I enjoyed both podcasts, found the Audio quality just fine and the 2.0+ version of Substack on iOS does allow faster or slower playback.
I liked the short summaries of the most important developments in a given week. This podcast is filled with good info and interesting thought. Thank you!
I will continue to listen to your podcast, as I very much appreciate what the two of you are doing. Just like most things in life, I am sure the technical aspects of the podcast will continue to improve.
The systematic way the Ukrainians are disassembling the Russian naval architecture in Sevastopol and the Black Sea is under appreciated in the US in my opinion as the focus seems to be the Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian the Ukrainian electrical grid in overly sensational terms. The NYTs journalists and others continue to misuse the word ‘stalemate.’
Annie Applebaum recently appeared on former US Senator Al Franken’s podcast and laid out in stark blunt terms Putin’s genocidal goals. The American people are still in denial and or naive about it, so your podcast is vital. Keep it up!
Love the podcast/audio format! It’s perfect for my after work commute.
Very interesting info on shells stats and logistics of it. Certainly learnt few things
P.S. People also need to be keep in mind that these are not your usual professional content creators, in the studio with fancy equipment sharing their, usually uneducated, view of the world.
I’m here for the knowledge not for crispiest audio
Enjoyed the Podcast. Since the situation can sometimes change quickly, I suggest you mention the date you are recording at the beginning. Helps with the context. Specifically, I've seen reports that the Russian 72nd brigade was destroyed near Bahkmut, which you didn't mention, so I'm guessing you recorded before those reports.
This is why the news articles, which quote military analysts disparaging Ukraine’s efforts to pressure Russia at multiple places on the front line, are dumb. Keep up the operational tempo and wear down the enemy. (I trust Ukraine is rotating units out of the fighting.) Zelenskyy has said that they will fight through the winter, because any respite only gives Russia breathing room to regroup and recover.
I stopped listening after a couple of minutes. Good to see that Phillips and Mykola are now at the same volume level, but I don't have the patience to spend 39 minutes listening to an unedited podcast that reminds me of a Skype call from a decade ago. The audio quality could be much better with little effort. The transcript might be an alternative, but it looks like it's been auto-generated but not edited. I'll stick with the written posts, which are very good.
Such is life--we are doing this to try and get some information out. I realize its not the most polished work, but it will get better and hopefully we will get better. Its obviously not going to appeal to everyone.
Hi. After the first podcast, you made some comments that suggested that you were encouraged by the number of people who listened to at least part of it, and would like to see the audience grow. There are technical audio problems that make it unlikely that that will happen. People won't tolerate poor audio. They just turn it off. Most people simply will not listen to a 39 minute internet call. @BiginJapan says below that my "standards are too high". In fact, my standards are being met by teenagers on Spotify, YouTube, Apple and other podcast platforms. They've been exposed to the wealth of videos on YouTube about how to avoid the problems that you've run into.
If you're happy with a small audience, cool. If you want a broader audience, I suggest that you pursue the concrete suggestions that I made in a post on September 17th. Bringing Mykola and yourself into line on voice level has already helped a lot, but it's really basic. It's also easy to address the audio problem that arises from recording Mykola over the internet, and it will make a huge difference.
Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell have been recording their hit podcast, The Rest is Politics, between London and Jordan, which is where Stewart was living until recently. Their clarity is not hard to achieve. There's no reason why Mykola and you couldn't sound just as clear. If you don't want to bother with the straightforward editing involved in a double ender, which is almost certainly what Stewart and Campbell were doing, you can still come close enough.
If you're bound and determined to record over the internet, in your place I would try having Mykola do the recording. You're a native English speaker. As good as Mykola's English is, his voice is accented and therefor requires more concentration from the listener. It might help overall clarity if the internet was undermining your voice rather than his :) Seriously, I think that that's worth trying. He can give you the recording via Dropbox.
Excellent analysis, as always, particularly on the balance UAF is seeking and achieving across all fronts. And MBs comments on the artillery shell situation in the light of the recent visit from Kim are v helpful.
I’m a standard non tech listener in the UK using an i phone and using the link from the regular e mail and I have no problems with the quality. And,ffs, no paywall!
You talk about how to support Ukraine in Ukraine. I would like to support policy and awareness in the US. Do you know of any events or groups that are trying to maintain and improve support for Ukraine in the US?
Someone in the American government apparently made the claim that the U.S. doesn’t have a lot of spare ATACMS to send anyway. That sounds like a bullshit excuse to me. But, I wonder if there is any truth to that statement.
Even if true, when will we find a better use for those weapons than in this war? Also, those weapons probably have a shelf life, right? If we don’t use them, eventually they will be disarmed and buried somewhere, I think. Rather bury them in an enemy supply dump.
Transcript, please!
There is one available that was system generated. Check again and you should see it.
I enjoyed both podcasts, found the Audio quality just fine and the 2.0+ version of Substack on iOS does allow faster or slower playback.
I liked the short summaries of the most important developments in a given week. This podcast is filled with good info and interesting thought. Thank you!
Really appreciate that! We are trying!
Hi Phillips, you previously mentioned the possibility of these coming out on Apple Podcasts. Will that happen with this episode? Many thanks, Ben
we are working on it--hope to have it by the next episode.
Keep 'em coming, O'Brien!
will do, Burke!
