History · The Free Press
by The Free Press
In School of War, CBS News National Security Analyst and Free Press columnist Aaron MacLean sits down with secretaries of state, top military historians, war planners, and key political decision-makers to help understand the lessons of war. Tune in as School of War takes you to the front lines. Aaron MacLean is a former senior fellow at Hudson Institute. He has worked as a foreign policy advisor and legislative director to Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and spent seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Visit our Substack for episode transcripts Follow along on Instagram
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Where School of War ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 5, 2026).
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Aaron has incredible and uncanny abilities to really delve into topics on war and has numerous acclaimed speakers. My only critique is that he will occasionally give hints of his political leanings, which I feel detracts from the overall podcast a bit. Once politics gets involved, it becomes more difficult to remain more fully objective on topics, especially war and the DoD. Although politics is “war by other means…” I think he could do better by giving a more balanced view of each political party’s influence on war past and present. Cheers!
My daughter shared this podcast with me and I have listened to almost every episode. Aaron is a terrific interviewer and each episode tells a story of history or current events that is integral to understanding events both past and present. I really enjoy listening to this program. I have to say the interview with Uncle Frank is my favorite that you have done. He has more than repaid America, we are the ones that owe him.
Love the show. It’s very easy to listen to and interesting. I love the variety of experts that you bring on. Everything is a great listen, zero skips. The draft and crusades episodes are my two favorite so far. Love hearing about war in the Middle Ages. Look forward to your future episodes.
At its best, this podcast offers a platform for some serious strategic thinkers to outline how they assess the various actors in a given strategic context. At its worst, whole episodes are given over the partisan shills scoring points on current domestic US politics. Maddeningly, host can go either way - asking probing questions of the strategists or lolling around in couch potatoe politics for an hour at a time depending on the guest. Just listening to the first five minutes gives a pretty clear indication whether the episode will be a deeper dive or just more talking heads on current affairs. I’d unsubscribe entirely but for the occasional gem.
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