Labor Day Blues
War College has officially become Angry Planet
Hello and welcome to Angry Planet’s weekly catalogue of a world in conflict. Every week Jason, Kevin, and Matthew watch the news and sort through the signal and noise so you don’t have to.
It’s Labor Day and we spent the week behind the scenes doing the final passes on the new music, knocking out some stellar interviews, and improving the backend to get ready for the launch of Angry Planet this week so you’ll forgive us if we’re going take a bit of a rest.
Just to reiterate what’s happening. War College has officially become Angry Planet. It’s still Jason, Matthew, and Kevin running the show. The content remains the same, we’re just broadening our scope a bit and using new music and art.
We’ll release six episodes a month and maintain this newsletter on a weekly basis. If you’re a fan of the show and you’re already subscribed somewhere, you don’t have to do anything. The name will change, but the feeds all stay the same.
If you want access to those extra two shows a month and the newsletter, we’re asking that you contribute $9 a month through substack. Just click the subscribe button below and you can get set up. The bonus episodes will come directly to your inbox and you can either listen to them on this website or download them directly. If you can’t do $9 a month but still want to contribute, we’ll also have a $1 a month tier that will give you access to this newsletter.
We want to take a minute to thank you, our loyal listeners, who have been so supportive during this time of transition. A lot of you have reached out with encouragement and kindness. Sometimes we run episodes listeners don’t particularly like or have guests listeners feel we didn’t hit hard enough, but most of the correspondence has been pleasant and interested in a conversation. That’s rare and we’re proud of the community we’re building.
What’s Coming Up
We’re sitting on four incredible episodes right now.
Lebanese musician Blu Fiefer talks to us about what it’s like to live and work in Beirut during a time of crisis.
Rose Thayer of Star and Stripes has been reporting on Fort Hood this year and she walks us through the peculiarities and particulars of the deadliest military base in America.
For our first premium episode, Mark A. Tallman, assistant professor of Homeland Security & Emergency Management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, talks about his new book Ghost Guns and how DIY home defense will change the way we think about the Constitution.
Matthew Gault, U.S. Naval War College ethics chair Pauline Kaurin, and former Army Ranger Marty Skovlund Jr. recorded a round table all about the Pentagon’s recruitment crisis and why they’re reaching out to gamers on the live streaming service Twitch.
This week, we’re sitting down to talk with Rick Pearlstein, the author of Reaganland, to talk about why politics doesn’t stop at the water’s edge.
We’re going to talk to Jason Wilson about the John Birch Society, get into the weeds of QAnon with Jake Hanrahan and Sarah Hightower, dive into what we get wrong about Human Trafficking, look at organized crime in Hawaii, compare the furor over artificial intelligence to the nuclear arms race, and much more.
Stick with us and, if you can, help us get there.
Angry Planet
The big domestic news this week came when The Atlantic reported that Trump had referred to the dead of World War I as “suckers” and “losers.” The White House denied the claim, as did several Trump staffers who were present, including the decidedly anti-Trump John Bolton. The Associated Press and Fox News confirmed the story, but The Intercept took issue with the nature of the reporting.
India’s dream of becoming a country on the grow is falling apart, China has taken notice, moving more troops to the border. Indian audiences went crazy for a false report that Taiwan had shot down a Chinese Su-35. There was this really informative podcast on the subject from War College—whoever they were.
Michael Forest Reinoehl, a suspect in the murder of Aaron “Jay” Danielson last weekened, sat down with VICE to tell his story. Danielson was a member of the far-right group Patriot Prayer. Reinoehl described himself as a member of Antifa. Law enforcement found Reinoehl and killed him during the arrest, saying he had pulled a gun.
To Boogaloo Bois—we’re working on an episode to explain them—were arrested in Minnesota after allegedly attempting to provide material support to Hamas. They were part of a splinter movement called the Boojahideen.
Popular Front has released an excellent documentary about the uprising in Belarus.
And just in case you were feeling anything other than despair, we recommend “The End of Hope In the Middle East” by former War College guest Steven A. Cook.
image: U.S. Georgia National Guard in the country of Georgia. Pentagon photo