LitWar Podcast

LW10: Marty Skovlund Jr.

Army Ranger, editor, and author Marty Skovlund Jr. sits down with the LitWar Podcast to discuss his book SEND ME which tells the powerful story of Shannon Kent, a Cryptologic Technician who rose to the apex of the military as an intelligence operative in elite special operations units. She spent a career hunting the world’s most ruthless terrorists while navigating a multitude of other roles and challenges. It is a story that will resonate with future generations of servicemen and women.
 
MARTY SKOVLUND JR. is the editor in chief of Task & Purpose, a military news and culture publication. He is a former Army Ranger and an experienced conflict reporter who has reported on assignment from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine in addition to embedding with the U.S. military around the world.
We are in the midst of our first Platoon Book Club Initiative in which we are funding and facilitating platoon-sized book clubs for active duty and reserve platoons in every branch of the military. Click here to learn more.

LW9: John Milas

Marine Corps veteran and debut novelist John Milas sits down with the LitWar Podcast to discuss the power of the horror genre in telling the truth about the Global War on Terror, the experience of earning an MFA in creative writing, and the advice he would give his younger writer self.
 
John Milas enlisted in the US Marine Corps at age nineteen and subsequently deployed to the Helmand Province of Afghanistan in support of OEF 10.1. He was honorably discharged from active service in 2012. After his discharge, he earned both his BA and MFA in creative writing. He enjoys engaging with his local literary community by attending readings, hosting workshops at his hometown library, and judging creative writing contests, which he has done since 2015. He has also read submissions for literary magazines such as Sycamore Review and Ninth Letter and has completed various freelance assignments as a journalist and editor. He grew up in Illinois, where he currently reads, writes, and watches baseball.
We are in the midst of our first Platoon Book Club Initiative in which we are funding and facilitating platoon-sized book clubs for active duty and reserve platoons in every branch of the military. Click here to learn more.

LW8: Matt Gallagher

Army veteran and best-selling author Matt Gallagher sits down with the LitWar Podcast to discuss the virtues of misadventure, what a patriot looks like in an ever-increasingly complicated world, and his new novel, Daybreak, which comes out February 20, 2024. Preorder here!
 
Matt Gallagher is the author of the novels Empire City and Youngblood, a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. His work has appeared in Esquire, ESPN, The New York Times, The Paris Review and Wired, among other places. He’s also the author of the Iraq war memoir Kaboom and coeditor of, and contributor to, the short fiction collection Fire & Forget: Short Stories from the Long War.
We are in the midst of our first Platoon Book Club Initiative in which we are funding and facilitating platoon-sized book clubs for active duty and reserve platoons in every branch of the military. Click here to learn more.

LW7: Sebastian Junger

New York Times best-selling author Sebastian Junger sits down with the LitWar Podcast to discuss his thoughts on death, the healing power of having a stage with an audience that is willing to listen, and his new book, In My Time of Dying which comes out May 21, 2024. Preorder here!
 
Sebastian Junger is the New York Times bestselling author of Tribe, War, Freedom, A Death in Belmont, Fire, and The Perfect Storm, and codirector of the documentary film Restrepo, which was nominated for an Academy Award. He is also the winner of a Peabody Award and the National Magazine Award for Reporting.
We are in the midst of our first Platoon Book Club Initiative in which we are funding and facilitating platoon-sized book clubs for active duty and reserve platoons in every branch of the military. Click here to learn more.

LW6: Karl Marlantes

New York Times best-selling author Karl Marlantes sits down with the LitWar Podcast to discuss his new novel Cold Victory, as well as why he went to war, his experiences on coming home from war, and what kept him going on his thirty-five-year journey to publication of his first novel Matterhorn. 
Karl is graduated from Yale University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, before serving as a Marine in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals for valor, two Purple Hearts, and ten air medals. He is the bestselling author of Matterhorn and What It Is Like to Go to War. He lives in rural Washington.
We are in the midst of our first Platoon Book Club Initiative in which we are funding and facilitating platoon-sized book club for active duty and reserve platoons in every branch of the military. Click here to learn more.

LW5: Levison Wood

Best-selling author and photographer Levison Wood sits down with the LitWar Podcast to discuss the fall of Kabul, the troops who handled it, and the uncanny similarities to the British retreat from Kabul in 1842. Lev conducted a wide-range of interviews with those who were actually on the ground and experienced it firsthand to write his book with co-author Geraint Jones.
Levison is an elected Fellow of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers Club. He is an ambassador and patron for a number of charities including UNICEF. When not abroad, he lives in London. 
We are in the midst of our first library campaign to donate 500 books to 5 military units. Click here to donate!

LW4: Russel Worth Parker

Writer and editor Russel Worth Parker sits down with the LitWar Podcast to discuss family history, legacy, and how these concepts inform us of who we become in the form of a stack of letters his grandfather wrote in the Pacific during the Second World War.
His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Garden and Gun Magazine, The Bitter Southerner, Backcountry Journal, Shooting Sportsman Magazine, Salt Magazine, and websites such as SOFLETE.com, and DieLiving.Com
We are in the midst of our first library campaign to donate 500 books to 5 military units. Click here to donate!

LW3: Phil Klay

National Book Award-winning writer Phil Klay sits down with the LitWar Podcast to discuss the role of literature in an increasingly complicated world. War, political turmoil, a global pandemic, and more. What exactly is the power of the novel in the modern age? Will artificial intelligence destroy the soul of true art? Is it possible for a person to be a patriot without becoming a nationalist? And what does love for one’s country look like on the far side of a twenty-year war?
 
His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and the Brookings Institution’s Brookings Essay series. He currently teaches fiction at Fairfield University.
We are in the midst of our first library campaign to donate 500 books to 5 military units. Click here to donate!

LW2: Steven Pressfield

Best-selling author Steven Pressfield sits down with the LitWar Podcast to discuss his new memoir Govt Cheese, detailing the winding and eccentric road he took to becoming a widely-read author. His varied careers included everything from the Marine Corps, to long-haul trucking, to apple picking, and much more. Each experience taught him something new and gave him the knowledge he needed to go from being an amateur to a pro.
 
We are in the midst of our first library campaign to donate 500 books to 5 military units. Click here to donate!

LW1: Elliot Ackerman

New York Times Best Selling author Elliot Ackerman sits down with the LitWar Podcast to discuss his new novel HALCYON (out May 23rd) with host Michael Jerome Plunkett. Halcyon takes place in an alternate United States where Al Gore is president, the Global War on Terror only lasted a few months, and scientists have found a way to cure death. It is a novel that encourages readers to explore the possibilities of “what if…” and makes them question their own dearly held beliefs about their history, both personal and shared.
 
We are in the midst of our first library campaign to donate 500 books to 5 military units. Click here to donate!
 
Books mentioned:
Halcyon - Elliot Ackerman
The Civil War: A Narrative - Shelby Foote
The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara
Battle Cry of Freedom - James McPherson
Boys in Zinc - Svetlana Alexievich