Hosted by Ed Helms, SNAFU is a podcast about history's greatest screw-ups. On Season 1, we tell the story of Able Archer 83, the NATO military exercise that almost caused a nuclear war in November of 1983... or did it?
Part One: Curtis Yarvin: The Philosopher Behind J.D. Vance
Robert sits down with the great Ed Helms to discuss Curtis Yarvin, the American philosopher of dictatorship whose ideas inspired J.D. Vance. (2 Part Series) Sources: Curtis Yarvin, Political Theorist - Tablet Magazine Who is Curtis Yarvin, the monarchist, anti-democracy blogger? | Vox Mouthbreathing Machiavellis Dream of a Silicon Reich (thebaffler.com) A Founder's Farewell • Blog • urbit.org Interview with Curtis Yarvin — Max Raskin https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/trumps-vow-to-fire-thousands-of-crooked-federal-workers-prompts-alarm/ https://thebaffler.com/latest/mouthbreathing-machiavellis https://techcrunch.com/2013/11/22/geeks-for-monarchy/ https://thebaffler.com/latest/the-moldbug-variations-pein https://glasgowmuseumsslavery.co.uk/2020/11/18/thomas-carlyle-historian-writer-racist/ https://www.unqualified-reservations.org/2008/05/ol5-shortest-way-to-world-peace/ https://newtotse.com/oldtotse/en/ego/cult_of_the_dead_cow/cdc252.html http://www.textfiles.com/groups/CDC/cDc-0234.txt https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/elon-musk-trump-harris-high-status-males-4chan-b2606617.html https://www.unqualified-reservations.org/2008/11/patchwork-2-profit-strategies-for-our/ https://academic.oup.com/book/25370 https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/curtis-yarvin-thiel-carlyle-monarchism-reactionary https://www.amazon.com/Key-Thinkers-Radical-Right-Democracy-ebook/dp/B07LFKWCV2 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/17/2024 • 1 hour, 17 minutes, 52 seconds
The FBI and Indigenous Movements with Nick Estes
COINTELPRO was shut down in 1971, and J. Edgar Hoover died in 1972. But the agency's dirty tricks continued in the years directly following the Media Burglary. Nowhere is this more evident than in the FBI's interactions with the American Indian Movement. Scholar, historian, and podcast host Nick Estes joins SNAFU to talk about how COINTELPRO and Hoover's legacy permeated the FBI, from the Wounded Knee Occupation in 1973 to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at Standing Rock in 2016/2017.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9/4/2024 • 51 minutes, 5 seconds
Surveillance Now & Then with Loch Johnson
Former Church Committee Staffer Loch Johnson helps us dig deeper into the Church Committee Hearings to cover the appalling findings we didn't get to in Episode 7 of our season. Then, he takes us straight through to present day surveillance, where we try to answer the question: Where is the right balance between citizen rights and national security? Do we even have any privacy left anymore?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8/28/2024 • 46 minutes, 21 seconds
Introducing: Broomgate
From Executive Producer Ed Helms comes a new podcast, Broomgate: A Curling Scandal. Over the course of six episodes, semi-professional curler and fully professional comedian John Cullen (Blocked Party) is exposing the unbelievable, never-before-told scandal that rocked the sport of curling. Yes, curling. Listen here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5/13/2024 • 28 minutes, 10 seconds
BONUS: Forgotten History with Rachel Maddow
Back in World War II, a group of Nazis tried to overthrow American democracy, with the help of some U.S. congressmen, no less. We’re talking about The Great Sedition Trial of 1944, and it’s the subject of a history podcast hosted by Rachel Maddow called ULTRA. SNAFU and ULTRA have so much in common. Both podcasts are deep-dives into important moments in American history, which are largely forgotten – and yet, they feel oddly prescient to our world today. Ed recently sat down with Rachel to discuss these two extraordinary stories, the roots of authoritarianism, and how it all weaves into current events.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4/25/2023 • 40 minutes, 14 seconds
BONUS: Inside the KGB with Jack Barsky
Bonus Episode – Ed speaks with former sleeper agent for the KGB, Jack Barsky. Together, they recount Jack’s life trajectory from super spy to American author, and discuss the Soviet paranoia permeating throughout the Soviet ranks during the high-intensity of Able Archer ‘83. Produced by FilmNation and Pacific Electric Picture Co. in association with Gilded Audio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12/7/2022 • 39 minutes, 10 seconds
BONUS: WarGaming with Matthew Broderick & John Badham
Bonus Episode – Ed speaks with actor Matthew Broderick, and director John Badham about their time on the seminal 1983 classic, “WarGames” and how it played a part in the cultural zeitgeist of the Cold War. Produced by FilmNation and Pacific Electric Picture Co. in association with Gilded Audio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
11/30/2022 • 30 minutes, 55 seconds
Introducing: SNAFU with Ed Helms
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