This week, Nate explains the 4th of July to Milo and forces him to listen to a deranged listicle from Military dot com about how to make the day even more patriotic. Brain damage was suffered on this episode but we hope you enjoy it.
2021-07-05 16:00:59 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, we've reconvened the Zoo Crew to discuss Madison Cawthorn being at it again. The political right in America sure do love some freaks, and it seems that it's only getting worse the further down the QAnon rabbit hole these guys travel. Hope you enjoy!
2021-06-27 23:25:32 +0000 UTC View PostFrancis found an article about how astrology applies to the military, and in order to really get to the heart of this, he spoke with astrology enthusiast and Army PAO Kelsey in order to discuss. Let's just say this piece goes in some wild directions. Hope you enjoy!
2021-06-20 23:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostIt was the sequel no one really wanted and we were going to bring a historian on to discuss, but Joe was busy. So, Francis and Shocks reviewed this film and discussed the ways in which this film continues the legacy of shoehorning weird American culture war arguments into a version of ancient Greek history that is sure to make guys want to buy lifted coal-rollers. Hope you enjoy!
2021-06-13 23:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, Francis speaks with defense journalist Kelsey Atherton (@athertonkd) on the topic of AI-enabled weapons, the state of the industry as opposed to its marketing, and the dangers of what may be coming our way if the trend towards automating violence continues. Hope you enjoy!
2021-06-06 23:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, Francis, Shocks, and Joe discuss a recent self-published book by a serving military officer who claims that the newly-discovered right-wing boogeyman of 'critical race theory' is making the military Marxist. Does that sound insane? It definitely is
2021-05-30 23:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostFrancis and Brock explore the perhaps 'less bad' side of their home state, discussing it's many insane museums, weird racist lore, political realities, and--god help them if they forgot it--Branson. Hope you enjoy!
2021-05-24 20:10:05 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, Francis and Shocks discuss a recent letter by retired officers claiming that the military has been infiltrated by 'Cultural Marxism.' This is, of course, bananas, but that doesn't stop this particular kind of thing getting written. Why did they do it? What did they say? All this and more is revealed in this episode.
2021-05-16 23:01:59 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, we're speaking with Rolling Stone journalist and Army veteran Seth Harp on the topic of a string of murders and unexplained deaths at Fort Bragg, NC. Did you know a Delta operator murdered a Green Beret in front of his family and no charges were filed? Did you know an enlisted soldier in the 82nd was beheaded while camping and no investigation was conducted for almost a year? Whatever's happening there is grim, and Seth has a lot to say about it.
Read Seth's article here: 2021-05-10 14:20:35 +0000 UTC View Post
This week, Francis speaks with Will Nguyen, also known as the Star Trek Commie (@boomerniner) about Star Trek's communist underpinnings, the way it represents different modes of production, the different conflicts it represents (and the dark side of the Federation), and why it's fun to just talk about it for hours. Hope you enjoy!
The article about Will is available here: 2021-05-02 23:02:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Why is the DoD spending money on memes? Why does anyone think this will influence our 'adversaries?' What sort of propaganda is this? To analyze this entire phenomenon, Francis brought on Shocks and Joe to discuss it in detail. Hope you enjoy!
2021-04-25 23:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostWhy does Missouri produce so many bonkers politicians? Why is it that, in order to get elected, you have to be full on blood-and-soil white nationalist? Well, we happen to have two Missouri experts here to give you the lowdown on what the national GOP will be in about 5-10 years. Joining us once again is friend of the show Brock Wilbur, a KCMO resident and a long-suffering observer of the state's politics.
2021-04-18 23:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostListen, the cruise ship industry is weird and variegated. There's a 311-themed cruise, a cruise where you meet Foghat, Disney cruises, Kid Rock cruises, and so much more. Why? No one knows, but Francis has done the legwork to expose all of it.
2021-04-11 23:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostFrancis has brought journalist Jasper Craven about Zoomer fascist congressman Madison Cawthorne, his weird proximity to veterans and lies about admittance to the US Naval Academy, and why we're probably stuck with him.
Jasper wrote a piece about this topic which is available here: https://thebaffler.com/latest/vacuous-valor-craven
Jasper has a substack and you should absolutely sign up...
2021-04-05 22:56:22 +0000 UTC View PostFrancis keeps getting stupid cold-pitch emails from a veteran thought leader and, despite having been told to listen to the show, he simply will not quit. So, to make sense of the situation, he consulted with Joe Kassabian and Carey Shockey. This episode gets to the bottom of the vet-fluencer phenomenon, why it's so uniformly right-wing or crypto-right-wing, and why you shouldn't listen to these people.
