Loading summary
BetterHelp Ad Narrator
A Better Help ad. Hold on one second. I just need to. What if you had a room where no one interrupts, no notifications, no expectations, just space to talk with BetterHelp Therapy happens in a space that's yours. Visit betterhelp.com randompodcast for 10% off your first month of online therapy.
Ari Weitzman
What makes a leader worth following? What should you really care about in your job? As technology is changing so quickly, is it just gonna be about machines talking to other machines? I mean, should you quit your job and start something on your own? What would that take? What does success and risk look like when we're all at the starting gate together? These are the questions we answer each week on Lead Human with Jack Myers and Tim Spengler. Join us each week and subscribe at your favorite podcast platform and YouTube. We'll tell stories, we'll hear from some of the best, and we'll try to figure this out together.
Audrey Moorhead
This is a Monday.com ad. The same Monday.com helping people worldwide, getting work done faster and better. The same Monday.com designed for every team and every industry. The same Monday.com with built in AI scaling your work from day one. The same Monday.com that your team will actually love using the same Monday.com with an easy and intuitive setup. Go to Monday.com and try it for free. Yes, the same Monday.com. From executive producer Isaac Saul. This is Tangle.
Ari Weitzman
Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. Good evening, and welcome to the Tangle Podcast, the place where you get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking, and a little bit of our take. I'm your host for today's episode, Tango's managing editor, Ari Weitzman. And today we're going to be talking about an update to the war in Ukraine. But first, before we get there, I want to give you an important update on an upcoming live event that Tango is going to be hosting. We're going to be coming to Berkeley Springs, West Virginia on June 13th and 14th for a special VIP dinner and a live taping of our weekly podcast, Suspension of the Rules, where I'm usually joined by our executive editor, Isaac Saul and our editor at large, Camille Foster to talk about all that's going on in the world of US Politics. Tickets are on sale now. We'll put a link to where you can get them in our show Notes for this episode. And again, that is going to be June 13th and 14th at the historic Star Theater in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. It's not that far from DC, Pittsburgh, Philly, Maryland, even Ohio, New Jersey, North Carolina. If you're in the area, you should definitely check it out. It's a cool town, has some historical relevance. George Washington's brother Lawrence used to go there to recover from illnesses and now you can go there to watch us talk. We'll hope to see you there in June, but today we're talking about the war in Ukraine. So I'm going to send it over to our associate editor, Audrey Moorhead to give us a rundown of that topic. And I'll be back here for my take.
Audrey Moorhead
Thanks, Ari. First up, we have today's quick hits. Number one, the Department of Justice unsealed a grand jury indictment against Raul Castro, the former president of Cuba. Castro was indicted on murder charges related to a 1996 aircraft shoot down that killed four people, including three Americans. Separately, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz arrived in the Caribbean this week. Number two, James Murdoch's Lupa Systems announced it will acquire New York magazine and the Vox Media podcast network, including Vox.com in a deal valued at $300 million. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the U.S. and Iran were in the final stages of negotiations and that he would wait a few days for an Iranian response to the latest US proposal. Number four, on Wednesday, SpaceX filed papers to move forward with an initial public offering. It is expected to become the first US Company to go public with an estimated market value of $1 trillion. Number five, the Department of Justice charged a former federal prosecutor with stealing sealed documents related to Special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into President Donald Trump's classified documents case. We start this hour with the latest developments in the war in Ukraine as Kyiv says Russian forces are preparing for a major summer offensive. It has been a brutal couple of weeks in Ukraine