The Shawn Ryan Show
The Shawn Ryan Show features long-form conversations hosted by former Navy SEAL and CIA contractor Shawn Ryan. Guests share experiences from military service, intelligence, public service, business, and other fields, often discussing pivotal moments that shaped their lives.
The show explores topics including combat, leadership, national security, mental health, and life after service. Its extended interview format gives guests room to tell their stories and reflect on difficult decisions, personal challenges, and lessons learned.
- #332 Alex West – SEAL Team 6 Operator on Crashing a Black Hawk Into Bin Laden’s Backyard
#332 Alex West – SEAL Team 6 Operator on Crashing a Black Hawk Into Bin Laden’s Backyard
- Public cyber attribution requires an unusually strong case
#328 Kevin Mandia – The Man Who Exposed China’s Military Hackers
- Incident response should produce lasting organizational change
#328 Kevin Mandia – The Man Who Exposed China’s Military Hackers
- AI defense promises need measurable limits
#328 Kevin Mandia – The Man Who Exposed China’s Military Hackers
- What makes a changed identity genuinely credible?
#329 Justin DeLoretto – Ex-Mongols President Reveals What Really Happens Inside a 1% Club
- Lived experience can help, but training still matters
#329 Justin DeLoretto – Ex-Mongols President Reveals What Really Happens Inside a 1% Club
- A past-life lesson shouldn’t erase accountability
#329 Justin DeLoretto – Ex-Mongols President Reveals What Really Happens Inside a 1% Club
- Peptide claims need more than clinical confidence
- Anecdotes, clinical experience, and trials aren’t interchangeable
- Medical interviews must surface commercial interests
- How undercover work pressures a stable identity
#331 Scott Payne – FBI Undercover Agent Reveals the Most Disturbing Cases of His Career
- Covering extremist recruitment without amplifying propaganda
#331 Scott Payne – FBI Undercover Agent Reveals the Most Disturbing Cases of His Career
- Successful operations still require oversight questions
#331 Scott Payne – FBI Undercover Agent Reveals the Most Disturbing Cases of His Career
- Recovery deserves as much space as the mission
#332 Alex West – SEAL Team 6 Operator on Crashing a Black Hawk Into Bin Laden’s Backyard
- From operator to therapist changes the frame
#332 Alex West – SEAL Team 6 Operator on Crashing a Black Hawk Into Bin Laden’s Backyard
- One mission memory isn’t the complete historical record
#332 Alex West – SEAL Team 6 Operator on Crashing a Black Hawk Into Bin Laden’s Backyard
- When loyalty collides with personal accountability
#333 George Christie – Surviving 40 Years in the Hells Angels
- Former insiders offer access, not a complete picture
#333 George Christie – Surviving 40 Years in the Hells Angels
- Discussing a closed group without glamorizing its harm
#333 George Christie – Surviving 40 Years in the Hells Angels
- Intelligence stories need explicit limits and verification
#334 Clint Emerson – Inside SEAL Team 6’s Spy Unit: Black Squadron
- Information work challenges the popular commando image
#334 Clint Emerson – Inside SEAL Team 6’s Spy Unit: Black Squadron
- The personal cost of a long secretive career
#334 Clint Emerson – Inside SEAL Team 6’s Spy Unit: Black Squadron
- LiDAR finds patterns, but fieldwork still matters
#335 Ed Barnhart – The Amazon Rainforest is Hiding a Lost Civilization?
- An overlooked settlement isn’t proof of a lost civilization
#335 Ed Barnhart – The Amazon Rainforest is Hiding a Lost Civilization?
- Popular archaeology can keep wonder without overstating evidence
#335 Ed Barnhart – The Amazon Rainforest is Hiding a Lost Civilization?
- A staged demo can’t prove off-road autonomy
#336 Byron Boots – He Turned a Polaris RZR Into a Self-Driving Military Vehicle
- Which military decisions must remain under human control?
#336 Byron Boots – He Turned a Polaris RZR Into a Self-Driving Military Vehicle
- Robotic confidence must include uncertainty and failure
#336 Byron Boots – He Turned a Polaris RZR Into a Self-Driving Military Vehicle
- Old Testament reading involves several kinds of truth
- Connecting the two testaments without flattening either
- Difficult passages need room for serious disagreement
- Historical context can change how a passage reads
- Meaning and modern application aren’t identical questions
- What would a non-Catholic listener ask here?
- A responder’s story isn’t the whole attack
#339 Christian Craighead – The Uncensored Story of the Nairobi DusitD2 Attack
- Life after the event deserves equal attention
#339 Christian Craighead – The Uncensored Story of the Nairobi DusitD2 Attack
- What firsthand testimony adds beyond breaking news
#339 Christian Craighead – The Uncensored Story of the Nairobi DusitD2 Attack
- Buying personal data can still be government surveillance
#340 Byron Tau – The Government Doesn’t Just Spy on You. It Buys You.
- What should drivers know about vehicle monitoring?
#340 Byron Tau – The Government Doesn’t Just Spy on You. It Buys You.
- Accountability gets blurry across vendors and agencies
#340 Byron Tau – The Government Doesn’t Just Spy on You. It Buys You.
- A cross-border recruitment claim needs visible sourcing
#341 Katarina Szulc – Cartels Are Recruiting Drone Operators From the Ukraine War
- Reporting tactics without publishing a criminal handbook
#341 Katarina Szulc – Cartels Are Recruiting Drone Operators From the Ukraine War
- Field reporting creates hard verification trade-offs
#341 Katarina Szulc – Cartels Are Recruiting Drone Operators From the Ukraine War
- Which everyday-carry items truly earn their place?
- The sentimental object may be the most revealing
- Gear explanations should disclose commercial pressure clearly
- Preparedness starts before anyone buys impressive gear
#342 Garand Thumb – SERE Specialist on Surviving the Most Dangerous Places on Earth
- Survival advice needs clear environmental limits
#342 Garand Thumb – SERE Specialist on Surviving the Most Dangerous Places on Earth
- Testing gear isn’t the same as proving necessity
#342 Garand Thumb – SERE Specialist on Surviving the Most Dangerous Places on Earth
- Recovery can reshape the story of an earlier life
#343 Jimmy Watson – John McAfee’s Bodyguard Reveals the Dead Man’s Switch