In the last episode, we covered the problems of the Marines up in "I Corps" on the border of North and South Vietnam. In this one, I would like to stick with the theme that the Vietnam War offered a very different experience to the different kinds of troops that fought in it. Further south, the soldiers of the Army were deployed, patrolling rice paddies, dikes, and forested jungle areas in the heart of South Vietnam. The average soldier in this environment faced challenges unlike many others in ...
Oct 29, 2025•48 min•Ep. 39
When speaking of the American military serviceman's experience in Vietnam, it's important to know that there were many vastly different combat tours, depending on where in the country one was stationed and when they served. An Army soldier "in the bush" down in the rice paddies of South Vietnam's fertile flatlands in 1970 had a very different war than a Marine posted in the mountainous country close to the border with North Vietnam. This episode focuses on some of those very different experience...
Aug 11, 2025•50 min•Ep. 38
In 1965, the United States appeared to be "in it to win it." The trouble was, nobody knew what a winning outcome would look like. The government of South Vietnam was hopelessly corrupt and made up of landlords that simply stepped into the exploitative French system that came before them. Capturing territory meant nothing, because the enemy fled and then returned as soon as American troops went somewhere else to search for them. The civilian government in Washington handcuffed decisive measures l...
Aug 04, 2025•54 min•Ep. 37
In 1965, American President Lyndon Baines Johnson deploys large numbers of American troops to Vietnam for the first time. Massive naval installations and airbases are built in the name of defending South Vietnam from attack. But the enemy moves like water to the weakest points and the most opportune times to strike. America needs to go on offense, despite knowing very little about the terrain, climate, or people…
Jul 30, 2025•43 min•Ep. 36
By 1964, South Vietnam was a total mess and on the verge of collapse. Trying to prop up the series of incompetent gangster-generals running the show had not worked. The US had a choice: abandon South Vietnam to the tide of totalitarian communism or Double Down. American leadership convinced itself of the latter. Why?
Jun 09, 2025•52 min•Ep. 35
Unbeknownst to many people (and certainly to American war planners, seemingly) is Vietnam's long and proud history of resisting colonial oppressors. For most of the last two thousand years, the area we now know as Vietnam was dominated in some way by much larger and more powerful forces. The associated ethnic groups making up the Vietnamese people never forgot their own identity or their desire to manage their own affairs. Colonial France would learn this lesson in the harshest way imaginable....
Jun 01, 2025•47 min•Ep. 34
For far too many Americans, "Vietnam" conjures up vague film or picture images of futility, atrocity, and stupidity; it also seems to symbolize folly and national shame. While there are truths to all of these, if we are to learn the things the American war in Vietnam can teach us (and dare I say even the ways in which it can inspire us), we need to know its stories better than the two weeks we got in high school. What are the true lessons of Vietnam? Sit down with me for this series and you'll s...
May 26, 2025•28 min•Ep. 33
In Part 2, I cover the speech itself, line by line, why it's remarkable all by itself and why its legacy is even more so. It is hard to understate the impact of Lincoln himself and this speech in particular on how America still remembers the war and why it was fought.
Jun 14, 2023•59 min•Ep. 32
The 5th New York Infantry Regiment "Zouaves" were drawn, dressed, and drilled for success in the American Civil War. A volunteer company that drew as many college graduates and businessmen as it did dock and factory workers, it was destined to briefly show its greatness... and then disappear. On this Memorial Day, I tell their story to honor their service and ultimate sacrifice.
May 30, 2023•56 min•Ep. 31
Many of us in America know a few phrases of it here and there because we all had to read it in high school. We know it was a good speech, totally reaffirming freedom while honoring war dead, yadda yadda. But lost in the cliches is how significant it was that Lincoln was able to make such a speech at such a time, and make it stick. He had a LOT riding against people even taking the speech seriously, let alone holding it up later as an example of everything America stands for. In part 1, I explain...
