Blowback (podcast)
| Blowback | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Presentation | |
| Hosted by | |
| Genre |
|
| Language | American English |
| Updates | Weekly |
| Length | 30-60 Minutes |
| Production | |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 30 |
| Publication | |
| Original release | March 16, 2020 |
| Related | |
| Website | blowback |
Blowback is a podcast about American history and foreign policy hosted by Noah Kulwin and Brendan James.[2][3]
Format[edit]
The first season of the show was a ten part series dedicated to the Iraq War.[4] Throughout the show audio clips from MSNBC and CNN and readings of news reports are provided as well as satirical skits performed by H. Jon Benjamin.[5] The second season of the show focuses on U.S. intervention before and after the Cuban revolution, and includes more interviews with those who experienced the events discussed first hand.[6] The third season of the show released in July 2022 and covers the events surrounding the Korean War.[7]
Episodes[edit]
Season 1 (2020)[edit]
| No. | Title | Running time | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | "Iraqnophobia" | 37:19 | March 16, 2020 | |
| Featuring guests H. Jon Benjamin & James Adomian | ||||
| 1 | "Rosebud" | 59:39 | June 15, 2020 | |
| Bonus | "Our Man In Baghdad" | 56:56 | June 15, 2020 | |
| Featuring guest Dahr Jamail | ||||
| 2 | "American Psycho" | 62:42 | June 22, 2020 | |
| 3 | "Curveball" | 62:42 | June 29, 2020 | |
| This episode discusses the transition from Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan to Iraq and weapons of mass destruction.[4] | ||||
| 4 | "Mars Attacks" | 31:38 | July 6, 2020 | |
| Bonus | "Iraqi Horror Picture Show" | 60:56 | July 6, 2020 | |
| Featuring guest Matt Christman | ||||
| 5 | "Dead Links" | 61:49 | July 13, 2020 | |
| Featuring guest Will Menaker | ||||
| Bonus | "Shock Corridor" | 40:09 | July 13, 2020 | |
| Featuring guest Naomi Klein | ||||
| 6 | "Year Zero" | 63:56 | July 20, 2020 | |
| 7 | "#Resistance" | 60:36 | July 27, 2020 | |
| 8 | "Electioneering" | 59:09 | August 3, 2020 | |
| The episode discusses the presidential election of George W. Bush and an election in Iraq.[2] | ||||
| 9 | "How Do You Fuck That Up?"" | 62:25 | August 10, 2020 | |
| 10 | "The Iraq War Did Not Take Place" | 65:26 | August 3, 2020 | |
Season 2 (2021)[edit]
| No. | Title | Running time | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Jupiter Menace" | 80:27 | April 18, 2021 |
| 2 | "Lo Hicimos" | 80:26 | April 18, 2021 |
| 3 | "New Normal" | 76:33 | April 25, 2021 |
| 4 | "Secret Honor" | 75:38 | May 2, 2021 |
| 5 | "Fish Is Red" | 59:30 | May 9, 2021 |
| Bonus | "Lo Distinto Se Parece" | 49:09 | July 4, 2021 |
| Bonus | "Watch Out For That Boy" | 32:07 | July 11, 2021 |
| Bonus | "CIAin't Kiddin'" | 39:10 | July 18, 2021 |
| Bonus | "Massive Retaliation" | 30:13 | July 25, 2021 |
| Bonus | "Neverland" | 38:13 | August 1, 2021 |
| 6 | "Nothing To Lose" | 62:42 | August 8, 2021 |
| Bonus | "Sweet Dirt Tony's Badasssss Song" | 87:41 | August 8, 2021 |
| 7 | "Anadyr" | 72:38 | August 15, 2021 |
| Bonus | "The Capital Of Terrorism" | 68:15 | August 15, 2021 |
| 8 | "We'll All Meet In Hell" | 65:49 | August 22, 2021 |
| Bonus | "The Most Beautiful Cause" | 36:47 | August 22, 2021 |
| 9 | "Cuba Libre" | 82:42 | August 29, 2021 |
| Bonus | "Havana (Derangement) Syndrome" | 44:37 | August 29, 2021 |
| 10 | "Infinite Crisis" | 77:27 | September 5, 2021 |
| Bonus | "Red-Handed Sleight of Hand" | 41:56 | September 13, 2021 |
Season 3 (2022)[edit]
| No. | Title | Running time | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Stop Me Before I Kill Again" | 41:00 | July 24, 2022 |
| 2 | "The Uninvited" | 72:00 | October 1, 2022 |
| 3 | "The Blue House" | 67:00 | October 10, 2022 |
| 4 | "Red Island" | 58:00 | October 17, 2022 |
| 5 | "Train To Busan" | 80:00 | October 24, 2022 |
| 6 | "National Smile Week" | 65:00 | October 31, 2022 |
| 7 | "Mao's Poem" | 65:00 | November 7, 2022 |
| 8 | "American Caesar" | 83:00 | November 14, 2022 |
| 9 | "No More Targets" | 75:00 | November 21, 2022 |
| 10 | "The Host" | 97:00 | November 28, 2022 |
