More than 300,000 listens per month: how defence and military issues have boosted a French podcast

Since the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine 3.5 years ago, defence and military issues have gained popularity in Europe. At the same time, more and more specialised media outlets and podcasts have focused on these issues. This is the case of the French podcast “Le Collimateur”.

Launched in 2019, this podcast has established itself as a must-see. In episodes ranging from 30 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, the podcast answers questions often relevant to current events, such as Israeli intelligence or Chinese military strategy.

Every episode features experts on the subject: researchers from universities or think tanks, officers or diplomats. The idea is to offer highly informed and accessible content.

In 2023, the podcast became independent and distributed by Binge Audio. It is now associated with Rubicon and produced in partnership with the Ifri Centre for Security Studies, with the support of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces.

“Le Collimateur” recently reached a combined audience of more than 300,000 listeners, a sign that these questions are of increasing interest to the general public. To continue expanding his audience, the podcast is also now available on YouTube.

The Fix spoke with Alexandre Jubelin, the podcast’s creator and host.

How did the idea for this podcast come about, and when?

The podcast was born in 2019 from a personal desire stemming from my experience as a doctoral student in military history and as a former employee of France Culture (a French radio station).

This led me to observe the distorted image and deep unease of part of the intellectual and media world – and even part of society – toward military issues, which are largely associated with right-wing or far-right politicisation.

No longer working at France Culture and still wanting to continue broadcasting, I realised that I could easily embark on this type of project technically, and I started to find an institution to help me bring the podcast to its infancy.

What topics do you cover?

Anything related to war, directly or indirectly, which can be very technical or dealing much more loosely with war/military-related films or series, for example. It's one of the only media outlets that can go into such detail on certain specific topics.

Have you noticed an increase in listeners/downloads since the Russian invasion of Ukraine?

Yes, definitely. Audiences roughly tripled at the beginning of 2022 and haven't fallen since. All figures are public because they are certified by the ACPM website (a French organisation that compiles audiences). We’re generally above 300,000 listeners per month.

In July 2025, nearly 240,000 podcast downloads were recorded in France (an increase of more than 83% in one year) and more than 300,000 downloads outside of France (an increase of more than 88%) according to ACPM data. In July 2024, only 130,000 downloads took place in France and 160,000 outside of France.

How do you explain these complex issues to the public?

You just have to consider war and military facts as an interesting subject in itself - which it is - and avoid falling into connivance or into the intimacy of experts. You simply have to consider that the listeners are starting from zero and then, once the basics are given, not to take people for fools and let the guests talk about what they know.

I generally tell the guests that we don't know who listens to a program, but that I imagine a typical audience of undergraduate students.

How do you manage to monetise your podcast?

When I started considering podcasting as a full-time activity – and not just as a complement to my job as a history teacher – two years ago, I turned to institutions that might be interested in a long-term partnership: notably Rubicon (an online platform for strategic analysis) and Ifri (the leading French think tank on international issues).

With the support of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces' DGRIS (Directorate General for Risk Management), this trio of partners gives me financial security over the years and allows me to know that I'm doing well financially.

Do you also have advertising revenue?

Yes, all of this is supplemented by advertising revenue – distribution being handled by Binge Audio – which is highly irregular and volatile but allows me to increase the company's profitability and allows me to invest.

Since the end of 2024, the episodes have also been available on YouTube?

I set up cameras primarily to make shorts for social media a year ago; then I realised a few months ago that it actually didn't require that much additional work to edit the entire show and broadcast it as a video.

Fundamentally, this isn't at all my podcasting practice, but it's important to note that some audiences only consume video, and therefore there's no reason to cut themselves off from it.

Furthermore, it has definite benefits in terms of SEO, and more generally, I think it's interesting to provide long, quality content with recognised experts on these issues; even if the audiences remain fairly small, we'll see where it leads.

Source of the cover photo: Tommy Lopez via Pexels