From Russia's nuclear threat to satellites, the prospect of a permanent lunar station, and the hopes of Artemis, Patrick and Tom could barely contain their space-geek excitement at speaking with General Whiting, head of US Space Command.

'There cannot be anybody on the planet who has more power in space than that man', gushed Patrick. And for good reason; war is now essentially a space domain, as the the American general explains, determining conflicts from Ukraine to Iran.

And space, more than any other theatre, is where the cold war with China is most acutely felt.

In a welcome note of optimism to close the conversation, General Whiting doubled-down on the benefits to both Europe and America of continued military cooperation, and paid fulsome tribute to his Nato allies.

We hope you love this conversion half as much as Patrick and Tom did!

Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton Dunn

Guest: General Stephen Whiting, head of US Space Command

Producer: Micaela Arneson and Harry Stott

Executive producer: Fiona Leach

Image: Getty

Get in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Having first demanded that Iran 'open the fucking strait', President Trump followed up with a post vowing 'an entire civilisation will die tonight' if it did not do so.

But could any such order ever be legal, and would the American military even agree to carry it out?

Patrick and Tom chew over these and other questions, including whether it's time for America's long-standing allies to bail on it, if bombing a country into submission ever works, and what the sacking of the head of the US army tells us about the state of the country's military and, perhaps, its constitution.

But first up, in a week which saw possibly the finest rescue mission ever carried out, John Nichols recalls his experience in the first Gulf War of being shot down over enemy territory, attempting to evade capture, and waiting for the infantry to arrive.

Hosts: General Sir Patrick Sanders and Tom Newton Dunn

Guest: John Nichol

Producer: Micaela Arneson

Executive producer: Fiona Leach

Image: Getty

Get in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For their Easter special, Tom and Patrick turn the entire show over to you. They answer as many listener questions as possible that have landed in the General & Journalist inbox since Christmas. Among them: whether Europe could defend itself in the events of an immediate Russian incursion, and whether the Iran war has changed Xi's calculus over taking Taiwan - and many more.

Hosts: Tom Newton Dunn & General Sir Patrick Sanders

Producer: Shabnam Grewal

Executive producer: Fiona Leach

Get in touch: generalandjournalist@thetimes.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.