| Bonus | "On Cinema With Kim Jong-Il feat. Anna Broinowski" | 49:00 | July 24, 2022 |
| Bonus | "Another Country Pt. I feat. Bruce Cummings" | 29:00 | July 24, 2022 |
| Bonus | "The Northmen feat. Suzy Kim" | 55:00 | July 24, 2022 |
| Bonus | "Another Country Pt. II feat. Bruce Cummings" | 36:00 | July 24, 2022 |
| Bonus | "Might And Right feat. Michael Brenes" | 57:00 | July 24, 2022 |
| Bonus | "Germinal Pt. I feat. Thomas Powell" | 97:00 | July 24, 2022 |
| Bonus | "Living Memory feat. Tim Shorrock" | 61:00 | July 24, 2022 |
| Bonus | "Prisoners In Paradise feat. Monica Kim" | 44:00 | July 24, 2022 |
| Bonus | "Germinal Pt. II feat. Jeffery Kaye" | 110:00 | July 24, 2022 |
| Bonus | "DMZ meets TMZ feat. Christine Ahn and Elizabeth Beavers" | 52:00 | July 24, 2022 |
Season 4 (2023)[edit]
James announced a fourth season on his Twitter account in December 2022, to be released in Summer 2023. The fourth season will be about Operation Cyclone and its consequences, including the creation of al-Qaeda and the September 11, 2001 attacks. [8]
Reception[edit]
According to Vince Mancini of UPROXX and Derek Robertson of Politico, Blowback was "painstakingly researched" and didactic in its approach, "bombarding the listener with the host's sturm-und-drang argument about the Iraq War as a portal to hell that directly caused our modern-day political ills".[9][10] In a comparison of Blowback and Slow Burn, Slate's podcast about the Iraq War, Derek Robertson of Politico described Blowback as "an unapologetically left-wing re-examination of the war’s many causes and ongoing effects".[10] Jake Greenberg of Podcast Review wrote that "Blowback is an excellent piece of history, one that documents the misadventures, deceits, and war crimes" of the Iraq War.[11] Podcast Review called the topic of the second season "a tremendous fit for James and Kulwin's style".[12]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Story, Hannah (December 2, 2020). "Here's Twenty New Podcasts That Made 2020, an Absolute Butt of a Year, Actually Kinda Bearable". Pedestrian.TV. Pedestrian Group. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
- ^ a b Brooke, Zach (August 10, 2020). "New Film Podcast Recalls How Do the Right Thing Made White Critics Paranoid". The A.V. Club. G/O Media. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
- ^ Greenberg, Jake (August 5, 2020). "Blowback: An Honest History of the Iraq War". Podcast Review. Los Angeles Review of Books. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- ^ a b Day, Meagan (May 26, 2020). "Have We All Forgotten About the Iraq War?". Jacobin. Archived from the original on March 6, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
- ^ Youhana, Michael (July 13, 2020). "The Iraq War Is the Skeleton Key". Jacobin. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
- ^ Blistein, Jon (April 19, 2021). "'Blowback' Podcast Tackles America's Meddling in the Cuban Revolution". Rolling Stone. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
- ^ "Apple Podcasts Preview - Coming Soon: Blowback Season Three". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ^ Brendan James [@deep_beige] (December 18, 2022). "Pleased to announce @blowbackpod SEASON 4, coming summer 2023 from me and @nkulw Teaser:" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Mancini, Vince (December 29, 2020). "The Best Non-Fiction Podcasts of 2020". Uproxx. Warner Music Group. Archived from the original on July 11, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
- ^ a b Robertson, Derek (July 3, 2021). "The Podcasting Feud Over the Iraq War's Legacy". Politico. Capitol News Company. Archived from the original on July 4, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
- ^ "The Ten Best Podcasts of 2020". Podcast Review. Los Angeles Review of Books. December 22, 2020. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- ^ "Three Podcasts to Listen to in June". Podcast Review. Los Angeles Review of Books. June 9, 2021. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
External links[edit]
=====
Blowback on Apple Podcasts
47 episodes
A podcast about the American Empire.