with hundreds of missile and drone strikes across the country. Just to give you an idea, overnight Russia attacked eight regions. President Zelensky saying Russia used 524 attack drones and 22 missiles, both ballistic and cruise missiles. It in Dnipro alone. Meanwhile, President Zelenskyy has also been defending a massive drone attack on Russia, saying it was entirely justified. On May 8, President Donald Trump announced Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a three day ceasefire. Each side accused the other of violating the truce and heightened strikes resumed when it ended on May 11. Over the weekend, Ukraine conducted an overnight drone attack on Russia, including strikes in Moscow, killing at least 4 and injuring 12. According to local officials. The Ukrainian military launched over 1300 drones in the attack, which Russian state media called the worst attack in a year. The offensive followed last week's large scale Russian bombardment that killed at least 24 Ukrainians and injured dozens more. In recent weeks, Ukraine has ramped up its long range drone attacks against Russia, striking deeper into the country and specifically targeting its energy infrastructure. Additionally, Ukraine's military has invested heavily in middle strikes, targeting sites 30 to 180 kilometers behind front lines and is outfitted with advanced technological weaponry, including a homemade precision glide bomb. These tools have enabled Ukraine to strike oil, gas and electricity targets across Russia. Roughly 20 Russian oil export terminals and refineries have been damaged by Ukrainian strikes between April and mid May. As a result, Russia's crude processing rate fell to its lowest since December 2009. These developments have raised questions about Russia's dominance in the war it escalated over four years ago. Russian forces suffered a net loss of 45 square miles in April, the country's first net loss since August 2024, according to the Institute for the Study of war. On May 9, the Russian Victory Day holiday commemorating the surrender of Nazi Germany, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a significantly scaled back parade in Moscow. Reports indicated the Kremlin was concerned about security amid heavy Ukrainian strikes. However, some analysts push back on the narrative that the tides of the war have turned against Russia. Russian forces maintain control over key parts of Ukraine, and the ISW estimates Russia has gained nearly 30,000 square miles, or 12% of Ukrainian territory, since Russia's full scale invasion in February 2022. Additionally, Western military officials estimated in February that roughly two thirds of Ukraine's energy production capacity had been destroy, damaged or occupied by Russia since late 2025. Since fighting began, Ukrainian and Russian troops have suffered over 1 million combined casualties, while thousands of civilians have reportedly been killed, and the outlook of the war remains uncertain. President Putin, who traveled to China this week for discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping, said shortly after the victory parade that he thinks the war in Ukraine is coming to an end. In an evening address on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, this month has brought a shift in the dynamics in our favor, in Ukraine's favor, adding that the country is holding more positions and inflicting more damage. Next up, we'll share perspectives from the right, left and writers abroad on the state of the war and the most recent strikes. Then I'll pass it back to managing editor Ari Weitzman for his Take
Ari Weitzman
Foreign. We'll be right back after this quick break. What makes a leader worth following? What should you really care about in your job? As technology is changing so quickly, is it just gonna be about machines talking to other machines I mean, should you quit your job and start something on your own, what would that take? What does success and risk look like when we're all at the starting gate together? These are the questions we answer each week on Lead Human with Jack Myers and Tim Spengler. Join us each week and subscribe at your favorite podcast platform and YouTube. We'll tell stories, we'll hear from some of the best, and we'll try to figure this out together. What separates AI ambition from real impact? KPMG's yous can with AI podcast unpacks how leading organizations are moving faster and operating smarter with AI. Listen to youo Can With AI now on Spotify.
