What a Hell of a Way to Dad

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, and a culture of demonization. Despite all this, Ken says there's reason to be optimistic. Ken also discusses his own connection to Central America, and how America's involvement in El Salvador's civil war forced his own mother to move north. For our Patreon subscribers, this week's bonus episode features Nate and Francis reviewing 'The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension' as part of our Is It Fascist? movie review series. You can access that episode by subscribing here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/is-it-fascist-of-23369757 *Veterans t-shirt notice* We have a new shirt available on our store. Did you know that VA disability is UBI for warriors? Well, you do now: https://teespring.com/deeply-conflicted-tee_copy_1#pid=387&cid=101810&sid=front You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay Follow Nate here: @inthesedesertsFollow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

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 one. It's not a Christmas movie at all, but we did it regardless. Remember: if you've got a film you'd like us to review, please let us know in the comments / in the DMs / on Twitter. You can hear the whole thing by signing up to the Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/is-it-fascist-of-23369757 *Veterans t-shirt notice* We have a new shirt available on our store. Did you know that VA disability is UBI for warriors? Well, you do now: teespring.com/deeply-conflicted-…d=101810&sid=front You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

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 number of forces [in Afghanistan] and just kind of muddle along and see what we can do." Whom among us has not muddled along for 17 years to no effect? Francis explains how it's hard to feel anything but betrayal when it comes to senior military leadership. This episode also features a segment in which Nate and Francis discuss Redwall books, why Dune sucks, why 'Gravity's Rainbow' is just postdoctoral Redwall, and much more. Francis also references Nate's recent piece in the Outline, which you can read here: https://theoutline.com/post/6726/troops-mexican-border-afghanistan-holidays?zd=1&zi=q3xn67fk In a short interview segment, Francis speaks with sociology student and veteran (@Falsemotive) about his sociological research on post-9/11 veterans. If you served in the GWOT, he'd love to interview you for his project. Also, this week's bonus episode features Adrian interviewing Alex and Faye from the Socialist Rifle Association about what it means to be armed and on the left. You can access that episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/adrian-socialist-23265807 *Veterans t-shirt notice* We have a new shirt available on our store. Did you know that VA disability is UBI for warriors? Well, you do now: https://teespring.com/deeply-conflicted-tee_copy_1#pid=387&cid=101810&sid=front You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay Follow Nate here: @inthesedesertsFollow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

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 apotheosis of the politics Bush enabled — being the head of the party. We also deep-dive on the meaning of "helicopter rides" and why Erick Erickson should just flat out admit that he likes Hitler. This week's bonus for our Patreon subscribers is an interview with leftist Army and Marine Corps veteran Carlo Valle (@cvalle0625). He and Nate discuss Carlo's experience growing up in Honduras, the 2009 coup in that country, and why he tries to keep the door open with his fellow veterans (even when they're not exactly receptive to socialist politics). You can access that episode here: www.patreon.com/posts/23095842 If you want to declare your affiliation with lefty veteran merchandise, check out our Teespring storefront here: www.teespring.com/stores/what-a-he…-of-a-way-to-die You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

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, what gives? This is Adrian's final podcast with us — we thank him for nearly two years of being part of the team. This week's bonus also comes from Adrian, which features the hosts of progressive veteran show "Speak Freely Podcast." You can access that episode here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/conversation-of-22907139 If you want to declare your affiliation with lefty veteran merchandise, check out our Teespring storefront here: www.teespring.com/stores/what-a-hell-of-a-way-to-die You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay Follow Nate here: @inthesedesertsFollow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

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 Navy SEALs who murdered a green beret in Mali after he threatened to disclose their financial crimes. The NYTimes article is available here: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/us/navy-seal-edward-gallagher-isis.html This episode also features a quick interview with Amber Mathwig about her new podcast Unauthorized Absence. Listen to her show here: https://soundcloud.com/uapodcast2001 For this week's bonus preview, Nate speaks with product designer and ethical design instructor Matthew Borgatti about the presence of defense spending in the design world (and a DARPA plan to blow up all of outer space). If you want to hear the full interview, you can subscribe to the Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/plan-to-blow-up-22808517 If you want to declare your affiliation with lefty veteran merchandise, check out our Teespring storefront here: www.teespring.com/stores/what-a-hell-of-a-way-to-die You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

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 Day, Remembrance Sunday, and what the US now calls Veterans Day. Nate also gives his best attempt to explain the British phenomenon of poppy-mania. After two years' worth of hard work, our long-suffering producer Karl Morand is moving onto bigger and better things. Moving forward, Nate is taking over as the producer. We thank Karl for his excellent work and incredible patience.For this week's bonus preview, Nate speaks with veteran and author Joe Kassabian about the Rust Belt, the delightful part of America from which they both escaped. If you want to hear the full interview, you can subscribe to the Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/dispatches-from-22675476 If you want to declare your affiliation with lefty veteran merchandise, check out our Teespring storefront here: www.teespring.com/stores/what-a-hell-of-a-way-to-die You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay Follow Nate here: @inthesedesertsFollow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

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 deploying about 15,000 soldiers to the middle of nowhere for normal reasons. Of course, as we're writing these notes, the election has taken place and now the military has changed the name of the operation — because it was, of course, a stunt. This week we also finally had a chance to splice in a preview of Nate's bonus interview with Army veteran and avowed communist Mike Conyers. If you want to hear the full interview, you can subscribe to the Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/from-right-to-22372224 If you want to declare your affiliation with lefty veteran merchandise, check out our Teespring storefront here: teespring.com/stores/what-a-hell-of-a-way-to-die You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

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 edgewise. If you bonus episodes of extremely socialist veteran content, sign up to the Patreon here: www.patreon.com/Hellofawaytodie If you want to declare your affiliation with lefty veteran merchandise, check out our Teespring storefront here: teespring.com/stores/what-a-hell-of-a-way-to-die You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

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 bonus episodes of extremely socialist veteran content, sign up to the Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/Hellofawaytodie If you want to declare your affiliation with lefty veteran merchandise, check out our Teespring storefront here: https://teespring.com/stores/what-a-hell-of-a-way-to-die You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang