What a Hell of a Way to Dad

This week's episode features Nate in conversation with P.E. Moskowitz (@_pem_pem). They're the author of two books -- 'How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood' and 'The Case Against Free Speech: The First Amendment, Fascism, and the Future of Dissent." We discussed free speech absolutism, the military-centric nature of our discussions of PTSD, and why it's important to have empathy at the forefront of leftist politics. You can buy P.E.'s books (and support local bookstores) here: https://bookshop.org/contributors/p-e-moskowitz Also, check out their writing co-op Study Hall here: http://studyhall.xyz/ This week's bonus episode features Francis and Carey Shockey (@shocks) discussing the inscrutable board-game movie Battleship (from a boats perspective, of course). Get it on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/35148333 *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 You may have noticed that the next issue of our zine has debuted, and you can get it in print by signing up at the $10 monthly Patreon tier. 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

In this unlocked 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. If you want more bonus episodes like these, get them on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/Hellofawaytodie

Nate and Francis discuss the coronavirus this week, as well as the novelty of handwashing for people who haven't had it forced on them as the military does. There's a discussion of what we hope follows next, and an update on the neck-and-neck competition between the US and the UK to have the worst possible response. We hope you enjoy. This week's bonus features Francis discussing Americorps with a veteran of that program -- you can get it on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/34937429 *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 episode includes the full interview between Nate and Matthew Hoh, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and current peace activist. Their conversation covers Matt's experience in Iraq as a planner working closely with the Coalition Provisional Authority, as a Marine company commander during the height of the civil war, as a State Department political officer in Afghanistan at the same time that Nate was deployed there, and later as a peace activist in Okinawa. You can read the full text of Matt's resignation letter here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/hp/ssi/wpc/ResignationLetter.pdf If you want to sign up for more bonus content, our Patreon is accessible here: https://www.patreon.com/Hellofawaytodie

Friends, we know the news is not good. Which is why we've brought on friend of the show and gaming expert Brock Wilbur to discuss Plague Inc, a game that lets you earn high scores for creating pandemics. He and Francis also discuss their various situations in the Midwest and what the COVID-19 pandemic is shaping up to be in non-coastal America. Hope you enjoy! This week's bonus is at the $1 tier -- it's a full-on hour of DadChat. Get it here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/34641124 *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 You may have noticed that the next issue of our zine has debuted, and you can get it in print by signing up at the $10 monthly Patreon tier. 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

Well, the primary is moving pretty quickly and we've seen the demise of the Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar campaigns. We obviously have no love for Pete, and we're happy to see him go -- even if this means we're likely to see him all haunting Democratic politics for the rest of our lives. But for now, he's done. We also discuss the US-Taliban peace agreement and whether or not it will mark an end to the Afghan war. We certainly hope so, but there's very little way of knowing at this point. Additionally, it seems the Marine Corps is trying to banish Confederate imagery and titles from its ranks and bases. This forces us to say something we very rarely even consider saying: well done, Marines. (source: https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2020/02/27/all-confederate-related-paraphernalia-should-be-removed-from-marine-corps-bases-commandant-directs/) *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 You may have noticed that the next issue of our zine has debuted, and you can get it in print by signing up at the $10 monthly Patreon tier. 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

The latest scandal in the military news world is the NYT publishing an op-ed from Taliban deputy commander Sirajuddin Haqqani. In this more-or-less anodyne editorial, Haqqani lays out his reasoning for entering peace talks with the US. This has of course caused a certain type of online veteran to explode into white-hot diarrhea fragments, ignoring the fact that the NYT has previously published op-eds from people like Erik Prince and Erick Erickson, both insane Christian dominionists. But hey, who's counting? For this week's bonus, Nate speaks to an actual Zoomer -- a soon-to-be veteran named Kevin F. who deployed to Afghanistan in 2018-2019 and was able to scroll the timeline the entire time due to the *massive* improvements in technology between when Nate and Francis were last deployed. Get it on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/34267603 *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 You may have noticed that the next issue of our zine has debuted, and you can get it in print by signing up at the $10 monthly Patreon tier. 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

A long time ago, i.e. when Nate and Francis were teens and the Global War on Terror started, you didn't really get internet while deployed. However, even if the war has gone nowhere, the slow march of progress has made it possible for troops to get personalized greetings from porn stars while overseas. This seems great, but also bad, and even worse when you consider the multi-generational time scale of the conflict. However, it might be ending soon! Or something. Because the US is in peace talks with the Taliban and we might actually turn the final corner after turning it 1000 times in the past. We also discuss a recent essay about self-directed learning in the military (i.e. reading the Doom novels and learning how to fight on Phobos). Does it work? Have you ever seen it work? We want to hear your military learning story. This week's bonus is another Is It Fascist review of the 2002 Christian Bale film EQUILIBRIUM. Folks, it's a lot, and you can get it on Patreon at the $3 tier here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/34084649 *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 You may have noticed that the next issue of our zine has debuted, and you can get it in print by signing up at the $10 monthly Patreon tier. 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

In the least shocking news you could imagine, Donald Trump was acquitted in the senate because our constitution is a garbage document that allows for infinity crimes. This is not a surprise to anyone, but one thing that did surprise us was the weird fixation on Alexander Vindman, particularly on Fox News. In fact, Pete Hegseth brought on Medal of Honor recipient Leroy Petry to tell the world that, according to some guy, Vindman was a spotlight ranger and a chow thief in Ranger School. Now, why does this matter? Because the CMOH is the ultimate vetbro Yu-Gi-Oh card, and as such they intend to deploy it. You can read the story here from Media Matters: https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-friends/fox-friends-smears-lt-col-alexander-vindmans-military-record We also discuss the fact that Right-to-Repair restrictions on heavy vehicles are now affecting military vehicles as well, because even the truck you use to do imperialism with has in-app purchases: https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/even-the-american-military-is-struggling-with-right-to-1841531517 This week's bonus features Nate in conversation with journalist Hussein Kesvani (@HKesvani) on the topic of how the British state securitized its anti-radicalization program, and now it's basically doing recon on every aspect of Muslim life in the country. You can get it on Patreon at the $5 tier here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/33909329 *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 You may have noticed that the next issue of our zine has debuted, and you can get it in print by signing up at the $10 monthly Patreon tier. 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

You've surely noticed this phenomenon. In recent years, whenever a famous person dies, there's always a parallel outrage from people online demanding that you grieve for fallen troops instead of the person for whom you're grieving. In this episode, Nate and Francis discuss this at length, particularly in the wake of Kobe Bryant's death and calls to instead grieve for the victims of a military helicopter crash that happened in….2005? (this got so bad that Military.com had to issue a statement: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/01/28/save-outrage-do-hitting-share-military-news.html) There's also an article on Task and Purpose about how the DOD rescinded a 2014 policy on land mines. So, if we want, can mine the hell out of things. This is, as they say, not good: https://taskandpurpose.com/pentagon-landmines This week's bonus is pure, unadulterated DadChat, available to you at the $1 tier. Early reports suggest that it's good! Get it on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/33685295 *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 You may have noticed that the next issue of our zine has debuted, and you can get it in print by signing up at the $10 monthly Patreon tier. 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