Audrey Moorhead
First up, what the Right is saying Many on the right praise Ukraine's use of drone warfare. Others say Ukraine's war efforts offer grim lessons for its allies. In the Wall Street Journal, Tom Tugenthat described the economics of victory in Ukraine. The war in Iran teaches an old lesson about military spending. More than 1,000 interceptor drones roll off Ukrainian production lines every day at 1 to $3,000 apiece. The bodies of Kyiv built attack drones are redesigned within months, not years, their engines even more quickly and their guidance software within a matter of days. By keeping costs down and rapidly iterating simple technology at scale, Ukraine is delivering a devastating effect. Ukraine produced 4 million drones last year and plans to produce 7 million this year, 10 times its output three years ago. For Ukraine, that's the economics of victory. Billions of dollars of weapons destroyed by drones that cost around $2,000 each. The goal is no longer the perfect weapon. You build the best you can, then build it again. 90% as good at 80% of the cost and 50% of the time, then do it again and again, a thousand times more. That not only fills the armory, it creates a system to keep it full. In the American prospect Gil Barndaler said drone dominance isn't the vital lesson of Ukraine. Finding enough men to man the 1,200 kilometer front line is a ceaseless struggle for Ukraine. The country has more than 10 million military aged men, but is struggling to keep an army of 1 million in the field. Many soldiers are exhausted after years of war without rest. Policy decisions also contribute to the manpower crisis. Fearing post war demographic collapse, Ukraine still refuses to draft Men under 25. Many others have exemptions for critical civilian work, family circumstances or health issues. The reality is that manpower is still the critical ingredient in war. Absent true machine autonomy, drone tactics don't remove the need for troops, they simply move manpower around. All the attention now being paid to drones and munitions production suggests that war can be undertaken without sacrifice. Ukraine's messy partial mobilization bears witness to the cost of failing to prepare the public for a broad loss of trust in the army. Widespread draft evasion an army forced into a war of attrition by its lack of manpower for assault and maneuver. NATO nations, most still wedded to a brittle all volunteer force model, need to honestly grapple with what a protracted war would demand of their armies and societies. Next up, what the Left is saying Some on the left say Ukraine has all but eliminated its reliance on the United States and other countries. Others contend that Europe must now step up to help ensure Ukraine's long term security. The Newsweek editors argued, Ukraine is increasingly able to go it alone. Ukraine's need for Western capability has given Washington an effective veto over many of the most politically sensitive strike options. And it's not just Washington. Germany has also shown reluctance to give Ukraine its long range Taurus missiles for similar reasons. Kyiv, however, is gaining strike options that can be launched without a fresh American transfer of material. Ukraine's liberating push for self sufficiency in long range drones and missiles is beginning to pay off. The military damage from drone strikes near Moscow will vary by target and interception rate, but the political effect is harder for the Kremlin to quarantine because the war is becoming increasingly immediate for Russian civilians. The political question is no longer whether Ukraine may someday acquire a US Approved weapon capable of reaching symbolic Russian targets. Kyiv is already demonstrating that Moscow's defenses can be stressed by Ukrainian made systems. In Bloomberg, Mark Champion argued, ukraine is doing better now it's Europe's turn. After a brutal winter, Ukraine has managed to stabilize the front over the last few months, on occasion even making net territorial gains. Overall, the nature of the battlefield has changed in ways that blunt Russia's overwhelming advantages in manpower, artillery and armor. Now the bloc must agree to a new non US Framework for peace talks and give Ukrainians hope by creating a bespoke path to their integration into the European Union and Western security arrangements. The good news is that most of Europe's leaders by now recognize that integrating Ukraine's large military and drone industry offers their own best security guarantee against a revisionist Kremlin absent a reliable US Partner. Less encouraging is that this war has become a contest of narratives and confidence as much as a fight over land, so Ukraine's allies must regroup and respond accordingly. They cannot fall for Putin's nuclear threats, which are more a sign of desperation than of strength. For their own sakes, they need to find a new mediator to replace the US and ensure that Kyiv survives what feels very much like Moscow's last throw of the military dice this summer. Finally, what Writers Abroad are saying Many writers abroad say recent Ukrainian attacks have threatened Russian control. Others argue that European countries should prepare to rebuild Ukraine on several fronts once the war ends. In the