Blowback (podcast)
| Blowback | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Presentation | |
| Hosted by | |
| Genre |
|
| Language | American English |
| Updates | Annually |
| Length | 30-60 Minutes |
| Production | |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 50 |
| 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, former producer, and frequent guest of Chapo Trap House.[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] The fourth season of the show began its release in August 2023, discussing the American involvement in Afghanistan, touching on subjects which mainly focus on Operation Cyclone and its consequences. Season five released in September 2024 and covers the United States bombing campaign in Cambodia known as Operation Menu, the subsequent rise of the Khmer Rouge and the establishment of Democratic Kampuchea.[8]
Episodes
[edit]Season 1 (2020)
[edit]While focused on the Iraq War, season 1 begins by examining the early relationship between the United States and Iraq. This includes the United States support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War. In an interview with Gizmodo when asked about the reasons for the United States invasion of Iraq James responded "to what extent the war was to profit off of a newly acquired Iraqi oil industry is a more of an interesting question. It certainly was the main reason why we targeted Iraq, not even just with the Iraq War in 2003 but in 1991. The reason that Iraq could even be in the position to piss America off was because we had made friends with it due to its status as a strong oil producer and its strategic position against Iran, another very strong oil producer".[9]
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 5 | "Dead Links" | 61:49 | July 13, 2020 | |
|
Featuring guest Will Menaker | ||||
| 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 1 Bonus Episodes
[edit]| No. | Title | Running time | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonus | "Our Man In Baghdad" | 56:56 | June 15, 2020 | |
|
Featuring guest Dahr Jamail | ||||
| Bonus | "Iraqi Horror Picture Show" | 60:56 | July 6, 2020 | |
|
Featuring guest Matt Christman | ||||
| Bonus | "Shock Corridor" | 40:09 | July 13, 2020 | |
|
Featuring guest Naomi Klein | ||||
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 |
| 6 | "Nothing To Lose" | 62:42 | August 8, 2021 |
| 7 | "Anadyr" | 72:38 | August 15, 2021 |
| 8 | "We'll All Meet In Hell" | 65:49 | August 22, 2021 |
| 9 | "Cuba Libre" | 82:42 | August 29, 2021 |
| 10 | "Infinite Crisis" | 77:27 | September 5, 2021 |
Season 2 Bonus Episodes
[edit]| No. | Title | Running time | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonus | "Lo Distinto Se Parece" | 49:09 | July 4, 2021 | |
|
Interviews with history professor Michelle Chase and Cuban scholar Marta Nuñez Sarmiento | ||||
| Bonus | "Watch Out For That Boy" | 32:07 | July 11, 2021 | |
|
Discussion with experts about black radicalism and race in relation to Cuba and the revolution | ||||
| Bonus | "CIAin't Kiddin'" | 39:10 | July 18, 2021 | |
|
Interview with Luna Olavarrio Gallegos about a failed US government attempt to infiltrate and co-opt the Cuban hip-hop scene | ||||
| Bonus | "Massive Retaliation" | 30:13 | July 25, 2021 | |
|
Overview of the history of American nuclear weapons strategy at the time of the Cuban missile crisis | ||||
| Bonus | "Sweet Dirt Tony's Badasssss Song" | 87:41 | August 8, 2021 | |
|
Discussion with Bill Corbett about bad depictions of Cuba in film. | ||||
| Bonus | "Neverland" | 38:13 | August 1, 2021 | |
|
Interview with professor Nelson Valdes about Operation Peter Pan | ||||
| Bonus | "The Capital Of Terrorism" | 68:15 | August 15, 2021 | |
|
Interview with immigration attorney José Pertierra about his experiences with Cubans in the Miami judicial system | ||||
| Bonus | "The Most Beautiful Cause" | 36:47 | August 22, 2021 | |
|
Overview of Cuba's involvement in Africa with Cuban diplomat Oscar Oramas-Oliva | ||||
| Bonus | "Havana (Derangement) Syndrome" | 44:37 | August 29, 2021 | |
|
Discussion with guests Helen Yaffe, José Pertierra, and Marta Nuñez Sarmiento about the 2021 Cuban protests | ||||
| Bonus | "Red-Handed Sleight of Hand" | 41:56 | September 13, 2021 | |
|
Overview of the successful CIA orchestrated 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état | ||||
