Episode 13 The use of Spies
Sun Tzu’s war theories are built on information and espionage. He believed a spy-master had to be very smart indeed, to sniff out the truth from missi...
Decoding the Art of War
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Decoding the Art of War provides the fun stories and historical contexts of the world-renowned Chinese strategy book to help you master the age-old wisdom and put it into practice. Follow this podcast so you no longer need to pretend you've read it.
Episode 12 Attack by Fire
Sun Tzu clearly preferred fire to water in military tactics, and he developed quite a comprehensive theory on the use of fire. But if read between the...
Episode 11 Know Thyself
Sun Tzu studied the state of mind of soldiers. He noticed that they tend to grow stronger in solidarity as they venture deeper into enemy territory. W...
Episode 10 Watch the Enemy
Sun Tzu in his science of war also relied on observation to read the enemy’s movement, the meticulous and exhaustive approach with which he tried to g...
Episode 09 The Issue of Choice
For a military commander, there are roads he doesn’t have to take; there are enemies he doesn’t have to fight; there are cities he doesn’t have to att...
Episode 08 The Initiative of War
A commander must choose the battleground to his advantage and led his forces to the right spot before the enemy shows up. Good communication is requir...
Episode 07 The Xu and Shi
A commander must shape his army like water. Water shuns the high rocks and flows in the shallow valleys. Like water, a commander must direct his army ...
Episode 06 The Ji and Zheng
In Chinese, zheng refers to something that is fundamental; while ji means something odd or extraordinary. Sun Tzu believed that to be successful in wa...
Episode 05 The Strategies of War
The best approach is to go after the opponent’s strategy and defuse their initiative to fight; the second-best course of action is to work for a diplo...
Episode 04 The Accounting of War
Sun Tzu examined the social and economic cost of war, and the law of supply and demand. Wars are costly, and costlier still if they are prolonged, so ...