Washington Examiner, Igor Bondar said Ukraine has broken the myth of an untouchable Moscow. Long range Ukrainian drone strikes against Moscow and the Moscow region have exposed something the Kremlin desperately tried to hide for years. Russia can no longer fully defend its own capital. The Ukrainian drone campaign is also exposing a deeper strategic problem for Russia. Modern drone warfare favors cheaper, mass produced systems over traditional, expensive air defense missiles. Russia is now forced to spend millions of rubles attempting to intercept relatively inexpensive drones in a long war of attrition. That imbalance matters. The broader point is that Ukraine is steadily scaling up a new model of warfare. The next phase will likely involve coordinated swarms, autonomous medium range drones, and artificial intelligence systems designed to overwhelm Russian air defenses. Russian authorities already appear deeply concerned about this shift. Panic inside Russia's drone industry has led to investigations, raids and corruption cases connected to failed procurement programs. Ukraine is dismantling the central myth sustaining Russian President Vladimir Putin's system the belief that the Russian state remains strong, untouchable, and capable of protecting its own people while waging war against its neighbors. In National Review, Alexander Kryev and Andreas Umland argued that a coalition must prepare for numerous new challenges once the war ends. War, not peace, remains the most likely scenario. Yet history rarely ends as expected. Europe cannot afford to be unprepared for the consequences of a sudden ceasefire. Should the fighting cease, Ukraine would not face a simple recovery period, but rather the beginning of a new multidimensional struggle, one that would simultaneously test its security, economy, institutions, demographics and political cohesion. Winning peace, especially under an imperfect ceasefire agreement, will be just as demanding as surviving the war. Once security is established, economic recovery will be the decisive test. Ukraine's decline during or after the war would grant Russia a belated victory and spur authoritarian revisionism far beyond Eastern Europe. The end of fighting whenever it comes, will be celebrated by Ukrainians, yet will neither reduce Russian imperialism nor resolve many of Ukraine's accumulated domestic problems. It will merely mean the transition to a new phase of intense political developments whose outcome will continue to significantly impact the future of Europe. That's it for what the left, right and international riders are saying now. I'll pass it off to Ari for his take.
Ari Weitzman
The war in Ukraine is horrifying. Start with the numbers alone. Accurately reporting on these figures is difficult since both sides tend to inflate the other's losses. But here's a good estimate. Since Vladimir Putin decided to launch an all out assault to conquer Ukraine by force in 2022, the war has claimed 250,000 to 300,000 Ukrainian military casualties and roughly 1 million Russian military casualt. That includes killed and wounded soldiers. Additionally, Ukraine has killed 8,000 Russian civilians according to Russia, while Russia has killed 15,000 Ukrainian civilians according to the UN. Just for the sake of comparison, Israel's war in Gaza has killed over 72,000 people. That's not to say one war is more horrific or more important than the other, or to minimize in any way what's happening in Gaza. That conflict is massively asymmetric and the majority of those killed in that war have been civilians. Just mention the numbers here to try to give some perspective on the sheer magnitude of lives still being lost in this conflict as it approaches its fifth year. The war's territorial changes are also rather astonishing. Russia occupies over 45,000 square miles of Ukraine. That's roughly 20% of the country. Recently the tide of this war has turned, yes, but it's not some dramatic reversal of fortune. Instead, it's more of a literal turn of the tide. It's like a high tide that's no longer advancing, but is now starting to slowly recede from the shore. With the help of foreign aid and some foreign volunteers, Ukraine has offered fierce resistance, mostly with its own forces, against the slow, inexorable, steady Russian advance through eastern Ukraine, losing small amounts of territory every month since November 2023. In March, Ukraine pushed the lines back for the first time in years. And then they did it again in April, not far back, but enough that you could see the past six weeks as marking the beginning of Ukraine's own inexorable march to pushing Russian forces out of its country. No peace is coming. Yes, the two sides mutually agreed to a US brokered three day ceasefire and a prisoner exchange during the Russian Victory Day celebration, but that peace was tenuous at best. Each side accused the other of breaking the ceasefire's terms throughout. And the key disagreement still remains Russia won't accept any peace. That doesn't include Ukraine ceding control over parts of the Donbas region that it's currently still defending. Instead of hoping for productive negotiations with Russia, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy famously told President Trump, Vice