Company logo
Search
Company logo

Explore

Podcast

The Hand Behind Unmanned

About

The Hand Behind Unmanned is a podcast about the human hand behind America’s arsenal of unmanned weapons. It tells the story about people, their beliefs, identities, and the ways in which human ideas about warfare created today’s drone revolution. It is a history of US investment in mines, torpedoes, missiles, satellites, bombs, and drones from the point of view of the generals, admirals, career bureaucrats, academicians, politicians, and entrepreneurs that guided, dictated, and sometimes manipulated technology to create today’s arsenal of autonomous systems.  Episodes document the rise of autonomy in the US military from floating mines and tethered torpedoes to unmanned planes dropped from WW2 bombers; rockets, ballistic and cruise missiles to laser-guided bombs and satellites; and finally the dominance of remotely piloted aircraft over two decades of a war on terror.  Throughout, the podcast traces ideas about military revolutions, risk and the “CNN effect,” as well as the power of armed service and occupational identities to explain not just what the US chose to put on the battlefield, but why it did so.

Host
Jacquelyn Schneider

Jacquelyn Schneider

Hargrove Hoover Fellow

Jacquelyn Schneider is the Hargrove Hoover Fellow and director of the Wargaming and Crisis Simulation Initiative at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Schneider is an active member of the defense policy community with previous positions at the Center for a New American Security, the RAND Corporation, and the Naval War College. Before beginning her academic career, she spent six years as an Air Force officer in South Korea and Japan and is currently a reservist. She has a BA from Columbia University, MA from Arizona State University, and PhD from George Washington University.

Learn More
Julia Macdonald

Julia Macdonald

Research Professor at the Korbel School Of International Studies, University Of Denver

Julia Macdonald is a research professor at the Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver and director, research and engagement, at the Asia New Zealand Foundation. She has previously worked for the New Zealand government on national security and defense issues, most recently in New Zealand’s department of the prime minister and cabinet. Julia has held research fellowships at MIT, Harvard University, and the University of Pennsylvania. She holds a PhD from George Washington University, an MA (Hons) from the University of Chicago, a BA (Hons) from the University of Canterbury (NZ), and a BA from the University of Otago.

overlay image