Contested Ground

Ranking history

About the show

Latest episodes

• The information advantage – how AI is reshaping influence, competition and power

  October 7, 2026 · 25 min

  Information has always shaped power and influence – but in the age of artificial intelligence, the speed, scale and sophistication with which narratives can be created and deployed has changed dramatically. In this episode of the…

• When AI goes rogue – the emerging threat Australia isn't ready for

  September 30, 2026 · 16 min

  Artificial intelligence promises to transform productivity, business and government – but what happens when the technology starts making decisions its human operators never intended? In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Phil…

• AUKUS, deterrence, and the deepening Australia–UK strategic partnership

  September 23, 2026 · 44 min

  Australia and the United Kingdom share one of the world's deepest strategic relationships – but in an increasingly contested geopolitical environment, that partnership is taking on new significance. In this episode of Contested Ground…

• Is Australia ready to secure its place in an increasingly contested space domain?

  September 21, 2026 · 35 min

  Phil Tarrant is joined by Space Industry Association of Australia CEO Dan Lloyd and chairman Darin Lovett to examine Australia's growing dependence on space and the strategic implications of an increasingly contested space domain. They…

• Is Australia slowly regulating away its own prosperity – and, with it, its national resilience?

  September 16, 2026 · 24 min

  Phil Tarrant and Major General (Ret'd) Dr Marcus Thompson examine the growing debate over Australia's economic direction, drawing on Chris Uhlmann's recent article in The Australian on the "Argentinisation" of Australia. They unpack the…

• Is Australia's political discontent becoming a national security problem?

  September 2, 2026 · 32 min

  A dramatic political shift in Western Australia has put the major parties on notice and raised a much bigger question: what happens to Australia's national resilience when voters stop trusting the institutions that govern them? Hosts…

• Weak, vulnerable, backwater – Australia's choice between strategic camps and managed decline

  August 5, 2026 · 41 min

  Dr Ross Babbage warns that without urgent economic reform and industrial recalibration, Australia risks becoming a client state of Beijing. Returning to the Defence Connect Podcast, strategic analyst Dr Ross Babbage delivers an unsparing…

• The blind faith factor – why Australians trust an ADF they don't understand

  July 23, 2026 · 42 min

  As global security deteriorates, a major new UNSW Canberra survey reveals a startling paradox in the Australian psyche: unwavering trust in the Australian Defence Force, coupled with a deep misunderstanding of its operations, widespread…