President J.D. vance and the entire world would be a fool's errand, Ukraine has instead adopted a different remove Russian soldiers from the battlefield faster than they can be replaced by new recruits. Doing so requires the Ukrainian military to inflict 30,000 enemy casualties per month. And they're succeeding. I consider myself a realistic person. I understand that Russia is relentless, that they've been barraging Ukrainian cities and vital infrastructure for years, unleashing combined missile and drone attacks to deadly effect, and all the while flooding the zone with propaganda. I get that the support the US and NATO countries have given Ukraine has been self interested and wanting, providing just enough to keep Russia engaged without being decisive enough to drive Russian troops out of the country. And and I know that given the situation, the existential threat, the relentlessness of the enemy, and the solitary nature of its fight, Ukraine has been forced to adapt or die. It's just that the adaptation is frightening to behold. Ukraine has created a kill zone along the front with a few innovations to existing drone technology. To understand what this means, you need to know three acronyms. First, fpv. Ukrainian First Person View. That's FPV drones are small cheap aircraft that relay real time video back to their remote operators. These are different from the long range drones that Ukraine has been using to attack sites in Russia and terrorize its vast countryside, the ones Russia is now diverting into Baltic countries. These FPV interceptor drones are small, fast and cheap. Ukraine is sending thousands to the front every day at about $1,000 per drone. Second, you need to know the acronym EFP. These FPV drones can be armed with explosively formed projectiles or efp. Those are superheated concave metal plates that when detonated, transform into solid fast moving slugs that can Pierce armor. EFPs can easily penetrate netting or wire that troops on the front lines use to protect themselves from other FPV drones, and they can even punch through tanks. Third, AI Ukraine uses artificial intelligence systems to help pilot small quadcopter drones, which turns cheap and easy to make machines into tools. Sometimes referred to as slaughterbots, these machines allow FPV operators to identify a target, then seed control to an AI piloting system. Breaking the requirement of remote human control. Onboard AI makes drones impervious to jamming and allows them to complete the last leg of their killing journeys without any human intervention. Videos from FPV drones killing soldiers are easy to find, and frankly, they may be the most disturbing videos I've ever seen. Watching a human being die is always disturbing, and many other videos of human death are far more gruesome or nauseating. But every Video death evokes a feeling of uncanny distance through the screen. It's a facsimile, an experience less like what it is and more like watching a video game, creating this terribly alienated feeling of removal. And that feeling is grotesquely acute when you're watching these videos. An unsuspecting soldier, the drone approaches. He notices it and begins to panic. It accelerates towards him. He helplessly tries to evade, turns to face it. At the last second, a freeze frame AI enhanced image. His face 45 years old. Deep lines of hard years ingrained into a startled face, not comprehending its encroaching death. Another face, 35 years old, 21 years old. Zoom out. A small explosion. Then the next video. Let me be as clear as I can. I'm not blaming Ukraine for finding the path it needs to take to win a war it did not choose. We should never forget that Vladimir Putin started this war. He did it because he believes the free nation of Ukraine belongs to Russia and he can stop the war at any time by leaving the territories that he invaded. Ukraine is doing what countless nations and armies and tribes have done throughout history, which is innovate the cold and bloody machinery of war. Here's how one Ukrainian FPV brigade commander put it to the New York any large scale war, it delivers demons. It unleashes something powerful and accelerates developments which otherwise would have taken decades. Or if you prefer, here's another quote from if the international community is so concerned about this, then they should have stopped the war early on. The United States, Europe and NATO should all be gladdened to see Ukraine assert control again. It would be good for Ukraine to prevail here. But if indeed the tide of war is turning, and it's a red tide coming in, it's very unsettling to be cheering Ukraine's advances in this moment. And again, I unequivocally hope that they can push Russia out, that they can rack up steady gains on the front lines and then leverage their success into a strong negotiating position they can use to bring a permanent end to this war. But I also fear the future of war. That the end of this one would bring slaughterbots would have seemed like science fiction even a year ago. Today they're actually Ukraine's battlefield strategy. And while Ukraine is making concerted efforts to ensure oversight of their AI powered FPV drones, would every army do the same? A future where Iranian forces remotely