Radio War Nerd EP #545 — World of Wars: Gaza Genocide, Oil Shock Memories, Missiles, Silly Summit, Azerbaijan, UK-rainian neo-Nazis

Congrats on 10 years. I've been listening since around episode 50 and at this point I enjoy the life update portions more than the war/politics. My favorite episode was the one about Lime disease. That was so fascinating. Also really like Max Blumenthal's appearances. Was it him that talked about the think tank game and how it's not about being an expert but being good at television that brings invitations to TV interviews? And of course how can one not like Anibale.

Wait maybe I’ve got my timeline messed up and this episode came out before it happened but that Azeri commercial jet Russia shot down I thought that was like the biggest flash point - if I’m not mistaken they both started to really militarize the shared border in the agitated aftermath of that. I was kind of working on a theory that maybe NATO /US intelligence were possibly insisting the Azeris stay mad and ready to fight no matter if even Russia did apologize for the downing .. seeing as to how the west might need a new conflict to overextend Russia since the Syria cards now fully played but they’re still in Ukraine

Late to the conversation but re: China v Taiwan - China doesn't actually have to do that much to defeat Taiwan. Since it's an island nation, the PLAN can just blockade its shores and dare the US to do something. Taiwan would probably run out of industrial inputs in 4 or 5 months of war (weeks?) and won't be able to make any new missiles, drones, etc, not to mention get any food. I know the farm lobby is pretty powerful in DC but it's hard to imagine them pushing for a war to defend their right to sell pork to Taiwanese. But who knows; Yasha Levine has shown how a couple of "farm" billionaires can influence foreign policy in a big way.

Shout-out to the documentary “Reel Bad Arabs,” which I still can’t get anyone in my family to watch

I hope your shoulder is better! Other people like the cyborgs or catgirls (stereotype) but one thing I have always liked about anime & manga is, in the Shonen fighting stories, the deeply optimistic image of the resilience of the human body. Heroes get injured with broken bones, getting impaled with swords, spitting up blood (graphically unlike in typical American superhero comics), and ALWAYS they recover quickly, always they can move on to the next fight. Joyous compared to the reality where few of any injuries are ever truly ‘healed’ and bodies just accumulate damage which comes back like a bad penny till the end.

Great ep, thanks guys!

Love how the first episode that didn’t open with John detailing his latest medical ailment—and how travel, heat, or lack of WiFi only made it worse—begins with mark discussing his own.

That final clip reminds me of interviews with Thiel and Musk or even Matthew Miller. Nobody can justify what they’re doing because they don’t have to, it’s all out in the open. Public opinion doesn’t matter to them. Trump barely bothered to manufacture consent for bombing Iran. Humanities and social sciences are shutting down because propagandist is becoming a less important role to play. Domination without hegemony

Just want to say that my daughter who plays high school tennis here in California got a real kick out of hearing that Mark called California tennis players “evil”.

I came for the current and historical events coverage. I stayed to learn about all the likely health problems in my future LOL

Dude, shoulder surgery was the worst surgery and recovery I ever had. Knees, hernias, wrists... rehabbing a damaged neck and torn up wrist... anything but shoulder surgery, for me. I hours you have an IceMan cold water circulator and are using it religiously. Godspeed.

I think there’s a real possibility that the mass expulsion fails and Israel kills everyone in Gaza as a plan b. Really dark stuff but it seems very possible.

It's important to note that one of Israels strategies for negotiation is to wait for Hamas to accept a deal, then demand new concessions at the last minute which Hamas will always reject, then the whole thing falls apart and they start over

The strikes on Iran are still happening, they're just covert now. There's no way Iran wiped out the entire network Israel had inside their country. They may have gotten very badly crushed but there's always survivors with pre-planned contingencies.

Since I've been subbed since the beginning I should probably go to a show for once goddamn

I was going to finally subscribe this paycheck regardless, but the tacit affirmation here that Beavis and Butthead isn't 'too violent' sealed it; I knew my mother was wrong. Also got to wonder is there any actor who can 'Leslie Nielsen' these days?

I fucking love the title of your new book. Stumbling across that old article was the very reason I started following John and then have been listening since EP 1

Vintage ep

Jesus man the Azeri Mafia sounds scary

i thought we all loved mark’s voice 🥵

Ursula Van Der Whatever will always be Frau Genocide to me

My late grandfather, a Marine who spent most of 1946 in the hills north of Nagasaki, loved tennis and played well into his 80s (against other retirees, but still).

I feel like I have a soft voice in my head or out loud but then my recordings make me sound like a Tuvan throat singer.

Speaking of bad voices, wow that nerd answering the question at the end made Ben Shapiro sound like a baritone, stuff that man in a locker ASAP

How could John not mention that the IRA is part of the league of villains?!!?! another fantastic episode, per usual

Tennis is a lot like golf in that they’re both genuinely enjoyable, accessible games, absolutely ruined by their evil devotees.

Mark with his smol bean voice. Get well soon, hoping for a swift recovery and ten more years!

Feel better champ 🎾🎾🏆🎾

Mark I highly recommend the "soft reboot" of Beavis & Butthead if you haven't watched it, new season starts next week. They watch TikToks and YT videos instead of MTV to keep up with the times, their ASMR watching video is fucking hilarious

When I was really little I was somewhat obsessed with the Raiders, but insofar as I genuinely believed they were evil, and I thought Rich Gannon was some kind of super villain. I don't even know if he was actually that good. Also I was obsessed with Zelda, so there might be a Gannon-Ganondorf thing going on there

The rare RWN episode to lead off with a detailed discussion of Mark's health problems, instead of John's.

I just found and read the Pinksy tennis poem--yikes is right

Looking at the timestamps, this is a CLASSIC 2015-2016 Era RWN episode. Tons of topics condensed at once. All we need is the 8 wars in 8 minutes timer

Regarding the 'ambient hatred' you guys discussed around 44 minutes, I think these days a lot of that is directed at disabled and neurodivergent people. People who consider themselves leftist and PC will call anyone they don't like autistic, and 'r*t*rd' does not get nearly as much censorship as most other slurs

i will say i laughed really hard at the snowman scene

This may be trite but it really seems that all the trouble that the “West” is going through with Russia is over how that country left the “club” at the end of WW1. And Russia even tried to rejoin the club at the end of the 90s! But that diplomacy is not in the interest of the weapons industries and other types of private capital endemic to the “West”. Same cruel impulses from WW1- world domination!

This could use more time stamps. There aren’t nearly enough.

Thanks for sharing your shoulder story Mark. I was recently dealing with chronic rotator cuff tendonopathy as a result of an old A/C joint tear and muscle imbalances/dysfunction. One thing I found to be extremely helpful while in PT was a form of westernized acupuncture called “dry needling”. I found it extremely helpful when addressing certain trigger points in my rotator cuff which traditional PT and massaging couldn’t seem to relieve. On its face it presents like quackery but it is a legitimate and commonly-used recovery practice now. Might help restore mobility and blood flow after you get out of the sling. Just a thought, thanks for what you guys do!

Liz from TrueAnon has a fantastic voice.

RWN golfers sound off

Excellent timing. Just about to hop on the ergo