BlowbackBlowbackSociety & Culture
4.8 • 90 Ratings
Listen on Apple Podcasts
S3 Bonus - Not here.
28 NOV 2022S3 Episode 10 - "The Host"
S3 Episode 10 - "The Host"
The armistice in Korea is supposed to be temporary. But a peace treaty never comes. As decades roll on, the war becomes permanent. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 36 min
22 NOV 2022S3 Episode 9 - "No More Targets"
S3 Episode 9 - "No More Targets"
Stalemate on the battlefield does not stop the United States from obliterating North Korea. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 14 min
14 NOV 2022S3 Episode 8 - "American Caesar"
S3 Episode 8 - "American Caesar"
President Truman and his “Big General in the Far East” enter their final standoff over the war. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 22 min
8 NOV 2022S3 Episode 7 - "Mao's Poem"
S3 Episode 7 - "Mao's Poem"
The US threatens to cross the Yalu. The Chinese leadership debates its options in Korea. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 4 min
31 OCT 2022S3 Episode 6 - "National Smile Week"
S3 Episode 6 - "National Smile Week"
Gen. MacArthur executes his revenge. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 4 min
24 OCT 2022S3 Episode 5 - “Train to Busan”
S3 Episode 5 - “Train to Busan”
With a rightwing, US-backed klepto-case to his South, Kim Il-Sung bets the house. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 19 min
17 OCT 2022S3 Episode 4 - "Red Island"
S3 Episode 4 - "Red Island"
The war before the war on a self-reliant island off South Korea. Soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/album/4e9hkmGdDhycmgcGKe3bF0?si=d97_H1fvS5CV84ZvcEhZqQ Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
57 min
10 OCT 2022S3 Episode 3 - "The Blue House"
S3 Episode 3 - "The Blue House"
After a flash of hope post-WWII Korea is divided into North and South. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 6 min
1 OCT 2022S3 Episode 2 - “The Uninvited”
S3 Episode 2 - “The Uninvited”
A pocket-sized history of the Korean peninsula, the upstart US and Japanese empires, and World War II. Soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/album/4e9hkmGdDhycmgcGKe3bF0?si=d97_H1fvS5CV84ZvcEhZqQ Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 11 min
25 JULY 2022S3 Episode 1 - “Stop Me Before I Kill Again”
S3 Episode 1 - “Stop Me Before I Kill Again”
A new season, a new story: The Korean War. To listen to the rest of season 3 right now, visit www.blowback.show Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
41 min
13 APR 2022Coming Soon: Blowback Season Three
Coming Soon: Blowback Season Three
The third season of Blowback — the story of the Korean War — arrives July 2022. Pre-order and listening details at https://blowback.supportingcast.fm Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
40 sec
15 NOV 2021S2 Bonus 10 - "Havana (Derangement) Syndrome"
S2 Bonus 10 - "Havana (Derangement) Syndrome"
Guests Helen Yaffe, José Pertierra and Marta Núñez Sarmiento discuss the protests in Cuba during July 2021. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
44 min
9 NOV 2021S2 Bonus 9 - "The Most Beautiful Cause"
S2 Bonus 9 - "The Most Beautiful Cause"
A rundown of the Cuban revolution's foreign policy in Africa with guest, Cuban diplomat Oscar Oramas-Oliva. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
36 min
2 NOV 2021S2 Bonus 8 - "The Capital of Terrorism"
S2 Bonus 8 - "The Capital of Terrorism"
Noah talks with José Pertierra, a Cuban-American immigration attorney who has long tangled with right-wing Miami Cubans in the media and in court. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 8 min
26 OCT 2021S2 Bonus 7 - "Sweet Dirty Tony's Baadasssss Song"
S2 Bonus 7 - "Sweet Dirty Tony's Baadasssss Song"
Guest Bill Corbett (Mystery Science Theater 3000, Rifftrax) and Brendan hang out and talk about some bad Cuba movies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 27 min
18 OCT 2021S2 Bonus 6 - “Neverland”
S2 Bonus 6 - “Neverland”
A discussion of Operation Peter Pan with Prof. Nelson Valdes, with a detour into Hungary, 1956. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
38 min
11 OCT 2021S2 Bonus 5 - "Massive Retaliation"
S2 Bonus 5 - "Massive Retaliation"
A brief overview of how American nuclear weapons strategy ran parallel to the story in our main narrative. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
30 min
5 OCT 2021S2 Bonus 4 - "CIAin't Kiddin'"
S2 Bonus 4 - "CIAin't Kiddin'"
Guest Luna Olavarria-Gallegos explains how the US government infiltrated and co-opted the hip-hop scene in Cuba. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
39 min
27 SEPT 2021S2 Bonus 3 - "Watch Out For That Boy"
S2 Bonus 3 - "Watch Out For That Boy"
We talk to activists and historians about Cuba, black radicalism, and how the Revolution attacked the problem of racism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
32 min
20 SEPT 2021S2 Bonus 2 - "Lo Distinto Se Parece"
S2 Bonus 2 - "Lo Distinto Se Parece"
Interviews with history professor Michelle Chase and Cuban scholar Marta Nuñez Sarmiento. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
49 min
13 SEPT 2021S2 Bonus 1 - "Red-Handed Sleight of Hand"
S2 Bonus 1 - "Red-Handed Sleight of Hand"
Guatemala: an origin story, inspiration, and cautionary tale just a few hundred miles from our main story. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
41 min
6 SEPT 2021S2 Episode 10 - "Infinite Crisis"
S2 Episode 10 - "Infinite Crisis"
After the Kennedy assassination, US-Cuba diplomacy wanes and the embargo continues. To this day. Our story ends. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 19 min
30 AUG 2021S2 Episode 9 - "Cuba Libra"
S2 Episode 9 - "Cuba Libra"
Castro, Khrushchev, and Kennedy take tentative steps toward the path of peace post-Crisis. Cuban exile groups, and their CIA sponsors, are not pleased. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 22 min
23 AUG 2021S2 Episode 8 - “We’ll All Meet In Hell”
S2 Episode 8 - “We’ll All Meet In Hell”
The USA announces to the world there are missiles in Cuba. Fidel prepares for war. Khrushchev secretly haggles with Kennedy. Americans enjoy Betty Crocker Super Moist Cake Mix. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 5 min
16 AUG 2021S2 Episode 7 - "Anadyr"
S2 Episode 7 - "Anadyr"
Fearing another American invasion — "the big one" — Soviet and Cuban leaders plot a secret response. Camelot never sees it coming. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 12 min
9 AUG 2021S2 Episode 6 - "Nothing To Lose"
S2 Episode 6 - "Nothing To Lose"
Smarting from failure at the Bay of Pigs, the White House sets in motion a new plan to thwart the Cuban Revolution: Operation Mongoose. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 2 min
2 AUG 2021S2 Episode 5 - "Fish Is Red"
S2 Episode 5 - "Fish Is Red"
The CIA and the Cuban exiles get their long-awaited shot at taking out Castro and the Revolution. The subsequent battle in Cuba sends shockwaves around the world. Also: The Blowback S2 official soundtrack is now out on Spotify, Apple, Bandcamp, and other major streaming services. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr
26 JULY 2021S2 Episode 4 - "Secret Honor"
S2 Episode 4 - "Secret Honor"
JFK outmuscles Richard Nixon on Cuba and into the White House. The CIA begins training Cuban exiles in Central America for an invasion. And Fidel pays a visit to Harlem. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 15 min
19 JULY 2021S2 Episode 3 - "New Normal"
S2 Episode 3 - "New Normal"
The Cuban Revolution takes power and the counter-revolution begins. The U.S. government, organized crime, and Cuban exiles carry out a campaign of terrorism, assassination, sabotage and psy-ops to turn back the clock. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 16 min
12 JULY 2021S2 Episode 2 - "Lo Hicimos"
S2 Episode 2 - "Lo Hicimos"
A long short history of Cuba’s relationship with the United States, climaxing with the Cuban revolutionaries’ war to liberate the island from the dictator Batista and his backers in the United States. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 20 min
19 APR 2021S2 Episode 1 - "The Jupiter Menace"
S2 Episode 1 - "The Jupiter Menace"
Welcome back. Brendan and Noah reveal this season’s subject, explore the USA’s unrelenting Cuba mania, and introduce the cast of characters. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
45 min
12 APR 2021Coming Soon: Blowback Season 2
Coming Soon: Blowback Season 2
New episodes drop on April 19. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 min