crack open a container and the port of Los Angeles to unleash flying autonomous killing machines is no longer a scenario that actually seems that far fetched. Ukraine is giving us a glimpse of that potential future, and I don't think we're prepared for it. We'll be right back after this quick break. Howdy, howdy ho, and welcome to Fantasy Fan Fellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fan Girls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson. And I'm Stephen, your bookish Internet goofball, but you can call me the Smash Daddy. And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before. That's right. Hey. Hey. So each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every single chapter. And along the way, we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert. He'll be wrong. News flash, I'm never wrong. Episodes come out every Wednesday, and you can find Fantasy Fan Fellows wherever you get your podcasts. Whether it's a birthday trip, a family reunion, or just a fun getaway, booking a verbo vacation rental means no worrying about surprises, Verbo Care and 247 Life Support. Have your back if something's off. The loved by guests filter helps you find top rated homes. And verified reviews mean real feedback from real VRBO guests so you know exactly what you're booking.
Audrey Moorhead
Honestly, I just booked my VRBO because
Ari Weitzman
there was a sweet wine fridge. Hey, we all have our reasons. Don't walk into a surprise if you know you VRBO terms apply. See vrbo.com trust for details. That's it for my take on the updates to the Ukraine, Russia war. So now a very sharp pivot to a reader question from Diane from Kansas. Diane asks, what was the East Wing of the White House used for before it was demolished? What are we losing from not having it there? The White House can be broken down into three distinct parts. The East Wing, the West Wing, and the Residence. The Residence is obviously where the presidential family lives. It takes up a large part of the central portion of the building, the section that is most easily identifiable from the exterior. It's also known as the main House. This portion is home to reception rooms that are frequently open to public tours. So that's the green, the blue and the red rooms, the Diplomatic Reception Room, and the State Dining Room. The West Wing is home to the administrative offices of the President and his staff, as referenced by the famous television drama of the same name. Now, the East Wing of the White House is the section of the building least used by the president for daily tasks. It's also the newest section with the current structure added by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1942 before President Trump demolished it late last year. The East Wing housed some of the building's ceremonial spaces, its guest entrance and the offices for the first lady's staff. It also contained things like a movie theater, and it sat above a presidential bunker. Although those original spaces have been lost, the functional losses won't be permanent. A renovated bunker is part of President Trump's planned ballroom construction, as is a new visitor's entrance, new offices for the first lady staff, and even a new movie theater. The ballroom's architect also said he is considering additions to the building's west wing in order to retain the White House's symmetry. So that's it for today's reader question. I'm going to send it back over to Audrey for the rest of the podcast.
Audrey Moorhead
Thanks, Ari. Next up, we have one of our newer sections, the Road Not Taken. Our editorial team had a long discussion over what topic to cover today. We knew we would cover the Trump XI Summit on Monday and the primary results on Wednesday. Initially, we anticipated covering the White House ballroom on Tuesday, but pivoted after the anti Weaponization fund was announced by the doj. Today's choice gave us the most to consider. Ballroom funding was the obvious early frontrunner, since we bumped it on Tuesday, but we decided that waiting to see how legislation advanced would be prudent. So what else was timely and relevant? Musk vs Altman? The Senate housing bill? The Ebola outbreak? None seemed to be generating enough commentary to make them obvious choices for the tangled treatment. Minnesota banning prediction markets felt too niche, and the Raul Castro indictment felt premature. Ultimately, we agreed that it was time for the long overdue Ukraine update. And finally we have our have a nice day story for a male kea parrot. Being born without an upper beak is a disability that typically amounts to a death sentence for birds. For Bruce, it was only a challenge on his way to becoming the alpha male of his flock. Researchers studying Bruce at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in New Zealand found that he had developed a novel jousting technique, thrusting his lower beak at opponents across 36 recorded combative interactions and winning every one. He also had the lowest stress hormone levels in the group and was the only male groomed by other males. Lead researcher Alexander Grabham said behavioral innovation can help bypass physical disability. Good, Good Good has the story and you can find the link in the show notes.
