We interview blogger Michael Totten, who spent the last six months covering Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq for his blog, with support from his blog readers. He talks about what he saw, how well the reader-support model works, and what he sees in the region’s future.

We also talk to StrategyPage publisher Jim Dunnigan, author of numerous books on military matters, and columnist/blogger Austin Bay, who’s also the author of The Wrong Side of Brightness, a novel, and who has another novel coming out soon. They talk about China’s military and political ambitions, the progress of events in Iraq, and what to do — and what, apparently, we’re already doing rather quietly — about Iran. (There’s also some discussion of the much-touted Iranian “EMP bomb” threat.)

As always, it’s a must-listen. You can click right here to listen to it directly, or you can get it via iTunes here.

There’s an archive of previous podcasts here, and lo-fi versions for dialup are available here.

Hope you like it. My lovely and talented co-host is, as always, taking comments and suggestions for future episodes.