What a Hell of a Way to Dad

Recent stirrings in the defense establishment seem to indicate that Trump's cadre of goons want to invade Venezuela, or at least destabilize the region in hopes that Colombia and Brazil will invade. To that end, he's deployed a walrus and his death squad gang to rustle up some trouble. In this episode, Nate and Francis discuss why you should absolutely oppose U.S. intervention in Venezuela even if...

This Week, Francis drills a hole in his head with the book Trigger Warning by William and J. A. Johnstone. Trigger Warning is the book that happens when you melt multiple boomer Facebook meme pages together and pour it into a mold of an old white man calling the cops because some teens are listening to hip hop music too loud at seven in the evening. It is highly recommended you skip reading the bo...

We rung in the new year and immediately launched into the Democratic presidential primary, in which all sorts of bad AI-generated takes on "affordable access" proliferate. In this week's episode, Nate and Francis discuss whether or not you're being a purity pony (or worse, a Bernard Brother) when you criticize any of the ostensible Democratic candidates. A number of news articles get discussed thi...

It will probably come as no surprise to you that the military is having hard time meeting its recruiting goals. In fact, for the first time since 2005 (a year when nothing bad happened), the Army failed to meet its fiscal year target. So, in response to this, Training and Doctrine Command have discussed a variety of new options: recruiting crossfitters (with special fitness assignments at Fort Kno...

We were so busy ringing in the holidays with movie reviews that we didn't have time to comment on Jim Mattis' resignation, Trump's extremely thought-out Syria zonk, the DC defense establishment backlash to these two developments, and so much more in defense-related news. So, this week Nate and Francis discuss whether or not liberals should induct Mattis into the hashtag resistance hall of fame jus...

We heard that some of you were watching movies at Christmas, and so we watched a war movie (with some strong Christmas movie overtones) — Sam Mendes' 2005 film Jarhead. Is it fascist? Well, it's definitely muscly and macho. But, as Nate, Francis, and Joe Kassabian ( @ jkass99 ) of the Lions Led by Donkeys podcast determine, there's a lot more going on beneath the surface. Sort of. For our Patreon...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, which means Francis has disappeared on vacation and left Nate at the helm of the show. This week, he speaks with investigative journalist and fan of the podcast Ken Klippenstein ( @ kenklippenstein ) about the recent happenings at the US-Mexico border: a child dying in US custody, overt white nationalist talking points spread through DHS social media, a...

In this special promo segment, you can hear a preview of this month's installment of Is It Fascist?, in which Nate and Francis review the 1984 cult classic 'The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension'. They analyze its inscrutable plot, strangely fleshy special effects, standout cast, and general insane weirdness. We asked for a Christmas movie to review and the fans asked for this...

Sign up for the weekly newsletter! We're bringing it back and putting it in your inbox every Friday - https://hellofawaytodie.us17.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=198e9d03a35381241f448c170&id=86957f9bf9 This week, Nate and Francis discuss the recent revelation that former ISAF commander General (Retired) Stanley McChrystal told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, "My best suggestion is to keep a limited n...

We're a highly organized military podcast, and as such it only made sense that we'd throw out our episode plans and instead react to breaking news. After hearing about the death of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, we decided to discuss his legacy as the Iran-Contra pardoner and inaugurator of endless war in the Middle East. Francis notes that nothing could be more perfect than Trump — the a...

In this week's episode of Hell of a Way, the gang examines recent commentary from Bill Kristol and Max Boot, famous pro-intervention conservatives whose newly-cemented places in the hearts of liberals comes solely due to their opposition to Trump. This past week, Kristol advocated for "regime change in China within 20 years," and Max Boot still thinks the 2003 invasion of Iraq was a good idea. So,...

In this week's episode of What a Hell of a Way to Die, Nate, Francis, and Adrian discuss the recent spate of Navy SEAL-related headlines for murder, murder-ish behavior, and much more. Specifically, they discuss a recent NYTimes piece about a SEAL on trial for killing a wounded child combatant in order to take a reenlistment photo. The discussion also covers an ongoing legal proceeding for some Na...

In this week's episode of What a Hell of a Way to Die, Nate, Francis, and Adrian have come to the realization that we've been doing this show for two years now. So, in honor of this milestone, and in honor of the fact that we recorded this on Veterans' Day weekend, we discuss how we came to our current politics. Before that, however, we have a long discussion about the difference between Armistice...

In this week's episode of What a Hell of a Way to Die, Nate, Francis, and Adrian discuss the expanded, overstated, and extremely over-militarized response to a caravan of migrants fleeing Central America. We've discussed it before, but of course we needed to touch more on the fact that President Trump used 'Operation Faithful Patriot' as an opportunity to drum up pre-election coverage — by deployi...

In this week's Episode of of What a Hell of a Way to Die, Nate, Francis, and Adrian discuss the three recent right-wing terror incidents (or 'senseless, unconnected outbursts' as they're referred to in the media). Nate and Adrian reprise their discussion about whether or not Adrian's neighbors in Connecticut are actually good people despite voting Republican. Francis also sort of gets a word in ed...

We're just weeks away from the midterm elections, and damn if we aren't just ramping up the racism and going full steam ahead into the fall of the new Roman Empire. This week Nate, Francis, and Adrian discuss the coming migrant caravan and wax poetic about the fall of the Roman Empire. BONUS EPISODE this week is Francis and his book review on the Rambo book First Blood. If you want this and other...

Fall is underway, the leaves are beginning to change color, and we're still in Afghanistan after 17 years. With a low unemployment rate (usual caveats apply), go figure that the Army is having a hard time meeting its recruiting and retention goals. However, with an enormous budget to spend on basically any and all dumb technology, there might be a solution around the corner: drones you can control...

Quick announcement before we get deep into the wood with Russian poisoning (both real and online) as well as the Department of Defense's attempt to find a Fiverr video editor and snaring a defunct Newgrounds animatior for a primer on blowing up indiscriminate bits of desert. Then Nate talks with Amber Mathwig, Navey veteran and veteran advocate about Defense contractors and their new brand of woke...

We've kept you waiting for this week's episode, but you get additional content: first, an interview between Francis and veteran organizer Alex McCoy on the topic of foreign policy and leftism (and how to reconcile the two). You also get a nearly episode-length argument between Nate and Adrian about Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings, how systems protect abusers, and whether or not there's any...

For this week's episode, Nate, Francis, and Adrian discuss the enormous Vostok 2018 military exercises taking place between Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and others -- and the gang determines that there are very few tactical tasks that involve 300,000-person formations. Additionally, they discuss the news that Venezuelan military officers met in secret with the Trump Administration to discuss a...

WE GOT MERCH.  Check out the store at Teespring This week, the team covers several news stories, from Bristol Palin diming out her ex to Jody to the secretary of the Army accidentally spotlighting a war criminal during Suicide Prevention Week Check out this week's bonus episode in which Adrian interviews  Politico military reporter Wesley Morgan  Check out this week's bonus episode as we break dow...

WE GOT MERCH.  Check out the store at Teespring The team watches the original RoboCop directed by Paul Verhoven and between all the graphic violence and naked buts tried to determine if it's fascist or not. Check out this week's bonus episode in which Adrian interviews  Politico military reporter Wesley Morgan  Check out this week's bonus episode as we break down the classic Red Dawn and telling j...

WE GOT MERCH.  Check out the store at Teespring Adrian, Francis, and Karl talk about the curious case of the vaping congressman Duncan Hunter. While he is a massive piece of crap, he is also the most troop congressman we've ever had Check out this week's bonus episode in which Adrian interviews Politico military reporter Wesley Morgan  Check out this week's bonus episode as we break down the class...

WE GOT MERCH. Check out the store at Teespring Francis sits down with Jason Kander, Afghanistan Veteran and Missouri politician who is currently running for Mayor of Kansas City, Mo. The two talk about the book, trade deployment stories, and talk about what it is to be politically left leaning in a state deep in the heartlands Then we dig our ever suffering producer Karl out of his soundproof bunk...

GET YOUR SHIRTS- The Inagural Hell of a Way to Die shirt/Sticker/Tote is here!  Adrian speaks with author Corey Pein (@ coreypein )about the Unite the Right rally in Washington State and how these ideas flourish in America Check out this week's bonus episode. Cathrine Schmit is a currently serving soldier who transitioned from male to female in the Army. Hear her story -  https://www.patreon.com/p...