Ari Weitzman
All right everybody, that's it for today's episode. A little bit of a harsh one today, but remember, you can see us in person person for a little bit more lighter fare. We're going to be coming to Berkeley Springs, West Virginia on June 13th and 14th again. Berkeley Springs, West Virginia June 13th and 14th. Meet the tango Team. You can even register for a VIP dinner and you can watch a live recording of our weekly podcast Suspension of the Rules. If you want tickets to that, go check out the show Notes now and come see us in a Berkeley Springs, West Virginia June 13th and 14th. Until next time, take care of yourselves. Peace. Our Executive Editor and Founder is me, Isaac Saul, and our Executive Producer is John Wall. Today's episode was edited and engineered by Dewey Thomas. Our editorial staff is led by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman with Senior Editor Will Kaback and Associate Editors Audrey Moorhead, Lindsey Knuth and Bailey Saul. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet75. To learn more about Tangle and to sign up for a membership, please visit our website@retangle.com. ACAST powers the World's Best Podcasts Here's a show that we recommend with
Audrey Moorhead
do
Ari Weitzman
you like being educated on things? Entertain, but don't matter? Well, then you need to be listening to the Podcast with Knox and Jamie. Every Wednesday we put together an episode dedicated to delightful idiocy to give your brain a break from all the serious and important stuff.
Audrey Moorhead
Whether we're deep diving a classic movie, dissecting the true meanings behind the newest slang, or dunking on our own listeners for their bad takes or cringy stories, we always approach our topics with humor and just a little bit of side eye. And we end every episode with recommendations on all the best new movies, books, TV shows, or music.
Ari Weitzman
To find out more, just search up the Podcast with Knox and Jamie wherever you listen to podcasts and prepare to make Wednesday your new favorite day of the week. ACAST helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere.
BetterHelp Ad Narrator
Acast.com Most people don't realize how much of their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billion billions pulling details about you from public records and the Internet, then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent. That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers. It's why you get endless robocalls and why ads seem to follow you everywhere. That's where Aura comes in. Aura actively removes your data from broker sites and keeps it off. They also instantly alert you if your information shows up in a breach or on the dark web. But Aura goes beyond data protection. With one app you get a vpn, antivirus, password manager, spam, call protection, dark web monitoring, and even up to $5 million in identity theft insurance. All backed by 24. 7 US based fraud support. Other companies might sell just credit monitoring or even just a vpn. Aura gives you all of it together at the same price competitors charge for just one service. Start your free trial today at aura.com safety protect yourself now at aura.com safety
Ari Weitzman
acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. I'm Kai Wright.
Audrey Moorhead
I'm Carter Sherman. Welcome to Stateside with Kai and Carter. We're a new show from the Guardian.
Ari Weitzman
We're talking to big thinkers and the best journalists just trying to understand the world. Think through smart conversation and honest reporting.
Audrey Moorhead
We don't have billionaires telling us what to say.
Ari Weitzman
Stateside with Kyan Carter will come out three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday starting May 13.
Audrey Moorhead
Subscribe on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
Ari Weitzman
Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.
Podcast Host: Ari Weitzman (subbing for Isaac Saul)
Date: May 21, 2026
This episode provides a much-needed update on the ongoing war in Ukraine, which has receded from many headlines but remains brutal and globally significant. The show offers a round-up of recent battlefield developments, analyzes perspectives from the right, left, and international commentators, and concludes with the host’s personal reflections on the broader meaning and future implications of the evolving fight—including the chilling reality of rapid battlefield technological innovation.
