What a Hell of a Way to Dad

Latest Episodes:

Drones, Explained feat. Kelsey Atherton Apr 28, 2022

Show notes

This week, Francis speaks with defense journalist and subject-matter expert on drone warfare Kelsey Atherton (@athertonkd) to discuss the history of drone warfare, its current manifestations, and what new sorts of machines we can expect to see as the technology of distributed, long-distance warfare becomes more and more common.

Read Kelsey's writing on Substack here: https://athertonkd.substack.com/

*SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT* We now have a storefront to sell the patches, buttons, and magnets that we also give out as flair for our $10 tier. Buy some sweet gear here: https://www.hellofawaytodie.com/shop

We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw

You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay

Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts

Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

Changing of the Guard feat. Thomas Novelly Apr 21, 2022

Show notes

This week, Francis speaks to military dot com reporter Thomas Novelly about his recent article covering post-9/11 veterans' experiences with the VFW and similar organizations. Thomas makes the point that, after his piece ran, he was inundated with email from younger veterans whose experiences had been almost all overwhelmingly negative. So, what is the future for veterans' organizations that claim to represent veterans but are mostly very old, very white, and very conservative?

Read Thomas's piece here: https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/04/08/vfw-posts-are-dying-they-need-hesitant-9-11-vets-fill-void.html

For this week's bonus, Francis, Joe, and Shocks are talking about military news stories that caught our attention. There was apparently a unit in the Ohio National Guard where two assigned soldiers got arrested for threats made on Discord--two different Discords and two different crimes. Only one of them threatened to do 9/11 on the Budweiser headquarters, though. Get it on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/65307535

We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw

You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay

Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts

Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

Is The VFW Worth Saving? (Your Mileage May Vary) Apr 14, 2022

Show notes

Dadchat ends at 16:19!

Nate and Francis discuss whether or not it's a good idea to even attempt to save old veterans' social organizations and fraternal orders. We read a very ill-advised statement from the American Legion's commander in 2020 where he compared the Black Lives Matter protests to covid-19, discuss the idea of a hostile takeover of VFWs by antifa supersoldier vegan bodybuilder veterans, and much more.

For this week's bonus, Francis, Joe, and Carey review the recent Hulu miniseries adaptation of Joseph Heller's classic military satire 'Catch-22.' Did you know they named Yossarian not out of a desire to tie him to being Armenian, but to make him sound weird? Learn this, and much more, in our (extremely professional) review. Get it on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/65024619

We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw

You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay

Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts

Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

It Seems Imperialism Is Always Bad feat. Adrian Bonenberger Apr 08, 2022

Show notes

This week, Francis and Nate are joined by our former cohost Adrian Bonenberger (twitter.com/AdrianBonenber1), who's been reporting from Ukraine for years and recently traveled there to help evacuate his family. We speak about what he experienced there, the narratives surrounding the war, the lessons we can learn from it, and the one thing we all can agree on: Russia not doing any maintenance on its vehicles is very, very funny

For bonus episodes going all the way back to 2016, sign up on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/Hellofawaytodie

We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw

You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay

Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts

Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

In Every Country a Far Right feat. Sam Asumadu Apr 08, 2022

Show notes

In the first episode for this week, Nate speaks with Sam Asumadu of Media Diversified (@WritersofColour) about far right in places like Ukraine, Myanmar, and the militaries of countries like the UK and US. She's currently researching an article to try and thread the needle of all these stories, and we hope you enjoy this discussion.

Also: Media Diversified is currently on strike in an attempt to protest the unequal response on platforms like Twitter when users report abuse against Black people, specifically Black women, and Romani people. You can see more information about this under the hashtag #DoWeCountToo.

For bonus episodes going all the way back to 2016, sign up on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/Hellofawaytodie

We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw

You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay

Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts

Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

Madison Cawthorn Blows Up the Spot Mar 31, 2022

Show notes

Dadchat ends at 18:39!

It is the official position of the What a Hell of a Way to Die podcast that Madison Cawthorn is nowhere near cool enough to get invited to cocaine orgies. But he claims to have been, and this has touched off a lot of stupid discussion in the US. Nate and Francis discuss it, and Cawthorn in general, and an argument for why drug prohibition creates the overwhelming majority of issues around drugs.

For this week's bonus, Francis, Joe, and Carey return with a list of agony aunt questions trawled from the internet, plus a question that one of our patrons asked. What happens when your husband goes full dadmode without being a dad? What happens when it turns out your son shares a name with a famous porn star? Get it on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/64269397

We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw

You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay

Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts

Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

Military News Roundup feat. Davis Winkie Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

This week, Francis speaks with Army Times reporter Davis Winkie (@Davis_Winkie) about a number of stories he's been working on: military vaccination news, a story about the Army ignoring domestic violence, how the military funded militias in Ukraine as early as 2014, and plans for a new rotational training center in Alaska.

Read all of Davis' bylines here: https://www.armytimes.com/author/davis.winkie/

Get access to bonus episodes dating all the way back to 2016 here: https://www.patreon.com/Hellofawaytodie

We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw

You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay

Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts

Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

Towards a Unionized Military? feat. Steve Beynon Mar 17, 2022

Show notes

This week, Francis speaks with Military dot com reporter Steve Beynon (@StevenBeynon) about the misery of National Guard deployments to the Texas/Mexico border, a push among Guard soldiers to unionize, and much more.

For this week's bonus, Francis made Shocks read a listicle of 'Top Boston Movies' and they discuss it. Some surprising entries on here and some Wahlberg-centric ones, too. Get it on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/63837204

We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw

You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay

Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts

Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

Europe's First War Ever Mar 10, 2022

Show notes

DadChat/CovidChat ends at 15:57!

This week, Nate and Francis discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine and why it's sometimes better to not feel obligated to have a take. We didn't think the invasion was going to happen, and we think it's a human catastrophe that it did. However, when weighing in, it's often important to know what you're actually calling for. We go into this in detail, and more, in this episode.

Get bonus episodes of Hell of a Way dating all the way back to 2016 here: https://www.patreon.com/Hellofawaytodie

We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw

You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay

Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts

Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

*UNLOCKED* 'Send in the Army' feat. Milo Edwards Mar 05, 2022

Show notes

(Sorry for the delayed episodes--Nate is out with covid and Francis is out of town)

This week, Nate and Milo discuss the peculiarly British phenomenon of calling for the Army to be deployed domestically--whether it's to quell a social conflict or fix a logistics issue. They love to call for the Army to be sent in. We get to the bottom of what this means, and why people want it.

We have a YouTube channel now -- subscribe here and get sweet videos from us in which we yell in our cars like true veterans: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwlHZpNTz-h6aTeQiJrEDKw

You can follow the show on Twitter here: @HellOfAWay

Follow Nate here: @inthesedeserts

Follow Francis here: @ArmyStrang

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