As mentioned in the last episode, it's been a while since I did an update on charity donations and wanted to give one as well as continue the old tradition of getting guidance from the Patrons on where the next few donations should go.
My general approach has been to constantly switch between what I perceive to be good charities focused on humanitarian causes. The rotation is a risk mitig...
2023-09-07 22:02:35 +0000 UTC View PostG'day all.
As you probably gathered from the Anders episode, I'm currently working my way across Europe. Given how long the flight from Aus is, the 'smart' decision was made to try and fit as many visits and meetings into the trip as possible, so expect more hotel recorded content for at least a few more weeks.
Regarding that interview - lot of content was cut from the original re...
2023-08-20 21:25:07 +0000 UTC View Post
As you all probably know - purchased satellite imagery is a key asset for gathering evidence on the war in Ukraine, and particularly for checking claims around strikes. Both sides make sometimes quite specific claims on strikes, and these can often be verified or debunked by getting a well time image and doing some BDA.
Another are where they're useful is tracking the depletion of reserv...
G'day all.
I'm mentioning this in the channel update tonight but I've been giving some thought how to best deliver on the 'cut content' for Patrons idea.
I was originally just going to upload clips of content that got cut without much context - but I found that a bit jarring as I was preparing the first one last week. It's low effort for me, but I'm not sure whether it matches what...
2023-07-16 10:37:54 +0000 UTC View PostG'day all.
It's been a while since a topic poll so I'm coming back for a refresh vote on some of the topics that are closer to completion.
Note that there are some that are being worked on that I haven't included because they already have target release dates (the next 'destroys armies' video will release while I'm travelling since it's not current events sensitive for example) ...
G'day all,
Just wanted to share something of a personal update since it owes a lot to you all. It has been a genuine privilege to operate the channel over the course of the last 16 months. The reception has been incredible and I like to hope it's made some small difference in the wider information space.
It's also been a huge amount of work, both in terms of background OSINT w...
2023-06-16 07:47:59 +0000 UTC View PostG'day all. It's that time again.
While I sometimes throw a poll on nearly finished topics to the wider YT audience, I rely on you all to give me a steer on larger projects that aren't quite near the finish line.
The below poll allows both multiple voting & comments.
The one that is probably new to you all here is the casualties & medical one because I've recently ...
As promised - I wanted to start giving short insights into why some content either gets delayed indefinitely or cancelled, giving examples of why I do so.
Content can go this way for a variety of reasons - one being my aversion to risk, and my determination to avoid making any statements that I can't support with Open Source information, as opposed to sources like interviews (so as to av...
G'day all.
As you'll probably hear in today's channel update, I once again callout the fact that I have a huge appreciation for the support you all provide. I don't want to overdo it, but given its relative reliability, I think it's fair to say that it is Patreon that gives me the confidence to evolve my content and processes the way I have. It's how I know I can pay fairly for sound edi...
After months of waiting, the video on France should be going up this week. Not sure what saying nice things about the French will do for views and the subscriber base (I'm mostly kidding, but I have the meme of France militarily weak to fight against here)
The content is mostly locked down - but if there are particular burning questions you have, put them below and if any can easily be an...
2023-05-11 09:39:36 +0000 UTC View PostI've seen a number of questions come in asking for coverage of the reported US document leaks insofar as they relate to Ukraine. Actually that kind of undersells it, it's clearly the most requested topic in comments, emails and messages.
On one hand, I can see the value of covering what they appear to say - mostly because many sources out there appear to have figured out that you ca...
2023-04-25 07:09:13 +0000 UTC View PostShort heads up that as we're in the Easter weekend I've been pushing for an early release this week so that it doesn't land on the Easter Sunday holiday for most of you.
If all goes well, it should be up in an hour or two. After a late release two weeks back, an early one feels like it's in order.
EDIT: I've been locked at the 'processing' stages for a good 90 minutes longer than n...
Hi all,
With Finland joining NATO this week I am planning on pushing ahead with alliances, security theory topic this week (with a focus on making it the inverse of the small countries video - why larger nations are willing to defend smaller ones)
Next week after that is likely to be hybrid and grey zone warfare unless it completely tanks in the vote here.
Beyond that, t...
Just wanted to put a message here because about 50% of my messages and a significant share of emails recently have all been questions asking me to cover AUKUS and Australia's plan to become an operator of SSNs.
The reality is that there are some topics I can't really cover - and that's pretty much top of the list. Same for Land 400, 8116 etc. At least for the moment.
There's a wi...
Tonight's video looks good to go live on time (as long as YT cooperates) and will be covering the progress of the Economic/industrial side of the war over the winter (sanctions, the energy war, and military production primarily).