Season 3 (2022)
[edit]| No. | Title | Running time | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Stop Me Before I Kill Again" | 41:20 | July 24, 2022 |
| 2 | "The Uninvited" | 71:17 | October 1, 2022 |
| 3 | "The Blue House" | 66:52 | October 10, 2022 |
| 4 | "Red Island" | 57:42 | October 17, 2022 |
| 5 | "Train To Busan" | 79:06 | October 24, 2022 |
| 6 | "National Smile Week" | 64:13 | October 31, 2022 |
| 7 | "Mao's Poem" | 64:37 | November 7, 2022 |
| 8 | "American Caesar" | 82:18 | November 14, 2022 |
| 9 | "No More Targets" | 74:13 | November 21, 2022 |
| 10 | "The Host" | 96:32 | November 28, 2022 |
Season 3 Bonus Episodes
[edit]| No. | Title | Running time | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonus | "On Cinema With Kim Jong-Il" | 49:33 | July 24, 2022 | |
|
Discussion with Anna Broinowski about her trip to North Korea, the cinema of the DPRK, and her film "Aim High in Creation" | ||||
| Bonus | "Another Country Pt. I" | 29:38 | July 24, 2022 | |
|
Historian of the Korean War Bruce Cummings on the years of Japanese colonialism and the origins of the Korean War | ||||
| Bonus | "The Northmen" | 55:42 | July 24, 2022 | |
|
Scholar Suzy Kim, on the nature of the DPRK's revolution, the differences between North and South, and women's role in the revolution | ||||
| Bonus | "Another Country Pt. II" | 36:24 | July 24, 2022 | |
|
Discussion with Bruce Cummings on the breakout of the war, Taiwan, and the destruction visited on the North by America | ||||
| Bonus | "Might And Right" | 57:24 | July 24, 2022 | |
|
Michael Brenes tracks the development of the Cold War economy, and how the Korean War helped solidify America’s national security state | ||||
| Bonus | "Germinal Pt. I" | 97:34 | July 24, 2022 | |
|
Thomas Powell, writer and son of journalist John W. Powell, talks about the allegations of US germ warfare and his family’s trials during the Korean War | ||||
| Bonus | "Living Memory" | 61:29 | July 24, 2022 | |
|
Journalist Tim Shorrock on the long history of struggle in South Korea, against dictators, military juntas, and the United States | ||||
| Bonus | "Prisoners In Paradise" | 44:21 | July 24, 2022 | |
|
Scholar Monica Kim talks about the key archetype that came out of the Korean War: the American POW | ||||
| Bonus | "Germinal Pt. II" | 110:45 | July 24, 2022 | |
|
Psychologist and writer Jeff Kaye explains the history of Japan’s Unit 731 and allegations of US germ warfare in Korea | ||||
| Bonus | "DMZ meets TMZ" | 52:24 | July 24, 2022 | |
|
Peace activists and writers Christine Ahn and Elizabeth Beavers talk about more recent US-Korea relations, from the Obama-era to Trump | ||||
Season 4 (2023)
[edit]James announced a fourth season on his Twitter account in December 2022, to be released in Summer 2023. Season four covers Operation Cyclone and its consequences, including the creation of al-Qaeda and the September 11, 2001 attacks. [10]
| No. | Title | Running time | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Snake Eater" | 43:34 | August 25, 2023 |
| 2 | "Bleeders and Dealers" | 70:41 | November 15, 2023 |
| 3 | "The Trap" | 60:45 | November 22, 2023 |
| 4 | "They’re Yours Now" | 70:08 | November 29, 2023 |
| 5 | "We Can Live With That" | 64:12 | December 6, 2023 |
| 6 | "Ground Zeroes" | 64:23 | December 13, 2023 |
| 7 | "Guns of the Patriots" | 65:06 | December 20, 2023 |
| 8 | "Sons of Liberty" | 70:20 | December 27, 2023 |
| 9 | "Peace Walker" | 70:29 | January 3, 2024 |
| 10 | "The Phantom Pain" | 59:24 | January 10, 2024 |
Season 4 Bonus Episodes
[edit]| No. | Title | Running time | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonus | "Ahmed Rashid part 1" | 32:05 | August 25, 2023 | |
|
First part of an interview with Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid | ||||
| Bonus | "Malalai Joya" | 48:44 | August 25, 2023 | |
|
Interview with Afghan Feminist activist and politician Malalai Joya | ||||
| Bonus | "Red Dawn, Red Scorpion" | 146:52 | August 25, 2023 | |
|
A discussion of the films Red Dawn and Red Scorpion | ||||
| Bonus | "Ahmed Rashid part 2" | 23:57 | August 25, 2023 | |
|
Second part of an interview with Ahmed Rashid | ||||
| Bonus | "Fitzgerald and Gould part 1" | 39:02 | August 25, 2023 | |
|
Interview with journalists Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould | ||||