20 AUG 2020S1 Bonus - "Shock Corridor feat. Naomi Klein"
S1 Bonus - "Shock Corridor feat. Naomi Klein"
Author Naomi Klein joins us to discuss the American exploitation-fest in Iraq, her own experience coming up during the Bush years, the rehabilitation of the Bush administration, and its continuities with the Trump gang. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
40 min
19 AUG 2020S1 Bonus - "Iraqi Horror Picture Show feat. Matt Christman"
S1 Bonus - "Iraqi Horror Picture Show feat. Matt Christman"
Brendan and Noah survey the underwhelming landscape of Iraq War cinema with special guest Matt Christman. They dissect both Hollywood's hits and flops — neither of which were very good — and recommend very few flicks worth watching. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr
18 AUG 2020S1 Bonus - "Our Man In Baghdad feat. Dahr Jamail"
S1 Bonus - "Our Man In Baghdad feat. Dahr Jamail"
In this first bonus episode, Noah talks to author and journalist Dahr Jamail, one of the few journalists who covered the occupation of Iraq, on the ground, without being embedded with the US military or its allies. Dahr is the author of “Beyond the Green Zone,” “The Will To Resist,” and “The Mass Destruction of Iraq.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
54 min
17 AUG 2020S1 Episode 10 - "The Iraq War Did Not Take Place"
S1 Episode 10 - "The Iraq War Did Not Take Place"
Invading Iraq means never having to say you’re sorry. The end of Bush, the broken promise of Obama, and the rise of ISIS and Donald Trump. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 5 min
10 AUG 2020S1 Episode 9 - "How Do You Fuck That Up?"
S1 Episode 9 - "How Do You Fuck That Up?"
The empire strikes back. As Iraq deteriorates into civil war, the Bush administration taps a new man to lead a new American strategy. Which means saying goodbye to an old friend. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 2 min
3 AUG 2020S1 Episode 8 - "Electioneering"
S1 Episode 8 - "Electioneering"
The American public votes to give Bush another term, right before a big dose of buyers’ remorse. In Iraq, the new "democracy" struggles to get elections off the ground as the situation careens toward civil war. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
59 min
27 JULY 2020S1 Episode 7 - "#Resistance"
S1 Episode 7 - "#Resistance"
Somehow not expecting it, the Americans now face an insurgency problem, as both Sunni and Shi'a militants emerge to kick us out. War crimes and atrocities in Fallujah, Sadr City and Abu Ghraib fuel the flames of anti-American resistance. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr
20 JULY 2020S1 Episode 6 - "Year Zero"
S1 Episode 6 - "Year Zero"
Welcome to the Green Zone, where America rules from Saddam’s old palace. The US occupation begins the destruction of Iraq, Rudy Giuliani almost becomes Viceroy, and Halliburton hunts and kills baby kittens. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 3 min
13 JULY 2020S1 Episode 5 - "Dead Links feat. Will Menaker"
S1 Episode 5 - "Dead Links feat. Will Menaker"
The media episode, breaking down some of the journalistic fuck-ups and pundit idiocy that steered us toward war in Iraq. Featuring special guest Will Menaker. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 1 min
6 JULY 2020S1 Episode 4 - "Mars Attacks"
S1 Episode 4 - "Mars Attacks"
America sends Colin Powell, Good Cop, to the UN for one last PR stunt before we invade Iraq. The portal to Gozer the Destructor is opened and the war begins. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
59 min
29 JUNE 2020S1 Episode 3 - "Curveball"
S1 Episode 3 - "Curveball"
September 11th gives America the perfect excuse to finish our hit job on Iraq. We put together the Bush administration's case for war — WMD and al-Qaeda — and take it apart piece by piece. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 1 min
22 JUNE 2020S1 Episode 2 - "American Psycho"
S1 Episode 2 - "American Psycho"
Before George W. Bush, there was Daddy Bush and Bill Clinton, who killed thousands of Iraqis and pushed the country to the brink of famine. The Gulf War, brutal sanctions, and the End of History. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
1 hr 1 min
15 JUNE 2020S1 Episode 1 - "Rosebud"