I read your Substack with regularity, always helpful analysis. Not so interested in the podcast, but welcome the inclusion of a partner. Thanks!
Mykola is great
I will continue to listen to your podcast, as I very much appreciate what the two of you are doing. Just like most things in life, I am sure the technical aspects of the podcast will continue to improve.
The systematic way the Ukrainians are disassembling the Russian naval architecture in Sevastopol and the Black Sea is under appreciated in the US in my opinion as the focus seems to be the Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian the Ukrainian electrical grid in overly sensational terms. The NYTs journalists and others continue to misuse the word ‘stalemate.’
Annie Applebaum recently appeared on former US Senator Al Franken’s podcast and laid out in stark blunt terms Putin’s genocidal goals. The American people are still in denial and or naive about it, so your podcast is vital. Keep it up!
Love the podcast/audio format! It’s perfect for my after work commute.
Very interesting info on shells stats and logistics of it. Certainly learnt few things
P.S. People also need to be keep in mind that these are not your usual professional content creators, in the studio with fancy equipment sharing their, usually uneducated, view of the world.
I’m here for the knowledge not for crispiest audio
Enjoyed the Podcast. Since the situation can sometimes change quickly, I suggest you mention the date you are recording at the beginning. Helps with the context. Specifically, I've seen reports that the Russian 72nd brigade was destroyed near Bahkmut, which you didn't mention, so I'm guessing you recorded before those reports.
Thanks for the good news! I found an article about it.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/09/16/an-elite-ukrainian-brigade-just-annihilated-a-russian-brigade-near-bakhmut/?sh=52db71751956
This is why the news articles, which quote military analysts disparaging Ukraine’s efforts to pressure Russia at multiple places on the front line, are dumb. Keep up the operational tempo and wear down the enemy. (I trust Ukraine is rotating units out of the fighting.) Zelenskyy has said that they will fight through the winter, because any respite only gives Russia breathing room to regroup and recover.
I stopped listening after a couple of minutes. Good to see that Phillips and Mykola are now at the same volume level, but I don't have the patience to spend 39 minutes listening to an unedited podcast that reminds me of a Skype call from a decade ago. The audio quality could be much better with little effort. The transcript might be an alternative, but it looks like it's been auto-generated but not edited. I'll stick with the written posts, which are very good.
Such is life--we are doing this to try and get some information out. I realize its not the most polished work, but it will get better and hopefully we will get better. Its obviously not going to appeal to everyone.
Hi. After the first podcast, you made some comments that suggested that you were encouraged by the number of people who listened to at least part of it, and would like to see the audience grow. There are technical audio problems that make it unlikely that that will happen. People won't tolerate poor audio. They just turn it off. Most people simply will not listen to a 39 minute internet call. @BiginJapan says below that my "standards are too high". In fact, my standards are being met by teenagers on Spotify, YouTube, Apple and other podcast platforms. They've been exposed to the wealth of videos on YouTube about how to avoid the problems that you've run into.
If you're happy with a small audience, cool. If you want a broader audience, I suggest that you pursue the concrete suggestions that I made in a post on September 17th. Bringing Mykola and yourself into line on voice level has already helped a lot, but it's really basic. It's also easy to address the audio problem that arises from recording Mykola over the internet, and it will make a huge difference.
Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell have been recording their hit podcast, The Rest is Politics, between London and Jordan, which is where Stewart was living until recently. Their clarity is not hard to achieve. There's no reason why Mykola and you couldn't sound just as clear. If you don't want to bother with the straightforward editing involved in a double ender, which is almost certainly what Stewart and Campbell were doing, you can still come close enough.
If you're bound and determined to record over the internet, in your place I would try having Mykola do the recording. You're a native English speaker. As good as Mykola's English is, his voice is accented and therefor requires more concentration from the listener. It might help overall clarity if the internet was undermining your voice rather than his :) Seriously, I think that that's worth trying. He can give you the recording via Dropbox.
I'm enjoying it. Your standards are too high for the 2nd episode of a free podcast, bro.
I would be very happy to be able and listen to it in 1.5x or even 2x... bummer there is no such feature here
will look into that!
Excellent! Thank you! Would be interesting to learn more about the impact of the republicans in the Congress on future support of Ukraine by the US
Excellent analysis, as always, particularly on the balance UAF is seeking and achieving across all fronts. And MBs comments on the artillery shell situation in the light of the recent visit from Kim are v helpful.
I’m a standard non tech listener in the UK using an i phone and using the link from the regular e mail and I have no problems with the quality. And,ffs, no paywall!
Keep going both of you.
Transcript, please!
You talk about how to support Ukraine in Ukraine. I would like to support policy and awareness in the US. Do you know of any events or groups that are trying to maintain and improve support for Ukraine in the US?
Brilliant, very informative
Please post a link for your recommended charity.
Someone in the American government apparently made the claim that the U.S. doesn’t have a lot of spare ATACMS to send anyway. That sounds like a bullshit excuse to me. But, I wonder if there is any truth to that statement.
Even if true, when will we find a better use for those weapons than in this war? Also, those weapons probably have a shelf life, right? If we don’t use them, eventually they will be disarmed and buried somewhere, I think. Rather bury them in an enemy supply dump.
They are apparently $700K a piece but US allegedly ordered 1000 more?