| Bonus | "Seymour Hersh" | 37:07 | August 25, 2023 | |
|
Interview with journalist Seymour Hersh | ||||
| Bonus | "Fitzgerald and Gould part 2" | 27:29 | August 25, 2023 | |
|
Second part of an interview with Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould | ||||
| Bonus | "Kill ‘Em All, Let God Sort ‘Em Out" | 16:36 | August 25, 2023 | |
|
Discussion of the magazine Soldier of Fortune | ||||
| Bonus | "Anatol Lieven" | 45:44 | August 25, 2023 | |
|
Interview with scholar Anatol Lieven | ||||
| Bonus | "Hassan Abbas" | 50:46 | August 25, 2023 | |
|
Interview with scholar Hassan Abbas | ||||
Season 5 (2024)
[edit]| No. | Title | Running time | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Wolves Are Closing In" | 44:42 | September 20, 2024 |
| 2 | "The French Connection" | 1:00:56 | To Be Released |
| 3 | "Listen to the Thunder" | 1:11:05 | To Be Released |
| 4 | "Mad Men" | 1:12:16 | To Be Released |
| 5 | "The Last Tango In Paris" | 1:06:03 | To Be Released |
| 6 | "Dream Warriors" | 1:11:09 | To Be Released |
| 7 | "Less Than Zero" | 1:08:02 | To Be Released |
| 8 | "Third World War" | 1:11:05 | To Be Released |
| 9 | "Le Cercle Rouge" | 1:07:36 | To Be Released |
| 10 | "The Terrible But Unfinished Story" | 1:07:25 | To Be Released |
Season 5 Bonus Episodes
[edit]| No. | Title | Running time | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonus | "Elizabeth Becker Part I" | 31:55 | September 20, 2024 | |
|
Part one of an interview with journalist Elizabeth Becker author of When the War Was Over | ||||
| Bonus | "Syndicates" | 27:15 | September 20, 2024 | |
|
An overview of drug trafficking in South-East Asia. | ||||
| Bonus | "Elizabeth Becker Part II" | 37:39 | September 20, 2024 | |
|
Part 2 of an interview with journalist Elizabeth Becker. | ||||
| Bonus | "National Treasure" | 19:13 | September 20, 2024 | |
|
Examining the illegal trade of historical artifacts from Cambodia. | ||||
| Bonus | "Marv Truhe and Perry Pettus" | 1:07:26 | September 20, 2024 | |
|
An interview with ex-JAG attorney Marv Truhe and member of the US Air Force Perry Pettus discussing the USS Kitty Hawk riot. | ||||
| Bonus | "Vu Minh Hoang" | 1:45:24 | September 20, 2024 | |
|
An interview with Vu Minh Hoang, professor of history and Vietnam studies at Fulbright University Vietnam and research associate at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University. | ||||
| Bonus | "Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman" | 48:59 | September 20, 2024 | |
|
An interview with former New York Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman | ||||
| Bonus | "Ben Kiernan Part I" | 36:21 | September 20, 2024 | |
|
Part one of an interview with professor Ben Kiernan of Yale University | ||||
| Bonus | "Sy Hersh" | 34:58 | September 20, 2024 | |
|
An interview with investigative journalist Seymour Hersh who reported on the My Lai massacre and Operation Menu. | ||||
| Bonus | "Ben Kiernan Part II" | 36:21 | September 20, 2024 | |
|
Part two of an interview with professor Ben Kiernan. | ||||
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".[11][12] 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".[12] 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.[13] Podcast Review called the topic of the second season "a tremendous fit for James and Kulwin's style".[14] In a review from Jacobin, Blowback is described as being "thoroughly contextualized, fully explained, blow-by-blow account of how and why the United States government ginned up a case for war in Iraq — all the junk intelligence, media manipulation, and diplomatic arm-twisting — and what happened when our military got there."[4]
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 c 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.
- ^ James, Brendan [@deep_beige] (July 4, 2024). "Season 5 of @blowbackpod, on Cambodia, Kissinger, and the Khmer Rouge, comes out SEPTEMBER 20 Subscribe at blowback.show" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ ""What the Iraq War Can Teach the Climate Movement". Gizmodo Australia. August 15, 2020. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
- ^ 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]| External podcast links (?) |
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