Feb 09, 2023•43 min•Ep. 30
All appeared well as the Romans had the "pacification" of modern-day Germany underway in A.D. 9. The early Principate Roman Army had driven the "barbarians" before it, as it had done many times before. Then revolt stirred and Rome relied on a charismatic German prince, raised as a hostage and then proven auxiliary commander in Roman civilization, to help reaffirm the Empire's authority in his country…
Jan 25, 2023•59 min•Ep. 29
The image of the samurai is almost synonymous with Japanese history for many people: the honor-bound, bow and sword wielding individual warrior on horseback. It could have been very different. When the early Japanese Court was trying hard to adopt the massed infantry tactics of China, a series of defeats to an impressive "barbarian" guerrilla warrior from the north changed the military culture of the country.
Jan 03, 2023•55 min•Ep. 28
Part 3 of a series on historical events that are widely overrated in aspects of their impact and yet actually underrated and deeply misunderstood. The decisive victory Hannibal Barca won over the Roman Republic at Cannae in 216 BC was the crown jewel of his many achievements, and has been studied so often that perhaps it's now cliché. I retell the story to focus on why it was so significant in that war and why it still has lessons for us, despite what modern scholars might think.
Dec 20, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 27
Part 2 of a series on historical events that are widely overrated in aspects of their impact and yet actually underrated and deeply misunderstood. The Roman civilization is famous all over the world, but few people know just how unlikely and unique their rise to power was. Through an uncommon combination of ruthlessness and humility, Rome built a culture and a war machine that learned from mistakes, adapted to circumstances, and relentlessly pursued total victory.
Dec 13, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 26
Part 1 of a series on historical events that are widely overrated in aspects of their impact and yet actually underrated and deeply misunderstood. President Abraham Lincoln 's landmark Emancipation Proclamation is known popularly as what "freed the slaves," but its story is far more complex. Skeptics correctly point out that it did very little to change the legal and actual status of slaves anywhere in America at that time, but I break it down here for the brilliant practical strike at the insti...
Nov 14, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 25
Chechens have been in an almost 200-year struggle against Russian imperialism. While they remain in an occupied state, the spirit of their people is very much alive. Through their struggle, we can see the consequences of brutality, the power of evil, the heart of a people, the early buds of radicalization, the way misinformation shifts focus and spreads lies. Ultimately, this episode is a reflection on how small events can have a huge ripple effect on the modern world and how we ALL have a role ...
Oct 31, 2022•44 min•Ep. 24
The last of the rebel "old guard" are hunted down, killed, or driven into exile. Chechen traitor/Russian puppet Ramzan Kadyrov rules Chechnya through fear. A generation of traumatized and/or radicalized children remain. Some depart for the bloodbaths of Ukraine or Syria in a tragic epilogue. What's next? How do we evaluate the legacy of the struggle?
Oct 19, 2022•45 min•Ep. 23
After years of attrition taking their toll, a desperate Shamil Basayev turns once more to terrorism. Things are very different in 2004 than they were in 1995, however. The 9/11 attacks and state control of Russian media ensure that instead of helping the rebels, horrific events like the Beslan School Siege further cut off the Chechen cause from any hope.
Oct 02, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 22
The brutality and incompetence of the Russian Army is on full display in the opening months of the war. Their overwhelming force and the assistance of Chechen turncoats begin to turn the tide in their favor, however. Supplies choked off and numbers dwindling, the rebels disperse for guerrilla war.
Sep 25, 2022•49 min•Season 1Ep. 21
The overreach of the Chechen warlords and the rise of Vladimir Putin combine to precipitate the re-invasion of Chechnya in 1999. Grozny is besieged once again and destroyed in urban combat. Both sides have learned from '94-'96 but this time Russia is committing far more. Staged "terrorist" attacks help Putin rally support, even as he kills his own people.
