Blowback - podcast cover

Blowback

Blowbackredcircle.com

A podcast about American Empire.

Episodes

Coming Soon: Blowback Season Three

The third season of Blowback — the story of the Korean War — arrives July 2022. Pre-order and listening details at https://blowback.supportingcast.fm Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Apr 12, 202240 sec

S2 Bonus 10 - "Havana (Derangement) Syndrome"

Guests Helen Yaffe, José Pertierra and Marta Núñez Sarmiento discuss the protests in Cuba during July 2021. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Nov 15, 202145 min

S2 Bonus 9 - "The Most Beautiful Cause"

A rundown of the Cuban revolution's foreign policy in Africa with guest, Cuban diplomat Oscar Oramas-Oliva. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Nov 08, 202137 min

S2 Bonus 8 - "The Capital of Terrorism"

Noah talks with José Pertierra, a Cuban-American immigration attorney who has long tangled with right-wing Miami Cubans in the media and in court. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Nov 01, 20211 hr 8 min

S2 Bonus 7 - "Sweet Dirty Tony's Baadasssss Song"

Guest Bill Corbett (Mystery Science Theater 3000, Rifftrax) and Brendan hang out and talk about some bad Cuba movies. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Oct 25, 20211 hr 28 min

S2 Bonus 6 - “Neverland”

A discussion of Operation Peter Pan with Prof. Nelson Valdes, with a detour into Hungary, 1956. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Oct 18, 202138 min

S2 Bonus 5 - "Massive Retaliation"

A brief overview of how American nuclear weapons strategy ran parallel to the story in our main narrative. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Oct 11, 202130 min

S2 Bonus 4 - "CIAin't Kiddin'"

Guest Luna Olavarria-Gallegos explains how the US government infiltrated and co-opted the hip-hop scene in Cuba. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Oct 04, 202139 min

S2 Bonus 3 - "Watch Out For That Boy"

We talk to activists and historians about Cuba, black radicalism, and how the Revolution attacked the problem of racism. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Sep 27, 202132 min

S2 Bonus 2 - "Lo Distinto Se Parece"

Interviews with history professor Michelle Chase and Cuban scholar Marta Nuñez Sarmiento. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Sep 20, 202149 min

S2 Bonus 1 - "Red-Handed Sleight of Hand"

Guatemala: an origin story, inspiration, and cautionary tale just a few hundred miles from our main story. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Sep 13, 202142 min

S2 Episode 10 - "Infinite Crisis"

After the Kennedy assassination, US-Cuba diplomacy wanes and the embargo continues. To this day. Our story ends. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Sep 06, 20211 hr 19 min

S2 Episode 9 - "Cuba Libra"

Castro, Khrushchev, and Kennedy take tentative steps toward the path of peace post-Crisis. Cuban exile groups, and their CIA sponsors, are not pleased. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Aug 30, 20211 hr 23 min

S2 Episode 8 - “We’ll All Meet In Hell”

The USA announces to the world there are missiles in Cuba. Fidel prepares for war. Khrushchev secretly haggles with Kennedy. Americans enjoy Betty Crocker Super Moist Cake Mix. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Aug 23, 20211 hr 6 min

S2 Episode 7 - "Anadyr"

Fearing another American invasion — "the big one" — Soviet and Cuban leaders plot a secret response. Camelot never sees it coming. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Aug 16, 20211 hr 13 min

S2 Episode 6 - "Nothing To Lose"

Smarting from failure at the Bay of Pigs, the White House sets in motion a new plan to thwart the Cuban Revolution: Operation Mongoose. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Aug 09, 20211 hr 3 min

S2 Episode 5 - "Fish Is Red"

The CIA and the Cuban exiles get their long-awaited shot at taking out Castro and the Revolution. The subsequent battle in Cuba sends shockwaves around the world. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Aug 02, 20211 hr

S2 Episode 4 - "Secret Honor"

JFK outmuscles Richard Nixon on Cuba and into the White House. The CIA begins training Cuban exiles in Central America for an invasion. And Fidel pays a visit to Harlem. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jul 26, 20211 hr 16 min

S2 Episode 3 - "New Normal"

The Cuban Revolution takes power and the counter-revolution begins. The U.S. government, organized crime, and Cuban exiles carry out a campaign of terrorism, assassination, sabotage and psy-ops to turn back the clock. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jul 19, 20211 hr 17 min

S2 Episode 2 - "Lo Hicimos"

A long short history of Cuba’s relationship with the United States, climaxing with the Cuban revolutionaries’ war to liberate the island from the dictator Batista and his backers in the United States. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jul 12, 20211 hr 20 min

S2 Episode 1 - "The Jupiter Menace"

Welcome back. Brendan and Noah reveal this season’s subject, explore the USA’s unrelenting Cuba mania, and introduce the cast of characters. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Apr 19, 202146 min

Coming Soon: Blowback Season 2

New episodes drop on April 19. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Apr 12, 20211 min

S1 Bonus - "Shock Corridor feat. Naomi Klein"

Author Naomi Klein joins us to discuss the American exploitation-fest in Iraq, her own experience coming up during the Bush years, the rehabilitation of the Bush administration, and its continuities with the Trump gang. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Aug 20, 202040 min

S1 Bonus - "Iraqi Horror Picture Show feat. Matt Christman"

Brendan and Noah survey the underwhelming landscape of Iraq War cinema with special guest Matt Christman. They dissect both Hollywood's hits and flops — neither of which were very good — and recommend very few flicks worth watching. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Aug 19, 20201 hr 1 min

S1 Bonus - "Our Man In Baghdad feat. Dahr Jamail"

In this first bonus episode, Noah talks to author and journalist Dahr Jamail, one of the few journalists who covered the occupation of Iraq, on the ground, without being embedded with the US military or its allies. Dahr is the author of “Beyond the Green Zone,” “The Will To Resist,” and “The Mass Destruction of Iraq.” Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...

Aug 18, 202055 min

S1 Episode 10 - "The Iraq War Did Not Take Place"

Invading Iraq means never having to say you’re sorry. The end of Bush, the broken promise of Obama, and the rise of ISIS and Donald Trump. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Aug 17, 20201 hr 5 min

S1 Episode 9 - "How Do You Fuck That Up?"

The empire strikes back. As Iraq deteriorates into civil war, the Bush administration taps a new man to lead a new American strategy. Which means saying goodbye to an old friend. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Aug 10, 20201 hr 2 min

S1 Episode 8 - "Electioneering"

The American public votes to give Bush another term, right before a big dose of buyers’ remorse. In Iraq, the new "democracy" struggles to get elections off the ground as the situation careens toward civil war. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Aug 03, 202059 min

S1 Episode 7 - "#Resistance"

Somehow not expecting it, the Americans now face an insurgency problem, as both Sunni and Shi'a militants emerge to kick us out. War crimes and atrocities in Fallujah, Sadr City and Abu Ghraib fuel the flames of anti-American resistance. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jul 27, 20201 hr 1 min

S1 Episode 6 - "Year Zero"

Welcome to the Green Zone, where America rules from Saddam’s old palace. The US occupation begins the destruction of Iraq, Rudy Giuliani almost becomes Viceroy, and Halliburton hunts and kills baby kittens. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jul 20, 20201 hr 4 min