S1 Episode 1 - "Rosebud"
We trace the origins of America’s perverse relationship with Iraq, from the Cold War to the Iran-Iraq War in the 80s. Assassinations, coups, counter-coups, and the rise of Saddam. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
58 min
17 MAR 2020S1 Episode 0 - "Iraqnophobia" feat. H. Jon Benjamin & James Adomian
S1 Episode 0 - "Iraqnophobia" feat. H. Jon Benjamin & James Adomian
Brendan and Noah drag the Iraq War out of America’s memory hole to see how it shaped our hellworld today. Meet the rogues’ gallery of George W. Bush’s administration and Saddam Hussein’s family. Featuring special guests James Adomian and H. Jon Benjamin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
35 min
10 MAR 2020New Podcast Coming Soon: Blowback
New Podcast Coming Soon: Blowback
The Iraq War did not take place. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy PLAY
31 sec© 2022 Blowback
==========================================
When Blowback Is More Relevant Than Ever
The continued costs and ongoing consequences of American empire.
TOM ENGELHARDT
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/american-empire-chalmers-blowback/
Popular
1
When Russia Shook the World, American Cable News Stumbled
2
Just Another RFK Jr. Lie. I Know, Because It’s About Me.
3
“The Message They’ve Received Is That You Don’t Deserve to Be Cared For”: Life on the Abortion Borde
4
In the Attacks on Trans Rights, We’re Seeing the Rise of a New Confederacy
american_flag_img
(Timo Kohlenberg / CC 2.0)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.com.
Once upon a time, long, long ago—actually, it was early in the year 2000—I was involved in publishing Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire. It was written by the eminent scholar of Asia, former CIA consultant, and cold warrior Chalmers Johnson. I was his editor at Metropolitan Books. In its introduction, using a word Americans were then (as now) all too uncomfortable with, he bluntly summed up his professional life by labeling himself “a spear-carrier for empire.” And he described the origins of his book’s title this way:
Officials of the Central Intelligence Agency first invented [the term blowback] for their own internal use… [It] refers to the unintended consequences of policies that were kept secret from the American people. What the daily press reports as the malign acts of ‘terrorists’ or ‘drug lords’ or ‘rogue states’ or ‘illegal arms merchants’ often turn out to be blowback from earlier American operations.
Ominously enough, he added, “All around the world today, it is possible to see the groundwork being laid for future forms of blowback.” On page 10, he brought up—and remember he was writing this as the previous century ended—the name of “a former protege of the United States,” one Osama bin Laden. In the 1980s, that rich young Saudi had been part of Washington’s secret war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, forming a group to battle the Russians that he called Al Qaeda (“the Base”) to battle the Red Army. By the time Chalmers wrote his book, the Russian war there was long over, the Soviet Union had collapsed, and bin Laden had turned against Washington. He was then believed responsible for the bombing of the American embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. On page 11, Chalmers added that such “retaliation” for American acts was “undoubtedly not yet at an end in the case of bin Laden.”
He summed things up this way: “Because we live in an increasingly interconnected international system, we are all, in a sense, living in a blowback world.”
Sadly, that remains even truer today and, if Chalmers could return from the dead, I have no doubt that he would have much to say about how we now find ourselves on the ultimate blowback planet.
Blowback in a Sole-Superpower World
To use an all-too-appropriate word, given what he was writing about, his book bombed. Boy, did it! The reviewer at The New York Times dismissed it as “marred by an overriding, sweeping, and cranky one-sidedness.” And it sold next to no copies. It was dead in the water, until, 18 months later… yes, I’m sure you’ve already guessed what I’m about to write next… on September 11, 2001, those towers in New York City came down and the Pentagon was clobbered.