Sep 18, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 20
After their improbable victory in the war for independence, the Chechens quickly discovered that as hard as winning the war was, winning the peace was even more difficult. A ravaged country, shattered infrastructure, and difficulty enforcing law meant that the challenges facing the new government were ultimately insurmountable.
Apr 13, 2022•54 min•Ep. 19
After the Russian Army finally wrests the capital of Grozny from the rebels, its momentum stalls and it resorts to indiscriminate carpet bombing and massacring civilians. In an ominous turn for the future, the desperate rebels engage in mass hostage-takings that stall the war further. With able guerrilla commanders exploiting low Russian morale and poor organization, the rebels shock the world by retaking Grozny in 1996. Russia withdraws and the democratic Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is born!...
Mar 18, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 18
Intense times like these truly make me notice how undervalued the study of history is. I bring up the historical precedents of a lot of what we see and people will often tell me "I wasn't a good history student….I'm not much for names and dates" or something of that sort. At best I'll get the classic saying "Well, you gotta learn from history so you don't repeat it." Yes, but…NO. It's so much deeper and richer and more complicated than names and dates, for one thing. For another, be careful what...
Mar 09, 2022•44 min•Ep. 17
I normally avoid a podcast on current events: there is so much even the best cannot know or understand until years have passed. I have been asked about this many times over the last two weeks from those who know I've been paying close attention to Putin for twenty years and have European history background. While my knowledge is incomplete, I might have some useful stories for the layperson that is just seeking to understand something about this crisis.
Feb 28, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 16
As Chechens (led by many who grew up in the deportation) declare independence in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin's Russia does nothing for three years. Embarrassment at the new state's defiance eventually drives an attempt to topple the Chechen government through far superior arms. Spoiler Alert: Russia, thought to be the second most powerful country in the world at the time, gets a disastrous comeuppance.
Jul 22, 2021•46 min•Ep. 15
There have never been more than one million Chechens in the world at any given time, and their homeland is no bigger than Connecticut, yet the trials and tragedy of the Chechen people have an underestimated but important legacy in the horrific guerrilla wars and terrorism of the twenty-first century. At the heart of the conflict is (of course) the policies of Josef Stalin, who attempted to deport an entire people to Kazakhstan in 1944.
Jul 08, 2021•45 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Jon Stewart darkly joked that for most people, Chechnya might as well be Narnia. He was right, and it's a shame. The Chechens are a distinct and proud mountain people, steeped in long traditions of bravery, daring, and generosity. On the other hand, they also possess a cultural dark side of ruthless banditry, gangsterism, and unreformed ancient practices like bride-stealing. For the last 800 years, they have periodically defied imperial might (from the Mongols to the modern Russians) and tenacio...
Jun 30, 2021•46 min•Ep. 13
Apocalyptic: I find that's the best word to describe the year 1099 in the lives of those who undertook the First Crusade. Anyone who'd survived this long (3 years of continuous marching and war—crazy in and of itself) still had several more months before the attainment of the final goal: the city of Jerusalem. Along the way, death by thirst, hallucination, cannibalism, and frustrated lower classes rising up and seizing control of the whole enterprise from their "superiors" would mark the journey...
Nov 12, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 12
The (double) Siege of Antioch in 1098 has all the stuff a Hollywood movie is made of: two different cultures (and their military approaches) clashing in the style of your favorite old school tournament fighting game, starvation, giant ancient fortresses, disease, hardship, miracles real and imagined, betrayal, sword fights, massacre, and a final, heroic charge against impossible odds. Too much stuff, really: I feel like any script with this much jammed into it would be dismissed as corny and ove...
Oct 05, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 11
I see such a metaphor for human forces here: how whatever Pope Urban II and Emperor Alexius had in mind for this holy war/armed pilgrimage, things quickly escalated out of their control and the message and mission as it came to actually be almost swept both men right off their feet. Never underestimate the power of human passion! Although doomed to failure and disaster, the first wave of people (under Peter the Hermit) to attempt the approach to the Holy Land would have important effects on how ...
Sep 20, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 10
