What a Hell of a Way to Die

DadChat ends at 10:45!

Nate and Francis discuss the PACT act and the burn pit registry, while trying to pay attention to the fact that the only people eligible for compensation are the people part of the group that did the burning (American military people), whereas everyone from third-country contractors to the civilian populations of the various countries occupied get nothing. We also talk about a story that might serve as an example of how to not steal from the Army.

For this week’s bonus, Nate is joined in studio by writer and journalist Jasper Lo of the New Yorker. Before you wonder how we managed to get a real journalist on here: it's because Nate and Jasper were in the same unit together a long time ago. They discuss the subtle art of fact-checking, the difficulty of combating disinformation, and whether or not Glenn Kessler carries a katana. Get it on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/counterblaste-to-70248526

*SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT* We now have a storefront to sell the patches, buttons, and magnets that we also give out as flair for our $10 tier. Buy some sweet gear here: https://www.hellofawaytodie.com/shop

We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw

You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay

Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts

Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

Dadchat ends at 16:28

This week, we discuss news that a shady Republican billionaire is funding a National Guard deployment to the US-Mexico border. This wouldn’t happen if South Dakota wasn’t run by a psycho, but we’re slightly concerned about the precedent. We also discuss the cultural freakout of a large chunk of white Americans over the past 13 years, and what it means given that history, as ever, is repeating itself.

This is the piece we read, replete with military dot com comments sections: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/06/29/billionaire-gop-mega-donor-funds-national-guard-mission-us-mexico-border.html

For this week’s bonus, 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. Get it on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/53005374

*SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT* We now have a storefront to sell the patches, buttons, and magnets that we also give out as flair for our $10 tier. Buy some sweet gear here:

https://www.hellofawaytodie.com/shop

We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw

You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay

Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts

Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

If you don’t like DadChat then skip this episode!

This week, it’s a DadChat with Nate and Francis. We discuss gardening, Francis’ daughter starting her own podcast on her tablet, why libertarianism appealed to middle class white kids in the Midwest in the 2000s, our mutual fixation on Redwall books as kids, the underappreciated art of actually talented bass guitar players, and much more.

For this week’s bonus, Nate speaks with Alice Caldwell-Kelly from the podcasts Trashfuture, Well There's Your Problem, and Kill James Bond, about the 2009 Armando Iannucci film IN THE LOOP, in which the British TV series 'The Thick of It' visits the topic of the Iraq War and James Gandolfini plays a grumpy American Lieutenant General. Get it on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/54385089

*SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT* We now have a storefront to sell the patches, buttons, and magnets that we also give out as flair for our $10 tier. Buy some sweet gear here:

https://www.hellofawaytodie.com/shop

We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw

You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay

Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts

Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

This week, Nate speaks with Hussein Kesvani, a notable serious journalist and cohost of Trashfuture and 10,000 Posts podcasts, about a recent phenomenon in Britain: the decision to evacuate a bunch of dogs and cats from Afghanistan while leaving behind all the Afghan staff from the charity involved. We also touch on Taliban super-poster accounts and the ways Global North countries try and demonize refugees at every juncture.

For this week’s bonus, we've decided to review the 2016 Coast Guard film about a guy who does his job. It's called THE FINEST HOURS and Chris Pine is horribly miscast (he's nowhere near ugly enough). To discuss it, the authenticity of its portrayal, and a lot of digressions about boats, Francis speaks with Carey Shockey (@shocks), our resident coastie and water expert. Get it on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/55731709

*SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT* We now have a storefront to sell the patches, buttons, and magnets that we also give out as flair for our $10 tier. Buy some sweet gear here:

https://www.hellofawaytodie.com/shop

We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw

You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay

Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts

Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

This week, Francis and Nate speak with reporter and author Spencer Ackerman about his new book REIGN OF TERROR, a comprehensive history of the War on Terror. Particularly, we home in on the concept of how the culture war created post-9/11 requires veterans to never question the war itself if they want to retain any respected status. It’s a phenomenal book that we both loved, and we strongly recommend you go out and buy it.

In fact, if you buy it here you can get it from a local independent bookstore: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781984879776?aff=TAPBookClub

For this week’s bonus, Francis speaks with defense journalist Kelsey Atherton about his recent piece on Substack covering the long usage-life of weapons and how there are in fact quite a few weapons that have been around for decades, if not centuries. Get it on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/54670319

Read the piece on Substack here! https://athertonkd.substack.com/p/the-deuce-the-buff-the-constitution

*SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT* We now have a storefront to sell the patches, buttons, and magnets that we also give out as flair for our $10 tier. Buy some sweet gear here:

https://www.hellofawaytodie.com/shop

We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw

You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay

Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts

Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang