Ukraine’s defenders are fighting for their families, not just their flag.
Putin’s drone war mirrors the terror of 1939 — and the world still hesitates to see it.
A Ukrainian Supreme Court justice trading robes for a gun underscores a nation’s resolve.
Authoritarianism thrives on apathy, whether in Kherson or at America’s southern border.
The weight of former Navy pilot Ken Harbaugh’s reporting sits in its proximity to danger — and to humanity. He described men who defend their cities with nothing more than grit, a rusted cannon, and the knowledge that their families sleep somewhere behind them. “Putin’s targeting playgrounds and hospitals,” he said, “because he wants Ukrainians to suffer through the winter.” That cruelty is met with defiance, not despair. The image of a father on a gun, hearing his own neighborhood has just been hit, captures the moral geometry of this war: defense as an act of love.
Stuart Stevens drew the line most of the world refuses to: this isn’t abstract geopolitics, it’s 1939 all over again. When Ken called Zelenskyy “a Churchillian figure” and Putin “a man whose birthday tradition is mass murder,” it reframed the war as both history repeating and history resisting itself. These men — pilots, volunteers, judges-turned-soldiers — are not symbols; they are the last firewall between democracy and a fascism that metastasizes when left unchecked. Their fight is not distant. It’s the preview reel for every society that forgets how fast normal can disappear.
A Supreme Court justice trades his gavel for an anti-aircraft gun. Volunteers weld together weapons from scraps. And while drones with American-made parts rain death on cities like Odessa, Ukrainians improvise defense from donated parts and unshakable resolve. The absurdity of it all — the judge’s bombed-out car, the laughter in the trenches — proves that courage can be both devastating and deeply human.
Ukraine Will Win
Ken Harbaugh just returned from another humanitarian mission in Ukraine. Here's the retired U.S. Navy pilot's story from the front lines.
By the time the conversation turned to ICE and the American drift toward authoritarian tactics, the throughline was obvious: Tyranny doesn’t announce itself with tanks; it sneaks in behind bureaucracy. When those enforcing cruelty start wearing masks, when “just following orders” becomes an alibi again, we’re living in the shadow of the same empire Ukraine is fighting.
Tune in to this powerful conversation with Ken Harbaugh and Stuart Stevens.