[03:31 - 08:35] Audrey Moorhead
“President Zelensky saying Russia used 524 attack drones and 22 missiles… overnight.”
[09:47 - 17:53] Audrey Moorhead
"More than 1,000 interceptor drones roll off Ukrainian production lines every day... by keeping costs down and rapidly iterating... Ukraine is delivering a devastating effect."
(~10:10)
"Manpower is still the critical ingredient in war... War can’t be undertaken without sacrifice."
(~11:25)
“Ukraine is increasingly able to go it alone... Kyiv is gaining strike options that can be launched without a fresh American transfer of material.”
(~12:45)
“Ukraine is doing better now—it’s Europe’s turn.”
Calls for a new non-US framework for peace talks and EU path for Ukraine’s integration; warns against succumbing to Putin’s nuclear threats.
“Long range Ukrainian drone strikes against Moscow... expose[s] something the Kremlin desperately tried to hide... Russia can no longer fully defend its own capital.”
(~14:25)
“Once security is established, economic recovery will be the decisive test. The end... will merely mean the transition to a new phase of intense political developments.”
Emphasizes challenges post-ceasefire: security, economic recovery, institutional and political stability.
[17:53 - 27:57]
“Since Vladimir Putin decided to launch an all out assault... the war has claimed 250,000–300,000 Ukrainian military casualties and roughly 1 million Russian military [casualties]... Ukraine has killed 8,000 Russian civilians... Russia has killed 15,000 Ukrainian civilians.” (18:14)
“Ukraine has created a kill zone along the front with a few innovations... First Person View (FPV) drones... armed with explosively formed projectiles (EFPs)... AI-powered ‘slaughterbots’.” (20:50–23:32)
“An unsuspecting soldier... the drone approaches. He notices it and begins to panic... a freeze frame, AI enhanced image... not comprehending its encroaching death... Then the next video.”
“I’m not blaming Ukraine for finding the path it needs to take to win a war it did not choose... We should never forget that Vladimir Putin started this war.”
“But if indeed the tide of war is turning, and it’s a red tide coming in, it’s very unsettling to be cheering Ukraine’s advances in this moment... I also fear the future of war. That the end of this one would bring slaughterbots would have seemed like science fiction even a year ago. Today they’re actually Ukraine’s battlefield strategy...” (24:09–26:50)
“Any large scale war, it delivers demons. It unleashes something powerful and accelerates developments which otherwise would have taken decades.” — Quoted from a Ukrainian FPV brigade commander (25:45)
“If the international community is so concerned about this, then they should have stopped the war early on.” — Ukrainian interviewee (26:13)
“Billions of dollars of weapons destroyed by drones that cost around $2,000 each.”
— Tom Tugendhat, Wall Street Journal (10:35)
“Manpower is still the critical ingredient in war... drone tactics don’t remove the need for troops, they simply move manpower around.” — Gil Barndaler, The American Prospect (11:48)
“Kyiv is already demonstrating that Moscow’s defenses can be stressed by Ukrainian-made systems.” — Newsweek Editors (13:08)
“This war has become a contest of narratives and confidence as much as a fight over land.” — Mark Champion, Bloomberg (13:40)
“A future where Iranian forces remotely crack open a container in the port of Los Angeles to unleash flying autonomous killing machines is no longer a scenario that actually seems that far fetched.”
— Ari Weitzman (26:25)
The tone is sober, incisive, and occasionally unsettling—especially in the host’s reflection on the humanitarian cost of the war and the implications of rapidly evolving combat technologies. The language is direct, with an undercurrent of anxiety about what modern war now looks like and what the future may hold.
The episode ends with a callback to the “Road Not Taken” section (why Ukraine was the chosen focus), a quirky animal story for levity, and an invitation to an upcoming live event. The hosts stress the importance of not becoming numb to the war’s horrors, even as its reporting recedes in Western media.
Useful for listeners who want: