What a Hell of a Way to Dad

By now you've probably seen the news that Trump ordered a drone strike on Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. In this week's episode, we discuss why this is moronic, why it will mend any fault lines in Iranian society as they unite in opposition to America, and why you can never give Trump the comedy option (he'll always choose it!) We also discuss that the Army is banning Tik Tok for soldiers...

This week, Francis interviews Air Force veteran and Democratic Congressional candidate Anthony Clark, who's running as a democratic socialist in Illinois' 7th district. Anthony is a public school teacher, was born and raised in the Chicago area, and spent 6 years in the Air Force. He's a survivor of gun violence and an advocate for reparations, and his politics are very much in line with ours — so...

Look, we're the first to admit that local government is weird. But apparently we didn't know just how weird: in Washington State, a Republican state rep is in hot water yet again for espousing what you might describe as Christian Dominionist Terrorism Incitement. Yes, it's our friend Matt Shea again, and this time he's in trouble for… being a member of a white separatist organization? (Source: htt...

This is an unlocked bonus episode which appeared last year on our Patreon. If you want more like it, sign up here: https://www.patreon.com/Hellofawaytodie This week, Nate speaks with Army veteran and writer Drew Pham ( @Drewspeak ). Drew is a prolific essay writer in venues like the War Horse and the Wrath Bearing Tree (where they're an editor), and a mainstay of the veteran writer community in Ne...

It's soon to be the end of an era: Duncan Hunter is leaving Congress after getting caught for too much vaping and gaming. We'll miss the idea of him, even if we actually hate Republicans and people who brag about what sounded like war crimes. Anyway, please read this piece in the New Republic by friend of the show Matt Farwell: https://newrepublic.com/article/155899/duncan-hunter-something-right W...

We've done a news roundup and found some great stories for you, to include: a special prison just for veterans, an appeal to not pretend your dog is a service animal, and an update on the Navy SEALs' attempts to find not-sketchy leaders among the ranks. For this week's bonus, Francis reviews some first-aid gear that he bought online. Learn about tourniquets, compression bandages, and much, much mo...

This week, Nate and Francis discuss the continued war-crime saga of Eddie Gallagher, but this episode also features an interview between Francis and Andrea N. Goldstein ( @AN_Goldstein ) on the topic of the Deborah Sampson Act, which is currently in the U.S. Senate. The act would drastically increase available VA treatment for women veterans, and we wanted you to hear about it. This week's bonus f...

This episode is a bit of a psychic rollercoaster in that it begins with us losing our minds at the fact that Donald Trump pardoned a bunch of war criminals and our YouTube channel is full of boomers chortling like the sounds it plays when you lose on Angry Birds. We hate it. We also wind up doing an impression of Donald Trump declaring a Global War on Jody. So, it's a lot. This week's bonus featur...

Our good friend Ken Klippenstein ( @kenklippenstein ), who is not actually a Krassenstein brother, has a recent story in the Intercept about how the military border mission that Trump ordered is keeping tabs on anarchists, protest groups, and what it describes as "anti-border-wall extremists." All very normal stuff. You can read the article we cited here: https://theintercept.com/2019/11/11/border...

If you're a regular listener, you're well aware of the fact that Nate and Francis love to dunk on proposed solutions to the military's recruiting crisis. Well, the Army's recruiting crisis, as it's perpetually struggling to meet its goals. This week, we discuss a recent WSJ editorial that posits a relaxation of beard rules as a recruiting and retention tool. (Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/t...

We all recognize military recruiting slogans like 'Be All That You Can Be' or 'Fight A Dragon with a Sword,' but the Army has decided that it wants yet another tagline. This time, it's 'What's Your Warrior?' which makes very little sense. We too ask ourselves this question on a regular basis. (Source: https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/10/16/whats-your-warrior-army-launches-new-ads-with...

This week, Francis and Nate discuss rural politics and Appalachian tech hubs with Tarence Ray ( @tarenceray ) of the Trillbilly Worker's Party podcast ( @thetrillbillies ). Specifically, we're discussing Tarence's recent essay in The Baffler, which you can read here: https://thebaffler.com/salvos/hollowed-out-ray This week's bonus episode features Nate in conversation with Marine veteran and anti-...

