What a Hell of a Way to Die

May Q&A

Nate and Francis field all kinds of abuse from the Curious Cat

Memorial Day and the Need for Meaning (By Nate)

I promise that I'm not fishing for additional Patreon subscriptions when I say that I really appreciate this platform. If you're old enough to remember the early, early days of blogs, i.e. web logs, or web journals, you'll recall that many authors' posts were pretty spectacularly personal. It was harder to happen upon someone's ...

Two grown men ranting about Disney. (Feat. Justin Rose)

Francis and fellow veteran and Disney fan Justin Rose (@thejustinrose) sit down to discuss how silly it is for Jordan Peterson to devote so much time to discussing Disney movies. Justin and Francis then spend a long time ranking Disney movies

Mail Call!

Nate and Francis answer your questions

The Maquis: Terrorist, Traitor, Freedom Fighter

This month, we’re going to look at the two part Deep Space Nine episode The Maquis and what ideologically separates a group from being terrorists, traitors, or freedom fighters. 

A quick backstory on the Maquis: They are a rebellious group of Federation colonists who were told to give up their homes in the demi...

Canadians: They're just like us!

In this bonus episode, Nate speaks with former Canadian Air Force officer Alex Fisher about recent hijinks at the Royal Military College, what it’s like to serve in the Canadian armed forces, and how weird and insane the American military seems from the outside.

Read about mass punishment, Canadian-style  here: 2018-04-11 02:10:34 +0000 UTC View Post

Joe Glenton, author of Soldier Box

For this week’s bonus interview, Nate spoke with Joe Glenton, a former British Army soldier whose opposition to the War on a Terror is the basis of his book “Soldier Box." Nate and Joe discuss the British military, deployment experiences, and what the role of leftist veterans might be in our society.

2018-04-04 03:35:05 +0000 UTC View Post

Exploring the themes of PTSD in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has never been one to shy away from tackling heavy themes, especially regarding war. Nearly half the seven season run revolves around the Dominion War, a conflict that saw massive casualties and changing allegiances on an episode by episode basis.

Where DS9 really shines is when they leave the macro ...

Read Our Interview in Paste Magazine

Paste Magazine published a write-up and interview with Francis and Nate. It gives a little background on why we do the show. We would be really grateful if you read it and shared it with friends who might also want to hear from lefty veterans. Thanks again for your support!

Interview with a Warrant Officer

Nate flushed a Warrant officer out of the Officer's club and got an interview on what exactly it is they do and why they don't show up at formation

On Political Conversions and the Howling Void of Our Politics

By Nate Bethea

*Note: This is the first essay we are releasing for Patreon subscribers. In the future, expect two of these a month for everyone donating $1 or more. For today, it's free!*

There's a part of me that wants to say I don't trust anyone who isn't just a little bit bonkers since Trump got elect...

Coming Changes

Hello to our faithful subscribers!

Just wanted to fill you all in on some more changes that are coming down the pipes this month. Nate and Francis are working to create new Patreon tiers as we are finding ourselves able to create more content. For those of you giving $5 a month, the only thing that will change is you're g...

America A-Z

Recently Britain announced new coins with all things Britain on them. English Breakfast, queuing, even their National Health Service. On this bonus episode, Nate and Francis talk about all things American and what we would put on our own coins.

Read up on the lame things Britain chose here - 2018-03-09 03:19:06 +0000 UTC View Post

February Update

It's been a bit of time since I've updated you all on the podcast, so here's some things no one has asked about but I feel compelled to let you know:

- I've got a lot of bonus content getting lined up, as well as some shirt designs. Once we have three or four things ready to go, we'll open up shop

- We have $400 ready to...

Hell of a Way to Die After Dark: Interview with Brick Yates

Francis, Nate and The Warax are joined by Brick Yates, a Navy veteran turned pornographer after leaving the military. Brick specializes in military themed porn, and we discuss what lead him to his line of work and how exactly we can make an extra buck with those old uniforms we have sitting in the back of our closets...

Bonus Q&A

We drink, we talk. It's what podcasting is

Interview with VA Congressman Lee Carter

Francis talks with Veteran, Democratic Socialist, and Virginia State Congressman Lee Carter about the socialist movement in America, elections, and what to do to get organized

December Mailbag

Nate and Francis crush beers, answer questions

Possible changes to the Patreon pay model

Hello my DEVGRU operators. Recently Patreon pushed out a new payment model to get more money into the hands of your intrepid podcasters. Initially, I was pretty damn excited. But unfortunately this wasn't Patreon being suddenly altruistic. No, that's not good Capitalism. Instead, they decided that you, the patreons, should pay m...

Southland Tales (feat. Matt Christman)

Matt and Francis talk about the 2006 Richard Kelly movie Southland Tales, which sets itself in the backdrop of a fascist America where Sean Wallace and the guy who played Booger from Revenge of the Nerds are scientists, and Jon Lovitz plays a racist cop

Bonus Mailbag Episode

Nate and Francis get trashed and read your mail

Rojava Strong Pt 2. Jen Snyder

Francis talks with Jen Snyder, the girlfriend of Brace Belden, about the run up to Brace's deployment to Syria with the YPG, the organizing she did while he was away and continues to do now that he's home.

This is the first interview of many which will be talking to the ones who stay at home while their loved ones go off...

Gun Talk, Featuring Alex Hinman

Alex Hinman, shooter and owner of guns, joins Francis to talk about gun culture in America and how it compares in various countries all over the world. The pair talk shooing in Scotland, the east of getting a gun in Italy, and just how messed up the NRA is in America

You can also find Alex in the Weyward podcast at 2017-10-09 21:33:34 +0000 UTC View Post

Interview with Matthew Hoh

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 S...

Postcards from Hungary: Katie Toth

Adrian talks with journalist Katie Toth (NPR, The Village Voice) about her recent stay in Budapest, Hungary, and (big picture) what's going on there socially and politically

Quarterly Donation: Houston

Hey everyone, thanks for being donors to the podcast. This quarter, we've used the charitable proceeds for the Houson flooding, giving $100 to each the Houston Food Bank, Texas SPCA, and Houston Diaper bank. We're taking care of adults, babies and their dogs, mostly because all three are very important to us on the podcast.

2017-09-02 18:57:04 +0000 UTC View Post

Afghanistan all over again

Adrian and David James talk about a brand new revamping of the war in Afghanistan. 4k new troops for your warring pleasure

No mistake, this is a free bonus episode. Next month, we go back to the paywall. But if you subscribe for 5$ a day, you'll get all our bonus episodes going forward, as well as access to the back...

Rojava Strong: Talking Army with Brace Belden

You may remember him as PissPigGranddad, the California Communist who went to Syria to fight with the YPG. For this episode, Francis and Brace talk army shit, compare their loadout and see just who's rifle shoots the furthest. 

Gender Transition and the Military with Reggie Bell

For this bonus episode, Nate speaks with Reggie Bell, a former enlisted infantryman and two-time combat veteran of the war in Afghanistan. They discuss Reggie's transition, the experience of trans people in the military, what life was like before and after the repeal of the DOD's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, and more.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Adrian and another infantry officer from the 173rd, Eric Nelson, talk about Star Trek TNG. Why did Worf always get beaten up by the aliens? Why did Picard hate Riker? Why was Riker not beaten up *more* by aliens, when he usually deserved it? Lore v. Data v. Bret Spiner... and so much more