This week's bonus features Francis interviewing Sativa Steve, a Marine Corps and Navy veteran who works in cannabis plant genomics. They discuss his military service, why he left, how weed works, and what it's like to be doing research on The Dank. It's some fascinating stuff and we hope you enjoy!
2019-10-13 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostA few years back, there was an insane article getting shared on various online veteran channels. It purported to be a "A Message to the Angry Leftists from a Young Infantryman," but it was actually just a rage-screed where the author body-shames feminists and praises the Soviet Army for some reason. ...
2019-10-06 23:01:59 +0000 UTC View PostThe Care packages are out, and here's the most recent Zine. Feel free to download, share, print your own, whatever you want to do with it!
2019-10-01 16:14:18 +0000 UTC View Post
This week's bonus is a review of the famous 1980s Eddie Murphy film COMING TO AMERICA, which Francis had never seen, and which Cynthia would like you to know is basically a family reunion for just about every Black actor working in America at the time. Hear all about Zamunda, Soul Glow, McDowell's, and so much more — and hear an evaluation of how the film holds up.
2019-09-29 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, we decided to get to the bottom of the recent headline that — yes, this is true — a member of Blink 182 shared a UFO video that the Navy confirmed was real. We were fortunate that John, a former Navy aviator and member of the squadron that filmed that same video, is a fan of the show and got in touch. He and Francis have a conversation about UFOs, Navy aviation, why the Marines are weird, and why there are probably millions of contrail sky dicks that we never got to see. Hope y...
2019-09-22 23:09:52 +0000 UTC View PostDid you hear the one about the Twitch streamer who said mean things about Rep. Dan Crenshaw? Well, it turns out that the story's a bit more complicated than that, and we decided to get to the bottom of it by bringing TYT host and general internet superstar Hasan Piker (@hasanthehun) on to the show. We also get into a discussion about the ways in which the military discards people when they're no longer useful, the sheer i...
2019-09-15 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostSurely you imagine that the military must offer high-speed training for how to respond to an active shooter. It must be something out of the Matrix, right? Actually no, it's pretty common-sense stuff that gets drilled into us, mostly to the effect of: get the hell out of there. In this week's bonus episode, Francis gives you the active shooter safety brief. Hope you enjoy -- and if there are any other topics you want to see covered here, let us know!
2019-09-09 15:24:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello everyone, the September zine is done and will be printed this week. The hope is to have it in the mail by Monday at the latest, and we should be on track for that. Once the mailers are out, the digital copy will be released for everyone
Thank you so much for your support! This has been a lot of fun and we're looking forward to doing more in the future
-Francis
Each month, we do a Q&A session in which we answer the questions you asked of us. We have some good ones this month, to include: would you do it again and still join the Army? How do I plant the seed of left politics in my reactionary relatives? Which allies annoyed you the most in combat? And what is the deal with Phil Greaves? Hope you enjoy — and remember that you can ask us questions by sending us a message here on Patreon or via DM on Twitter.
2019-09-02 17:42:33 +0000 UTC View PostThis week's bonus features returning champion Brock Wilbur (@brockwilbur) in a discussion about the 2012 game SPEC OPS: THE LINE. It's a game where you commit war crimes, call in white phosphorous on civilians, and then... go crazy? And kill other American soldiers? It's something of an outlier in the genre of military first-person shooters -- and Francis and Brock talk about all its strangeness.
2019-08-25 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThis week's bonus episode features podcast partner, author, and historian Joe Kassabian (@jkass99) — the co-host of the Lions Led by Donkeys podcast — in a discussion about Svetlana Alexeivich's "BOYS IN ZINC" (previously translated as "THE ZINKY BOYS"). It's a book about the Soviet experience in Afghanistan, and Joe offers some insight as to why it was not fun being a Soviet conscript. Hope you enjoy! Sorry if you think ...
2019-08-18 23:01:59 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, Francis continues his review of the HBO series 'Generation Kill.' This is the final episode, and Francis comments on some of the differences between the original book and the miniseries. Hope you enjoy!
2019-08-12 16:30:10 +0000 UTC View PostIn this episode, Francis and labor lawyer Carey Shockey (@shocks) discuss the 1992 lawyering classic, My Cousin Vinny. Why do lawyers love it so much? Why is it actually pretty accurate as a procedural? Why is Joe Pesci part of the collective guido unconscious? Why is Ralph Macchio such a punk? Get these questions answered by listening right away.
2019-08-05 14:11:23 +0000 UTC View PostYou've got questions for us, and we've of course got some damn answers. Thanks to everyone who submitted these -- we'll definitely get back on track with doing one per month soon (and, as always, feel free to reach out on Patreon to ask a question, too).
