Welcome to the Dear Lovejoy podcast sponsored by Cooker, Spelt Quaker, pronounced, sorry, let me start that again.

Welcome to the Dear Love Joy Pong.

Welcome to the Dear Love Joy podcast, sponsored by Coker, Spelt Quaker, pronounced cooker, 100 degree boiling hot water straight from your kitchen tap.

I think it is one of the best gadgets that I have in my house. I love it. As everyone knows,

you tunes into this all the time. You know, you just want to brew, just go straight to the tap.

And there it is, 100 degree boiling hot water. Mine also does filtered sparkling water.

So thank you to Cookoker for sponsoring this podcast.

Right, today's question is, what is war actually like?

To answer this question, Damien Lewis, author and filmmaker,

who spent over 20 years reporting from and writing about conflict zones in many countries. Hello Damien, how are you?

I'm all right. Yeah, very good. Thank you. So what's war like? You know, it's a really,

it's a really pertinent question and a really challenging one because war is so many things.

Let me explain it this way. it's where you feel most alive wow that may sound like the strangest answer but it's absolutely true

I'll tell you why it's because when you imagine it okay you're you're there on the front line I was

I was there as a non-combatant. I was there as a cameraman and a reporter.

But you've been shot at.

Someone's tried to kill you and they failed.

That moment, that second when that happens is when you feel most alive.

Because someone's tried to take your life away from you and it's not succeeded.

So, you know,

your mortgage, all the worries about your kids' schools, you know, the breakup with a girlfriend,

every single thing, every worry, every concern you've got on your on your shoulders in your mind,

...