Suddenly, Blowback was on every bookstore bestseller table in America. As Chalmers would mention in his new introduction to the 2003 paperback, Metropolitan Books had to reprint it eight times in less than two months to keep up with demand.
Current Issue
Subscribe today and Save up to $129.
In that volume, he had done something deeply unpopular at the time of publication (except among fringe groups on the left). He had called our country an empire—an imperial power intent on maintaining a staggering military presence globally in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and before the rise of China. A common term used in Washington at the time was the “sole superpower” on Planet Earth. And he pointed out, ominously enough, that even without official enemies of any significance, thanks in part to its global imperial presence, Washington had “hollowed out our domestic manufacturing and bred a military establishment that is today close to being beyond civilian control.” He added tellingly that it “always demands more” and was “becoming an autonomous system.” In addition, the post-Vietnam, post-draft, “all volunteer” military was, he pointed out, increasingly “an entirely mercenary force.” Worse yet, he saw the growth of American militarism at home as another form of blowback from this country’s overextension abroad. (Sound familiar in 2022?)
He warned that the collapse of the Soviet Union in the wake of the war in Afghanistan should have been a warning to Washington. Even more ominously, at a moment when this country’s foreign-policy establishment considered us the “indispensable nation” (Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s phrase), he suggested that we were already experiencing “imperial overextension” and on the long downward slope that all empires experience sooner or later.
And keep in mind that all of this was written before 9/11; before President George W. Bush and crew launched devastatingly ill-fated invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq; before this country’s civilian population became—as the nightmare at Uvalde reminded us recently—armed to the teeth with military-style weaponry. It was long before Donald Trump and before the Republican Party was transformed into something unrecognizable. It was well before Congress became essentially incapable of passing anything of significance for most Americans, even as it was instantly capable of providing $54 billion in aid and arms for the Ukrainians and endless funds for the Pentagon.
President Blowback
Just last month, 22 years later, I reread Blowback. Chalmers is, of course, long gone. (He died in November 2010.) But with the news of these last years and what may be on the horizon in mind, I couldn’t help thinking about how he would have updated the book, were he still here.
Donate Now to Power The Nation.
Readers like you make our independent journalism possible.
As a start, I doubt he would have been particularly surprised by Donald Trump. In June 2005, reintroducing a piece he had done for TomDispatch in 2003 on the scourge of militarism, he was already writing: “The American governmental system is no longer working the way it is supposed to. Many distinguished observers think it is badly damaged in terms of Constitutional checks and balances and the structures put in place by the founders to prevent tyranny.”
And as I added in that same 2005 introduction, reflecting Chalmers:
In September 2003, only four months after [President George W. Bush’s] ‘Mission Accomplished’ moment on the USS Abraham Lincoln, it was already evident to some of us that neocon dreams of establishing a robust Pax Americana on the planet were likely to be doomed in the sands of Iraq—but that, in the process, the American constitutional system as we’ve known it might well be destroyed.
Yes, the possibility of our system spinning downward toward some version of tyranny wouldn’t, I suspect, have surprised him. Of course, he didn’t predict Donald Trump. (Who did?) But if anyone could have imagined this country “governed”—and I put that in quotes for obvious reasons—by a billionaire grifter and TV impresario who thought not just unbearably well of, but only of himself, it was Chalmers. Had he been here in 2016, when that bizarre figure ran for president, as he’d been dreaming about doing since at least 2011, and won, I’d put my money on his not being even slightly taken aback. Nor, I suspect, would he have been surprised when the economic inequality that helped Trump to victory only grew ever more rampant in his years in office, while billionaires began to multiply like fleas on a rabid dog.
Honestly, if you think about it for a moment, it’s hard not to imagine The Donald’s success as another version of blowback. In fact, he’s almost inconceivable without the sort of imperial mess Chalmers had in mind and that this country did such a splendiferous job of encouraging with its disastrous invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and its never-ending war on terror. If it weren’t for the mess that our military machine made of the world in this century (and the money it gobbled up in the process), his rise would be hard to imagine. He now seems like the cause of so much, but honestly, as I wrote during the election campaign of 2016 referring to the disease then in the news: “Perhaps it would be better to see Donald Trump as a symptom, not the problem itself, to think of him not as the Zika Virus but as the first infectious mosquito to hit the shores of this country.”