2019-07-28 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostLook, it's time to own up to our dad tendencies. We're only going to review video games from 1994-2005, because that's when Francis stopped gaming. At the same time, however, we've got extremely talented journalist and podcaster Brock Wilbur (@brockwilbur), who's always down to play an old game and give some thoughts. In this week's bonus episode, Brock joins Francis to review the 2005 PS2 action-adventure game 'Shadow of...
2019-07-22 09:21:36 +0000 UTC View Post
It's time for yet another movie review in which Francis and Nate discuss a war film and determine if it's fascist or not. This month, we're reviewing the sequel to the much-beloved 1996 blockbuster INDEPENDENCE DAY. Guess what? It's not good, but it's got some interesting details, like semi-starfleet, Brent Spiner in a gay relationship, and an orb that knows everything. Hope you enjoy!
2019-07-14 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostOk, so it's been a minute and I'm sorry it took so long. In the future the digital version of the zine will come out around the same time as everything else. But here is a PDF of the first one for our Patreons
2019-07-10 12:34:23 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, Francis continues his review of the HBO series 'Generation Kill.' In this episode, the war has moved to a war of occupation, and it's starting to dawn on the viewers that things aren't going to go well. Hope you enjoy!
2019-07-08 15:38:21 +0000 UTC View PostIn this episode, Francis speaks with Navy veteran and anarcho-communist farmer Andrea Chandler (@neolithicsheep) about farm subsidies, how she got into farming after leaving the Navy, and why it's good to know how to raise your own food when, say, the collapse is imminent.
2019-06-30 23:01:59 +0000 UTC View PostWe live in a world that needs Gundams. We need huge battle-bots to save us, to solve our problems, to make us believe. However, there's also a possibility that having Gundams will turn out badly, like the world in which the 1990 film ROBOT JOX is set. In this episode, Nate and Francis assess this film -- warts and all -- and ask the most important questions: why is there a chainsaw dick? Why do all the test-tube Jox look like the 1980s pop group The Jets? And, above all else, is it fascist? 2019-06-23 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
In the second part of their book discussion, Francis and Cynthia discuss Kiese Laymon's time-travel novel LONG DIVISION. It's a book about going viral, about traveling through time without the benefit of sci-fi problem-solving, and about the deadly and wide-ranging effects of Hurricane Katrina. We hope you enjoy!
2019-06-17 10:31:09 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, Francis speaks with West Point graduate and Star Trek aficionado Riley Dosh (@Ms_Riley_Guprz) about why the Cardassians are fascist, why Picard is wooden, and why Seven of Nine is the most trans character across the entire series. This is also an opportunity for Francis to demonstrate his in-depth understanding of Deep Space Nine (Nate was excluded because he's only ever watched The Next Generation).
2019-06-09 23:01:59 +0000 UTC View PostWe are humble servants to you, the fans. You voted and said that we should watch Rambo 2. So, we watched it, and boy is it... something. Hope you enjoy our review of this extremely coherent and realistic movie. We love it!
2019-06-02 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostBrock returns to the show to discuss the 2006 platform game 'Psychonauts,' one of Francis' favorites -- and a game in which you're obligated to explore the neuroses driving people from within. We love video game criticism and will always spring for episodes like this if you all enjoy them -- so please let us know!
2019-05-26 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostYou had questions and we have answers! In this bonus, we discuss things like gardening, or current music playlists, how to move to the UK, and what the US trying to invade Iran would wind up looking like. Remember, you can always DM us on Patreon to add your question to the list.
2019-05-19 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, Francis continues his review of the HBO series 'Generation Kill.' In this episode, we watch the initial seeds of the insurgency getting planted, and Francis asks the most salient of questions: why did we not plan for any of this? Hope you enjoy!
2019-05-13 11:11:11 +0000 UTC View PostThis week's bonus features Cynthia and Francis on the topic of the 1979 sci-fi time-travel novel KINDRED by Octavia Butler, a book about black Americans from the modern era forced to return to the antebellum South. Francis had never read this before, and Cynthia explains why it's one of her favorite books. It also dovetails into our planned future episode on Kiese Laymon's LONG DIVISION, which we'll record in the coming weeks. Hope you enjoy!
2019-05-05 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostIn this week's bonus episode, Francis speaks with Bryan Quinby (@murderbryan) of Street Fight Radio on the topic of the recent Netflix film 'Triple Frontier.' Why is it so long? Why is Ben Affleck basically playing himself? And why do a bunch of Delta Force guys apparently really suck at planning? They answer all these and many more of your questions.
2019-04-28 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
This week on the Live, Francis talks about Joe Biden, upcoming bonus episodes, and the coming zine.
If you want just the audio, you can download it here
2019-04-26 19:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, Francis speaks with labor lawyer and Coast Guard veteran Carey Shockey (@shocks) about his time on boats, the USCG's overall mission, how he reconciled socialism and military service, and why he loves being able to represent unions.
2019-04-21 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post