Gladio Free Europe

Charlie Wilson was a Texas Congressman whose involvement with the Afghan people and the Mujahideen was immortalized in the film Charlie Wilson’s War. With the help of our friend Kevin, we try figure out who Charlie Wilson is really, and more importantly, what war is really.

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, and Kevin.

We’ve got a mutiny on our hands in Seven Days in May, a 1964 film that explores the idea of a military coup in America. We talk about it, the book it was based on, what JFK thought about it on release, and the general uneasy atmosphere that propelled right wing reaction in the 1960s and onward.

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, and Halal Sam.

Continuing on the themes discussed in E13, we go back to England and discuss the BBC show The Last Kingdom, and the topic of Viking invasions of the British Isles. Then we discuss King Alfred, the fabled man who “saved” England.

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, and Halal Sam.

Les Rallizes Dénudés were a pioneer of the psychedelic drone rock sound, but no one knows about them. With the help of our friend Zach, we get into their history and try to figure out what happened to derail this bands career.

Hosted by Liam, Abram, and Zach.

Further Reading

• Japrocksampler, by Julian Cope
• Destiny: The Secret Operations of the Yodogō Exiles, by Kōji Takazawa

Was King Arthur an Englishman? Did ancient Turks build every civilization in history? What do ice cream men in Istanbul have in common with reindeer herders in northeast Siberia?

Liam and the two Sams answer these questions and more as they dive into the mythology of nationalism and political abuses of the ancient past.

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, and Halal Sam.

The Internet is what gives us power. It’s an energy field created by all artificial things. It surrounds us. It penetrates us. It binds humanity together.

We talk about it by way of the National Geographic TV documentary Inside the Internet: 50 Years of Life Online, which you can watch here.

Hosted by Liam, Abram, and Pam.

In April, 1975, civil war breaks out; Beirut is partitioned into East and West Beirut, along the Christian/Muslim line. Tarek is in high school, making Super 8 movies with his friend, Omar. At first the war is a lark: school has closed, the violence is fascinating, getting from West to East is a game. But he soon learns this isn’t a game as the war goes on, going from adventure to tragedy...

To Live tells the story of a degenerate gambler and his shadow puppets. But it also tells the story of one family living through the Chinese Civil War, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution.

This film and its reception would also mirror a process which has been ongoing since the beginning of Xi Jinping’s tenure: the battle against so-called “historical nihilism”...

In 2002, S1m0ne posed the question of what would happen if we were to replace actors with computers. What 20 years ago seemed like a fantasy in the realm of science fiction has increasingly begun to rear its head in our world, and we as a society are still grappling with the consequences and implications of our increasingly virtual reality.

Computer-generated actors, models, influencers, and pop stars, we’ve got them all on this week's episode.

Hosted by Liam, Abram, and Pam...

Beware of the Car is a Soviet-era Russian film about an insurance agent who moonlights as a car thief who steals cars from various crooks.

You can watch the full movie on Youtube.

Hosted by Liam, Russian Sam, Halal Sam, and Abram.