can find their show, War Stories, at www.warstoriescast.com. In Northern France on July 14th, 1916, a cavalry unit from Hyderabad made what most consider to be the final cavalry charge of World War I before the invention of tanks. The unit, Deccan Horse, represented the last gasp of the old way of battle — a way upended by the grinding slog of the Great War. This is their story.

    39 min

  4. 07/21/2016

    On The Valley - Book Club Episode One

    On the first episode of The Pen and the Sword Book Club, Adin discusses John Renehan's The Valley alongside U.S. Army Officer Luke O'Brien, Carrie Morgan, the author of The Road Back from Broken, and Pauline Shanks Kaurin, Professor of Ethics at Pacific Lutheran University.

    1h 1m

  5. 06/16/2016

    On the battle for the narrative

    In today's episode, Adin is joined by John DeRosa, a DOD civilian and PhD student at George Mason University, and MSG Sohail Shaikh of the Army's Asymmetric Warfare Group. Adin, John, and Sohail discuss the role of narratives in the fight against ISIS and how the U.S. can build its narrative capacity from groups like the literary community.

    1h 3m
  6. The Pen and the Sword Book Club Announcement

    06/13/2016

    The Pen and the Sword Book Club Announcement

    Today, we're excited to announce a recurring series on the Pen and the Sword that'll start next month and take place in addition to our standard discussions. The Pen and the Sword Book Club is a monthly discussion series on a military or war novel. For our inaugural discussion, Adin will be joined by The Road Back from Broken's author, Carrie Morgan, U.S. Army Officer, Luke O'Brien, and Associate Professor of Philosophy, Pauline Shanks Kaurin. The four will discuss John Renehan's The Valley.

    2 min
  7. On the (mis)use of history

    04/04/2016

    On the (mis)use of history

    In this episode of the Pen and the Sword, Adin is joined by Nathan Finney, a US Army Officer and PhD student at University of Kansas, and Angry Staff Officer, an Army historian. The trio discuss the legacy of conflicts and how military and national security professionals use and misuse history.

    56 min
  8. On civilian narratives of conflict

    02/22/2016

    On civilian narratives of conflict

    In the second episode of the Military Writers Guild's podcast, the Pen and the Sword, Adin Dobkin discusses civilian narratives on war and the military with Carrie Morgan, the author of the Road Back from Broken, and Kama Shockey, a writer whose short stories have appeared in a number of literary journals. Medium episode page: https://medium.com/the-military-writers-guild/the-pen-and-the-sword-episode-2-bfa8393b9c57#.1q0y86ie4

    56 min
  9. On diversity and fiction in national security

    12/16/2015

    On diversity and fiction in national security

    In the inaugural episode of the Military Writers Guild's podcast, The Pen and the Sword, Tyrell Mayfield, August Cole, and Adin Dobkin discuss diversity in military and national security conversations, the role of fiction in these debates, and writing for service members and civilians.

    52 min
  • 9 Episodes

4.7
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

The Pen and the Sword, the podcast of the Military Writers Guild, seeks to examine war and the written word through discussions with service members, veterans, civilian analysts, and writers.

Information

  • Creator
    The Military Writers Guild
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2025
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    The Pen and the Sword