He certainly marked another key moment in what Chalmers would have thought of as the domestic version of imperial decline. In fact, looking back or, given his insistence that the 2020 election was “fake” or “rigged,” looking toward a country in ever-greater crisis, it seems to me that we could redub him Blowback Donald. (Of course, that “B” could also stand for Blowhard.) And given the present Republican Party, as well as the growing evidence that this country’s political system could be coming apart at the seams, it’s hard not to think that Chalmers was onto something big as the last century ended.
Of one thing I’m sure. He wouldn’t have been slightly shocked to discover that, these days, just about the only thing Congress can agree upon across party lines is the annual raising of the Pentagon budget to levels that now match the military budgets of the next 11 countries combined.
Twenty-First-Century Blowback
In the back of my mind, while rereading his book, I kept wondering how else Chalmers might have updated it in 2022. And what came to mind repeatedly was that potentially ultimate subject, climate change.
Now, Chalmers certainly had a sense of the environmental damage the American empire was already causing, but climate change was not yet on his mind. Recently, to my surprise, I came across a passing reference to it in something I wrote but never published in the 1990s and was surprised I even knew about it then. Still, in this century, as I became ever more aware of it and wrote and published ever more about it at TomDispatch, I came to believe that it would indeed be potentially devastating for humanity. For years, though, I didn’t quite grasp that it would be so in my own lifetime.
Support our work with a digital subscription.
Get unlimited access: $9.50 for six months.
Back then, I imagined it as largely a phenomenon of the future, not something for which you could find evidence in the news daily (whether identified as such or not). Yes, at some point I realized, for instance, that South Asia might be more susceptible to climate extremes than many other areas. Still, I hadn’t expected that I would live to see springtime weather with temperatures in the range of 115 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, or that such horrific and, without air-conditioning, increasingly deathly warmth would be followed by devastating flooding. Or that such extremes would grow more common so quickly.
Nor, honestly, had I expected a wave of record July temperatures (and humidity) here in the Northeast US and across much of my own country this very May (it hit 95 degrees on a recent day in Philadelphia!). Nor did I imagine that the Southwest and West would be embroiled in a megadrought the likes of which hasn’t been seen on this continent in at least 1,200 years, with devastating, often record-setting fires, blazing in New Mexico and elsewhere ever earlier in the year. Or the unprecedented severe drought and record flooding in parts of Brazil and Argentina. Or the staggering burning and flooding in Australia. Or the unparalleled floods in recent years in China, Germany, and other countries.
I hadn’t imagined that every spring I’d see more or less the same spring article predicting another terrible, if not record, Atlantic hurricane season. Or that I’d hear about a May hurricane of record strength hitting the Pacific coast of Mexico.
And of course, that’s just to start down what seems like an increasingly endless list. I mean, I haven’t even mentioned those three rare tornadoes in Germany or the record May heat wave in Spain, or… but why go on? You get the idea. In fact, you or people you know are undoubtedly living that very reality, too, in some daunting fashion—and at this moment, thanks to the war in Ukraine and endless other distractions, the world is only burning yet more fossil-fuels promising so much worse to come.
To return to Chalmers Johnson, if you think about it for even 30 seconds, climate change has obviously become the greatest blowback event in human history—with almost unimaginably greater climate chaos likely to come. As he would undoubtedly have noted, if you’re living in the most significant blowback nation in human history, since no other country has put more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere than the United States, you’re truly facing—to cite the subtitle of his book—“the costs and consequences of American empire” and, of course, of the imperial oil companies that continue to have such a hand in (mis)shaping our world.
Worse yet, in this century, that newest of imperial powers, China, has already outstripped this country in terms of the fossil-fuelization of this planet’s atmosphere. (Yet another classic case of imperial over-stretch in the offing.)
Talk about decline! These days it almost seems to precede imperial rise. Yikes!
And so many years later, just to out-Chalmers the master himself, let me offer another prediction: if the Republicans sweep into Congress in 2022 and Blowback Donald or one of his act-alikes sweeps (or even creeps) into the White House in 2024, consider that the potential end of the American story, since it would ensure that, for years to come, nothing would be done to stop the ultimate version of blowback.
No comments:
Post a Comment