I've separated out the original second part (the military side of the winter campaign and questions of attrition and force (re)generation (the latter of which c...
A year ago today I published a video that was very rough around the edges, called "All bling, no basics." In retrospect, it was a really strange decision. During the first week when it was being put together - the narrative was still one that pointed towards Russian victory, and here I was arguing that Russia wasn't actually going to smash Ukraine because of, among other things,.....procurement...
2023-03-05 10:04:02 +0000 UTC View PostShort note to link to a recent interview I gave for the podcast "the Red Line"
As is normal for their format, four of us were interviewed to put together the episode, which covered the question of European and Russian rearmament efforts in response to the Ukraine war.
The episode includes segments by Neil Melvin (Royal United Services Institute), Alex Clarkson (Kings College) and ...
Hi all - I may put this question to the wider YT audience as well but you know I always try to listen to the Patrons first:
I imagine most channels will be summarising the war on the week of 24th Feb.
I don't intend to. Both because there will be a lot of that same content, but also because I expect both sides to take actions or make announcements that week, such that a good summ...
Hi all,
I know I say all the time that I appreciate the support you all provide, but one thing I want to get better at is communicating here to keep you all up to date on what I'm working on and how things work in the background.
First quick update - I've switched the release order on small drones and PMCs so that drones releases this week and PMCs later. This is because I believe...
If all goes well "How politics destroys armies" should go live as normal, completing the trilogy that began with "How corruption destroys armies" that began in May of 2022.
I'll admit it's an episode that has occupied a lot of attention for weeks, and I hope you all enjoy it once it's ready.
That also means it's time for me to start gauging interest in the various topics that I ...
Happy New Year all,
While I get today's release sorted I was hoping you all might help me with a question I've been dealing with.
While I originally did some 'mythbusting' videos earlier in the war, for a variety of reasons since then I've focused on more deep dive analysis of individual topics or events. The biggest advantage to doing this is that it's far more efficient to...
2023-01-15 08:30:42 +0000 UTC View PostHi all - quick note to say that the message backlog here has grown huge, and I'm aware some of you have been waiting some time for a reply.
At the moment I'm focusing on trying to get two productions prepared in parallel to make sure I have a release for next week ( I won't be able to work on it during the week given personal commitments) But I will try to get through all messages soon ...
G'day all,
First of all thanks for voting in the charity poll. In line with the results i'll make a number of payments over December split 80:20 between united 24 and Polish humanitarian providers. I'll include more details in the weekly channel update.
This week's video is going to be on Russia's missile campaign and strategic bombing campaign against Ukrainian infrastructure a...
Hi all,
In the video that goes up tonight on Polish military modernisation (I needed a one week break from Ukraine while unwell because my processing speed for data is slower) I mention that there will be a poll on Patreon over where to direct charity funds for November/December. This is one of the primary reasons I decided to accept sponsors, albeit only those where I have used the pro...
Hi all.
Topic polling time!
First, thanks so much for the ongoing support. I know I say that every time but that's because it remains relevant each and every time. I greatly appreciate being able to do this, and you're all critical contributors to that so you better get used to me saying thanks each time.
Secondly - it's polling time so I can get a steer on upcoming topic...
Hi all. As many of you would know there was a mass demonetisation event on YT which I made a post about.
I believe that issue is resolved for me (albeit not for all creators at time of writing). I do not know if that fix will be permanent, but I hope it is.
During the outage a surge of people subscribed to this Patreon. I appreciate that, as the Patreon allows me to spend more t...
Hi all.
Heads up that I am not certain the video this week on Ukrainian force generation, resupply, and what their force and equipment needs will look like in 2023, will likely include an interview with an expert contributor.
That interview is taking place on Friday at a wonky time due to time zone differentials, so I cannot guarantee editing, processing, and clearance w...
Just a heads up, for this week an next I'm planning Saturday video releases rather than Sunday ones - just fits better with my schedule and allows people more of a weekend to watch if they'd like to.
This week is captured equipment (featuring guest contributor, the Chieftain) while next week will look at Russia's mobilisation announcements.
I will also announce the next round of...
There's usually a long delay on payments for sponsorships coming through - but another payment from Ground News will be coming up soon. You'll remember I previously gave a majority of a Ground News payment to the Red Cross but I thought I'd take a vote on where it should go this time.
Obviously not all of these are tax deductible for Australians so how much I can hand over will pa...
Lightning poll - I've pulled together all the data I need for the upcoming video on global arms exporters but I'm stuck between two options on how to present them in the video:
I'm not sure whether are more interested in me looking at each of the top ten nations individually and explaining who their buyers are, what their primary products, strengths and weak...