LitWar Podcast

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

Literature of War Podcast Trailer

This is the trailer for the Literature of War Podcast. Writer and Quote Slinger Michael Jerome Plunkett sits down with various authors to discuss literature and all the ways it can shape our identity. War, in its simplest definition, is merely a struggle between opposing forces for a particular end. The LitWar podcast explores this notion and seeks the elusive emotional truth in all literature. Guests include Elliot Ackerman, Steven Pressfield, Phil Klay, and many more.