This week's episode features an impromptu guest spot with @trashfuturepod co-host and stand-up comedian @milo_edwards , who you should follow. Donald Trump has decided that the US is going to pull out of Rojava, the autonomous enclave in northeastern Syria. Since we recorded this episode, the Turkish have invaded and the Kurdish have struck a pact with Assad's government and the Russian military....

Donald Trump recently tweeted that an impeachment proceeding would instigate a second Civil War. This has been a topic of discussion on the right for a long time now, but it hasn't warranted much attention because it's such an absurd proposition. However, this week we discuss it and a Daily Beast feature about where the military's loyalties lie--and why: (source https://www.thedailybeast.com/if-tr...

This week, we discuss big news that's specific to the Army: the weird, broken-TV looking camouflage pattern has now been formally phased out. It's the only uniform that Nate wore on active duty, it's a legacy of terrible defense appropriations and the waste of our militarized budget, and it's a reminder that just because something is 'military grade' doesn't mean it doesn't suck. This week's bonus...

Where to even begin? Well, for starters, the Storm Area 51 thing happened and — while it was definitely dumb — it wasn't a catastrophe. However, for some reason a defense audio/video portal tweeted a threat that seemed to imply that they'd use a B1 bomber to murder '#millennials'. Which is weird! So, Francis and Nate discuss the Naruto runners, the fixation on using Millennial as a code word for l...

We stan a team of Houthi gamers who were able to knock out half of Saudi Arabia's oil supply with some drones. And probably not even military-style UAVs -- chances are good these were like hobby store drones with mini bombs attached. Amazing. Amazing! And now of course the President plans on starting a war with Iran and also reassuring us that there's 'PLENTY OF OIL!" (source: https://www.military...

Some recent developments in the US military that you should know about: first, the President has decided to defund military spending in order to build his stupid racism wall . While on one hand we would call defunding the military a good thing, we would reject that given the fact the money (which was earmarked for things like building maintenance and fire safety) is going towards a stupid project...

The rent is too damn high, but especially nowadays given that hedge funds and private equity are working to squeeze as much lifeblood out of renters as possible. However, god forbid you enact rent control — then you might become like Venezuela! This week, Francis and Nate speak with Nick Babakitis ( @sternburgpapi ) of the Corner Späti podcast ( @cornerspaeti ), a Berlin-based leftist program. Ber...

Francis is out this week, and this episode features Nate in discussion with Rhett J. Evans ( @RhettJEvans ), the author of a work of speculative fiction entitled "The Echo Chamber." It's a book about social media, corporate malfeasance, a dystopian future, and the possibility of a high-tech smoothie gadget playing a huge role in global affairs. They also discuss Rhett's political conversion from r...

This podcast supports antifa -- end of discussion. "A bloo bloo bloo," you might say in response, "My norm's and notion's of respectability!" We don't care. People who put their bodies and livelihoods on the line to face down fascism are heroes and deserve our support. Francis and Nate discuss the recent protests in Portland, the truth to the refrain that cops and fascists work together, and a lit...

  Word on the street is that the US and the Taliban may have come to a peace agreement. Which is why Republican politicians in America hate it. Why? Well, for one, because they're horny for war (and war expenditures), but also because they're really, really dumb. Here's a Defense News story that gives you the full smorgasbord of terrible quotes: https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/08/12/liz-...

NOTE: When we recorded this episode, news reports hadn't yet disclosed that the Dayton shooter's murdered sibling was a trans man. We wanted to update the show notes to reflect that disclosure. It's hard to write pithy show notes when a horrible weekend has just rained more indiscriminate death and destruction on America. Nate and Francis discovered this week that the Dayton, Ohio shooter followed...

Well, it was bound to happen at some point. The US military has bases primarily in the South, and primarily in parts of the world in which climate change poses a huge risk. So, what is the US military doing about it? If you guessed 'killing more soldiers in training via heatstroke,' you're right on the money. Thanks to a fan of the show, we had a chance to read this in-depth piece from Inside Clim...

The military is an authoritarian hellworld, sure, but there are ways to navigate it. In this week's episode, Nate and Francis discuss a recent op-ed arguing on behalf of the junior enlisted community -- basically, arguing that perhaps the military (in this case, the Marine Corps) should treat privates as more than window lickers. You can read that article here: https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/23...