Radio War Nerd EP #104 — Kurdistan Referendum & Rojava
Guest: Wladimir van Wilgenburg, Kurdish affairs analyst
The War Nerd talks to longtime Kurdish region analyst & reporter Wladimir van Wilgenburg in Kobane, northern Syria, to discuss the recent Kurdish independence referendum, the confederacy of enemies allying against the Kurds, divisions within the different Kurdish regions, dirty deals in Aleppo and Iraq, and the convoluted, shifting political interests of all the parties involved in the region . . .
Afterwards, the War Nerd & Ames do a short survey of the week in wars, and answer some subscriber phone-in questions.
Maps:
* Older map of Iraqi Kurdistan roughly showing areas controlled by KRG (Barzani) and PUK (Talabani). Note that today, Kurds control much more, including Kirkuk and areas closer to Mosul
* Map of Rojava, Syria
* Ethnic map of where Kurds live
Note: This episode, we're working on trying to impose some old-fashioned order & discipline, this being a war show 'n all. That means shows maximum 1-1/2 to 2 hours, and limit interviews so that we can cover the week in wars and subscriber questions and feedback...
Total time: 2:01:03 (1 minute over! Someone will pay for this!)
Comments (20)
Dan Carlin for Mongols
3 is a holy number, I'm not a heathen apostate so I don't really mind 3-hour episodes. On the contrary ;-)
Seriously, we have no problem with a 2.5-3 hour show. Gives me an excuse to light another cigar!
What Brent said!
I assure you 95% of people don't want a shorter show. In any case, It's a podcast. It starts, stops and fast forwards whenever you want it to. You have a good thing going, why mess with it?
This was fascinating.
I really enjoy the long, discursive conversations. Every episode is a director's cut.
Please keep making long shows and don't try too hard sticking to a rigid format.
Mark, I think you're talking about a relative of the Cassowary! They still exist today in the remote areas of wet rainforest QLD in Australia. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6YO2L6bFFI" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6YO2L6bFFI</a>
ditto for an episode on the 30 years' war. Also: an episode on the various phases of the Somali Civil War would be interesting
If you want to do something on Brazil, In the book Late Victorian Holocausts, Mike Davis writes about a Brazilian socialist experiment that was put down bloodily following a siege of the city where the socialists had formed their commune.
Amazing episode, and whilst I can agree the need for discipline to cover what needs to be covered, definitely don't worry about length. We can all use the pause button and you're doing stuff here that not many other people are. Also, Mark may have been merging two movies during the talk about Black Sunday, as in addition there's a Charlton Heston film from 1976 called Two Minute Warning which does have specifically a sniper at an NFL game.
If you're a map nerd check the <a href="http://geacron.com/home-en/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Interactive World History Atlas since 3000 BC</a>. Also: Boo to shorter episodes.
Good find! thanks
love the shoutout to Goya's painting of the French putting down the Spanish insurgents!!!! my personal favorite as well
personally I also prefer the long less structured format. I'm still slowly working through the back catalogue too and that isn't a bad thing at all.
On format - I'm a strong supporter of free rambling, opponent of imposing time limits.
Great episode! If I may offer my two cents on format, I would say I prefer the freestyle rambling structure on featured topics. Also I'm not overly fond of the Q&A as it cuts into the World of Wars discussion. Keep up the great work!
The density of information in between 15-18 minute mark is quite something. It reminds me a bit of a passage from Misha Glenny’s history of the Balkans where he describes the impossibly complex situation that obtained between the various competing groups within the Austro-Hungarian empire and its peripheries in the summer of 1848.
LOL, literally logged in just now to ask when you were going to tackle this painful subject. I have a real sick feeling about YPG seemingly signing on to whatever the hell are NATO's aims in Syria.