2021-03-28 23:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostWe're back with the Zoo Crew of Joe, Carey, and Francis to review the 1996 John Woo film FACE/OFF, which has some.... things that didn't age well. Hope you enjoy!
2021-03-22 00:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostWe're joined by the cast of the Well There's Your Problem podcast to discuss the story of the M2 Bradley Armored Fighting Vehicle. What is the deal with this thing? It's not a tank, but it might as well be a tank in almost every capacity. How did it get made, and what does the future hold for giant clown turrets? Please enjoy.
2021-03-15 11:04:56 +0000 UTC View PostFor this week's bonus, Francis speaks with defense journalist Oriana Pawlyk about what the Space Force actually is and does -- and the fact that it's not going away, despite it being Trump's signature plaything. Hope you enjoy!
2021-03-08 00:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThis week's bonus is a combined Hell of a Way / Lions Led by Donkeys episode in which Joe relates to us the story of Valentine Strasser, the Sierra Leonean army captain (and specialist at heart) who took over a country and decided to change its national anthem to a disco tune -- among a LOT of other things.
2021-03-02 00:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostWe've got Carey and Joe back to have yet another zoo crew session, this time to discuss (among other things) the way that video games become popular representations of American military history. Hope you enjoy!
2021-02-22 00:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostIt's another all-enlisted power hour with Francis, Carey, and Joe. No officers allowed, but lots of jokes abound -- hope you enjoy!
2021-02-15 00:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, Francis is chatting with Army veteran, actual medic, EMT, and antifascist Scotty Blue (@blue_scotty). They discuss becoming a 68W, what it's like to try and be a medic outside of the military, what the hell is up in Portland, and what to expect if you do in fact want to protest. Hope you enjoy!
2021-02-08 15:33:42 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, Francis speaks with NYMag author Matt Stieb about his recent Baffler article, a foray into weird Gulf War t-shirts sold in America in 1990-1991. It's a fun conversation and we hope you enjoy it.
Get Matt's recent article here: https://thebaffler.com/latest/operation-desert-shirt-stieb
2021-02-01 00:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, Francis continues our quest to figure out what the hell the Navy is and does. In an interview with Anthony, a Navy reservist and Hoosier (well, Region guy), the conversation includes: why does the Navy randomly send people to Army units in Iraq and Afghanistan, what are the best ports of call that he's visited, and what do you do when you get seasick. And folks, it's a whole lot. Hope you enjoy!
2021-01-25 00:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostThis week, Francis is talking anti-war organizing in military towns with David Parsons, a historian and the author of 'Dangerous Grounds: Antiwar Coffeehouses and Military Dissent in the Vietnam Era.' David is also the cohost of the Nostalgia Trap podcast, which you can check out here.
Also, get David's book here 2021-01-19 01:13:00 +0000 UTC View Post
This week, Francis welcomes returning guests Joe Kassabian and Carey Shockey to discuss the 1992 film NEWSIES. Why did we discuss this? Well, because it's a movie about labor laws and a movie with lots of weird northeastern US accents. Nothing could be more perfect for an episode with Shocks. Anyway, hope you enjoy.
2021-01-11 17:02:03 +0000 UTC View PostFrancis got together with Joe and Carey to discuss whatever's on their minds. Mostly it's about fireworks being illegal in Massachusetts, why Michigan's Upper Peninsula is crazier than Florida, and why basement punk shows are awkward to attend when you're pushing 40. Hope you enjoy!
2021-01-04 23:45:11 +0000 UTC View PostFor this week's festive bonus, Francis speaks with Joey (@GIJoeyJoeJoe) of the Brigham Young Money Podcast about Utah, deep Simpsons lore, Mormon reliquaries in Missouri, his path to leftism, his military career, and why you should consider spending time in Salt Lake City. Hope you enjoy!
2020-12-28 00:36:07 +0000 UTC View PostFrancis speaks with fellow St. Louis native and defense journalist Valerie Insinna (@ValerieInsinna) about the Netflix film OPERATION CHRISTMAS DROP, its real-life story (apparently the military does actually drop donated gifts to remote Pacific islands?), how the film has clearly been focus-grouped by every PAO on the planet, and why they both love Christmas films despite everything. Hope you enjoy!
2020-12-21 00:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostFor this week's bonus, we've brought on our Zoomer correspondent Kevin Frint (@ItsAll_Bullshit) to discuss a full playthrough of the recent Call of Duty release with Nate. You might not like it, but this is the way that people are going to assume the actual Cold War went down.
(FYI: there were some audio problems that we tried to mitigate -- sorry if you hear a periodic thump for some reason)
2020-12-14 00:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post