Show overview
The Power Vertical Podcast by Brian Whitmore has been publishing since 2020, and across the 6 years since has built a catalogue of 235 episodes. That works out to roughly 220 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a weekly cadence.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 52 min and 1h — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language News show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 5 days ago, with 17 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2022, with 47 episodes published. Published by powervertical.
From the publisher
The Power Vertical Podcast by Brian Whitmore covers emerging and developing trends in Russian politics, shining a spotlight on the high-stakes power struggles, machinations, and clashing interests that shape Kremlin policy today. Brian Whitmore is a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Eurasia Center and Russia and Eurasia Specialist and Assistant Professor of Practice at the Charles T. McDowell Center for Global Studies at The University of Texas at Arlington.
Latest Episodes
View all 235 episodesINNOVATION NATION: HOW UKRAINE IS REVOLUTIONIZING WARFARE
RUSSIA VS. EUROPE
VIBES, REALITY, AND WAR
RUSSIA'S SEASON OF DISCONTENT
UKRAINE'S ASYMMETRICAL ADVANTAGE
DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT UKRAINE IS ON A ROLL
ZELENSKY HAS 'THE CARDS'
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore breaks it all down with journalist, author, and longtime Kremlin-watcher Casey Michel, head of the Combating Kleptocracy Program at the Human RIghts Foundation and author of the books American Kleptocracy, Foreign Agents, and United States of Oligarchy.
TOWARD A POST-LIBERAL WORLD
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with Michael Carpenter, who served as the NSC's Senior Director for Europe as well as the US Ambassador to the OSCE in the Biden administration; and former U.S. State Department official Max Bergmann, who served as a member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff and as a speechwriter for former Secretary of State John Kerry.
REFLEXIVE CONTROL AND USEFUL IDIOTS - EPSTEIN AND THE RUSSIANS
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore breaks it all down with John Sipher, a 28-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service. John also served as a member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service and is the recipient of the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal. These days, John is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at The Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, a Senior Fellow at the Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence and Policy at George Mason University, and the founder of Spycraft Entertainment.
GRU UNIT 29155 & THE 'HAVANA SYNDROME'
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with veteran journalist Michael Weiss, author of the report "The biggest cover-up of my adult life': Inside the CIA’s attempt to make Havana Syndrome disappear," which was published this week in The Insider. Michael is the author of the Substack newsletter Foreign Office, a contributing editor at New Lines magazine, and a reporter for The Insider. He is also the author of the book ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror and is currently working on a new book about Russia's GRU.
FOUR YEARS OF WAR
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with James Sherr, an honorary fellow at the International Center for Defense and Security; and Serhiy Kudelia, a professor of political science at Baylor University and author of the recently published book, "Seize the City, Undo the State: The Inception of Russia's War on Ukraine."
WAR BY OTHER MEANS - THE KREMLIN'S NEGOTIATING PLAYBOOK
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with two veteran diplomats, former U.S. State Department official Donald Jensen, who is currently an an adjunct professor in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University and an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies; and Osmolovska, a 15-year veteran of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry who now serves as the head of GLOBSEC's Kyiv office. They are the co-authors of an important, exhaustively researched, and very timely report, "Adversary at the Table: Negotiating with Putin's Russia," which was released this week by the Atlantic Council.
RUSSIA AND THE EMERGING WORLD ORDER
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with Mikhail Zygar, author of the bestselling books All The Kremlin's Men: Inside the Court of Vladimir Putin, War and Punishment: Putin, Zelensky, and the Path to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine, and the recently published The Dark Side of the Earth: Russia's Short-lived Victory over Totalitarianism.
THE DARK ART OF GEOPOLITICAL EXTORTION
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with Craig Kennedy, an associate at Harvard University's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, author of the must-read Substack newsletter Navigating Russia, where he published the recent reports "The Mystery of the Bella 1: Why Did Moscow Mount a ‘Spetsoperatsiia' to Save a Stateless Shadow Tanker?" and "Restraining Russian Oil."
FEAR AND LOATHING IN DAVOS
And as the Kremlin seeks to exploit the transatlantic rift, Ukraine is seeking a way to survive it. We're in uncharted waters folks. On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with Michael Carpenter, a senior fellow for transatlantic affairs at the International Institute for Strategic Studies who served in the administration of former U.S President Joe Biden as the NSC's Senior Director for Europe as well as the US Ambassador to the OSCE; and Eric Ciaramella, a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who served as a deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the U.S. National Intelligence Council.
RUSSIA’S WAR ON UKRAINIAN CHILDREN
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with Katya Pavlevych, founder of the organization Forget Us Not, a civil society coalition advocating for the return of Ukraine's abducted children, and an advisor on children' s issues at Razom for Ukraine; and Andreas Umland, an analyst at the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs and an Associate Professor of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Andreas also is the author of the 2024 report "Russia’s Forcible Transfers of Unaccompanied Ukrainian Children: Responses from Ukraine, the EU and Beyond" and has testified in the European Parliament on the issue.
ZELENSKY'S RESET
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with Peter Dickinson, editor of the UkraineAlert blog at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center and the publisher of the magazines Business Ukraine and Lviv Today; and Serhiy Kudelia, a Professor of Political Science at Baylor University and author of the recently published book, Seize the City, Undo the State: The Inception of Russia's War on Ukraine.
MYTHS, NARRATIVES, AND WAR
In this episode of The Power Vertical Podcast, host Brian Whitmore talks with journalist and longtime Russia-watcher Casey Michel about the Kremlin’s competing narratives surrounding its invasion of Ukraine. Drawing on Michel’s new Atlantic Council Eurasia Center report, they break down how myths about history, identity, and Russia’s place in the world have shaped Moscow’s decisions. The conversation also explores how believing these false narratives has led the Putin regime to critical miscalculations in Ukraine and beyond.
UKRAINE'S PERILOUS MOMENT
In this episode of The Power Vertical Podcast, host Brian Whitmore breaks down the most damaging corruption scandal of Zelenskyy’s presidency, as Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies allege that close associates of the president plotted to skim nearly $100 million from the energy sector amid nationwide blackouts caused by Russian strikes — and with signs of a troubling Russian link inside the scheme. At the same time, reports have surfaced that the United States and Russia have discussed a possible peace deal without Ukraine’s participation, one that appears to demand near-total capitulation from Kyiv. Brian is joined by Michael Carpenter and James Sherr to unpack what this means for Ukraine’s political stability, Western support, and the broader direction of the war.
THE POKROVSK ENDGAME - AND AFTERMATH
In this episode of The Power Vertical Podcast, host Brian Whitmore speaks with military analyst Michael Kofman about the intensifying battle for Pokrovsk — a key Ukrainian stronghold under mounting Russian assault. With nearly a third of front-line fighting concentrated in or near the city, the discussion examines why Pokrovsk matters strategically, what its potential fall could mean for Ukraine’s defenses, and how the narrative surrounding it shapes perceptions of the war’s trajectory.