An edgy and informative look at the biggest U.S. national security and geopolitical issues making headlines right now. Less about hot takes and more about depth, the Threat Status podcast is helmed by veteran Washington Times journalists Ben Wolfgang and Guy Taylor and features regular appearances by insiders with expertise on war, politics and global affairs.
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Washington Times Correspondent Guillaume Ptak joins the show from Ukraine to discuss the country's ongoing negotiations with the U.S. and the major corruption scandal gripping President Zelenskyy's government.
Jonathan Broder joins the show to break down President Trump's high-stakes White House summit with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, what comes next in Syria and whether a U.S.-backed coup would backfire in Venezuela.
Thomas Akers, founder and CEO of the company Zone 5, joins the show to break down Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's major acquisition reform speech and how it's playing inside the defense industry.
Bill Wright, the head of global government affairs at the company Elastic, joins the show to talk about cyber threats facing America and how vital it is for private companies to share threat information with the federal government.
Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Charlie Dunlap, executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security at Duke University Law School, joins the show to talk about the legal questions swirling around the Trump administration's targeting of alleged drug boats.
Robert Lightfoot, president of Lockheed Martin Space, joins the show to talk about the weaponization of space, the future of space exploration, and the Golden Dome missile shield.
Joe DeAntona, vice president for requirements & capabilities, land & air defense, at Raytheon, sits down for an interview with Washington Times reporter John T. Seward.
Peter O'Donoghue and Deshawn Bell, of the company Tyto Athene, join the show to talk about 21st-century data dominance and the high-stakes data arms race between the U.S. and its adversaries.
Tomer Malchi, founder and CEO of the Israel-based company Asio, joins the show to discuss soldier-borne technology, 21st-century combat, drones, and much more.
John Cofrancesco, the founder of American AI Logistics, joins the show to talk about the future of government contracts in the age of artificial intelligence.
Rob Mitrevski and Tom Gould, executives with major defense company L3 Harris, join the show to discuss the Golden Dome missile shield.
French Adm. Pierre Vandier, the head of NATO's Allied Command Transformation, joins the show to discuss the alliance's preparations for future conflict, the role of human beings in 21st-century battles, and much more.
Nick Myers, CEO and co-founder of the company Phoenix Tailings, joins the show to talk about China's dominance in rare earth elements and his company's work in helping the U.S. catch up.
Emily Kilcrease, senior fellow and director of the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, joins the show to talk about secondary tariffs on Russia's oil sector and why it's so difficult -- and geopolitically complex -- for the U.S. to target Russian energy revenue.
Tyler Saltsman, the founder and CEO of EdgeRunner AI, joins the show to talk about his company's AI assistant for U.S. troops that can function without the internet.
Retired U.S. Army Special Forces Col. Stu Bradin, the President and CEO of the Global SOF Foundation, joins the show for a wide-ranging discussion on Special Operations Forces.
Army Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler joins Threat Status from the Space & Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Ala.
Retired Air Force Gen. David Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, joins the show to talk about the future of American air power, whether the Pentagon is focused too heavily on drones, and why the Space Force needs a bigger budget.
Rep. Michael McCaul, chair of the House Task Force on Enhancing Security for Special Events in the United States, joins the show to talk about potential terrorist threats to the World Cup, Olympics and other major events.
Audrey Schaffer, a space policy expert and the vice president of strategy and policy at Slingshot Aerospace, joins the show to talk about the growing amount of space traffic and whether the federal government should establish a department of space.
Retired British Army Col. Richard Kemp joins the show to talk about his visit to the Gaza Strip and the work of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Dr. Mark Lewis, of the Purdue Applied Research Institute, joins the show to talk about hypersonic weapons research, the U.S.-China hypersonics race, and the challenges ahead for the Golden Dome missile shield.
Ed Wong of the New York Times joins the show to talk about his latest book, "At the Edge of Empire: a family's reckoning with China."
Lt. Gen. Chris Mohan, deputy commanding general and acting commander of U.S. Army Materiel Command, joins the show to talk about the 3D printing of drones and how the Pentagon is rethinking the way it moves materiel and personnel around the world.
Chris Jones, chief technology officer at Nightwing, joins the show to talk about American offensive cyber operations.
Alex Martin, co-founder and CEO of the company Clearspeed, joins the show to talk about the U.S. security vetting process for prospective government employees and foreign partners -- and why it needs to be changed.
Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies joins the show to discuss his recent trip to Ukraine, the threats from Chinese cyberattacks, and much more.
Ben and Guy take listeners behind the scenes of the Threat Status "Golden Dome for America" event and dive into several key topics around the missile shield proposal.
Ben interviews Ryan Gury, co-founder and CEO of the drone company PDW, live from the SOF Week 2025 convention in Tampa, Florida.
Stu Bradin, president and CEO of the Global SOF Foundation, joins the show to preview SOF Week 2025 and to explain the role of America's elite Special Forces in the 21st century.
Dan Naselius, president and CTO of Coras, joins the show to talk about how AI will transform the federal workforce and how China is using the technology to fuel its rapid growth.
Tory Bruno, president and CEO of the United Launch Alliance, joins the show to explain in detail how the Golden Dome missile shield will actually work.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Neil Thurgood joins the show to talk about the rapid pace of growth in military technology, whether soldiers trust that technology, and how it's changing military tactics and strategy.
Andrea Inserra, president of the global defense sector at Booz Allen, joins the show to break down plans for the "Golden Dome" missile shield and the rapid expansion of AI in military and national security applications.
Retired Gen. Robert Brooks Brown, the former head of U.S. Army Pacific, joins the show from the Association of the United States Army's Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama.
Dan Hendrycks, director of the Center for AI Safety, joins the show to talk about superintelligent AI, its internal value systems, and its potential ramifications for U.S. national security.
Rep. Mark Green, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, joins the show to discuss AI-driven extremism, President Trump's possible wedge strategy to divide Russia and China, and the "wrecking ball" that Elon Musk and the DOGE have taken to the federal government.
Johnathon Miller, vice president of security operations at Lumifi Cyber, joins the show to talk about the evolution of ransomware attacks, U.S. offensive cyber operations, and more.
Robert Greenway, director of the Allison Center for National Security at The Heritage Foundation, joins the show to talk about the firing of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. C.Q. Brown and President Trump's leadership overhaul at the Pentagon.
Guy joins the show from the United Arab Emirates and offers an inside look at the major IDEX 2025 weapons expo.
Richard Crespin, CEO of the international consulting firm CollaborateUp and a senior associate at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, joins the show to talk about the future of USAID and American "smart power" projection around the world.
Retired Navy Capt. Gene Moran joins the show to talk about the changing nature of the defense industry and what the Defense Department needs to do to revamp its contracting and acquisition processes.
Dean Cheng, senior advisor to the China program at the U.S. Institute of Peace, joins the show to discuss China's space program, its military strategy in space, and whether it could beat the U.S. in the race to get to Mars.
