Angry Planet

A special production of Angry Planet and David Axe explores how a group of scruffy contractors pioneered the use of drones during the Vietnam War.

Axe’s book, Drone War Vietnam, is out now.

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The facts on the ground are undeniable. The U.S. is out, the Taliban is back in.

The end was ugly and there were plenty of ugly spots along the way.

Since we’re all doing what ifs, here’s ours: what would the off-ramp have looked like, and did we ever at least have our turn signal on?

Joining us today is a guy who was in the room. Former diplomat Frank Ruggiero dealt directly with the Taliban, as well as managing U.S relations with Afghanistan and Pakistan between 2010 and 2012. Hillary Clinton gave him the State Department’s distinguished honor award.

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You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

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Space… Is it still the final frontier? And does anyone really care about it anymore, aside from a few billionaires and maybe a millionaire or two?

Does NASA have any mojo left? And are any of us alive now going to see a landing on Mars?

These are all questions dear to my heart, so we have Christian Davenport who covers space for the Washington Post and is the author of the Space Barons on the show today. 

Angry Planet has a substack! Join the Information War to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.

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You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

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Afghanistan. If you’re listening to this show you’ve probably been following the news. Despite what the Pentagon or White House will tell you, the evacuation isn’t going great. There is a dichotomy between what officials tell us and what’s actually happening that—in the age of mass communication—seems … insulting.

That dichotomy and how it affected America’s view of Afghanistan is at the heart of the new book—The Afghanistan Papers. Craig Whitlock, its author, is here with us today. Whitlock is an investigative reporter for The Washington Post who has covered America’s War on Terror since the beginning.

Recorded August 25, the day before the attacks.

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Conquerors and nations have been trying to rebuild Afghanistan in their own image for thousands of years. The U.S. is just the latest to fail.

The Soviet Union also failed, with a little push from the United States. But they learned their lesson in only 10 years, from 1979-1989.

Mark Galeotti joins us today to talk about the lessons the U.S. probably should have learned from the USSR. He’s Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and has literally written the book - no three books! - on this very subject. We’ll put links in the show notes.

Storm-333: KGB and Spetsnaz seize Kabul, Soviet-Afghan War 1979

The Panjshir Valley 1980–86

Afghanistan: The Soviet Union's Last War

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America is leaving Afghanistan. President Joe Biden has set a September 11th withdrawal date and things are continuing apace. As America packs up its gear and goes home it’s leaving behind something far more valuable than MRAPs and M16s—people.

For two decades individual Afghans have stepped up to help the United States and as it leaves the battlefield, some of these interpreters are being left behind.

With us today is former Marine Sergeant, Afghanistan War veteran, and Purple Heart recipient Michael Wendt. He’s an advocate for interpreters and recently published an op-ed in The Hill titled “Getting Afghan interpreters out of Afghanistan isn't progressive: It's the right thing to do.”

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Are we living in a declining empire in need of renewal? Maybe.

But one thing to keep in mind? Romans thought the same thing centuries before the great empire fell.

So what’s up with the fascination with the decline and fall of Rome? And what lessons does it have for US politics?

To help us answer that question, we’ve got Edward J. Watts. He’s a professor of history at UC San Diego and the author of a new book, The Eternal Decline and Fall of Rome.

Angry Planet has a substack! Join the Information War to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.

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You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

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Life in Haiti has rarely been easy. It’s the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Corruption is rampant. And it’s been invaded more than once since independence, including by the United States.

It’s little wonder that the half-Island nation has suffered repression and political turmoil

And, on July 7, it’s president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated.

To help us understand the current situation -- and a bit of the history as well -- I’m joined by Francois Pierre-Louis of Queens College in New York.

Angry Planet has a substack! Join the Information War to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.

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You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

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When I was a kid I learned about the Alamo. It’s 1836. Houston said to Travis, fortify the Alamo. Volunteers came from across the continent to fight and die for the dream of a free and independent Texas. 

Like the Ballad said, One hundred and eighty five holding back five thousand.

In the southern part of Texas, near the town of San Antone, like a statue on his pinto rides a cowboy all alone. And he sees the cattle grazing where a century before Santa Anna’s guns were blazing and the cannons used to roar. And his eyes turn sorta misty and his heart begins to glow and he takes his hat off slowly. To the men of the Alamo. To the thirteen days of glory at the siege of Alamo.

What a load of bullshit.

The Alamo and its effect on Texas, the country, and Phil Collins, is the subject of the new book Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of An American Myth. Two of its three authors are here with me today, Bryan Burrough and Chris Tomlinson. They’re both writers and they’re both from Texas, so you can be sure that what you’re about to hear is the gospel truth.

Angry Planet has a substack! Join the Information War to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.

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You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

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Afghanistan, the site of America’s longest war, is changing. The Taliban is gaining ground in the North while peace talks stall. The U.S. continues its withdrawal and the Afghan military is left to pick up the pieces.

Here to help us understand what’s going on is Ali M. Latifi.

Latifi is an Afghan journalist living in Kabul. His work has appeared in Al Jazeera, Business Insider, and NBC News.

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