Here it is, the end of the last real battle of the French war: Dien Bien Phu. After this it’s just Geneva and the transition from French ignobility to American monstrosity. That all comes next time though. For now, maps. And you can, as always, click these for a larger view. The overview: The view … Continue reading Vietnam VIII: End of Indo-China →

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Vietnam VIII: End of Indo-China

Finally we’re here, at the end of the French War, at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. Some cool show news: we’re registered for the People’s Choice Podcast Awards. Which means I filled out a form at podcastawards.com. For that process to get any further, you folks need to head to podcastawards.com and nominate Safe … Continue reading Vietnam VII: Dien Bien Phu →

Vietnam VII: Dien Bien Phu

And here we are, finally, finally making it to the end of the French War. We still have Dien Bien Phu and the denouement to wrap up, which we’ll do in the next episode, maybe in the fastest-ever-produced next episodes, so fingers crossed there. Like last time, I’m covering pretty much all the material that I’m … Continue reading Vietnam VI: Learning Curve →

Vietnam VI: Learning Curve

I’m trying something a little different with these show notes, especially since, with that interim show about Kennan already done, I don’t have any other story I want to be telling apart from the cast. So I’ve got a couple of supplementary things and then all the audio credits, but just giving you the videos … Continue reading Vietnam V: Giap and de Lattre →

Vietnam V: Giap and de Lattre

Like I said at the end of last episode, there were some broader Cold War issues that I wanted to talk about and some history that I wanted to churn through that didn’t quite fit into the framework of the longer shows. That’s because I want those longer ones to be narrowly focused on the … Continue reading Kennan and Cold War Policy →

Kennan and Cold War Policy

We’re getting into the French War proper now, and we’ll make it almost all the way to the outbreak of the war in Korea by the end of this one. I’ve got some videos whose audio I couldn’t use, for various reasons, in the show itself, but that might serve to give all of us … Continue reading Vietnam IV: The First Indochina War →

Vietnam IV: The First Indochina War

Hey folks, I thought I’d try something new with the show notes this time around and just give you the script. The only time I give this a real thorough proofread for typos, etc, is when I’m recording it, and I don’t stop to correct them, so keep that in mind. Before the script, as … Continue reading SFD Short—Refugees →

SFD Short—Refugees

Well, we’re making time now, and I hope that keeps up. I’ve got some interesting stuff to show you today. First is the cover image for the show. That’s Ho Chi Minh on the left and Vo Nguyen Giap on the right along with their American OSS Deer Team advisors, who we’ll hear a fair … Continue reading Vietnam III: The World at War →

Vietnam III: The World at War

Hey folks, in lieu of notes this time, I’m going to give you the full outline that Rob and I were ostensibly working off in the show. Which should be enlightening, especially as we spend a lot of time talking about Syria instead of Vietnam. Ernie, unfortunately, caught that bug that seems to be circling the globe … Continue reading SFD Talk—Vietnam in the US Imagination →

SFD Talk—Vietnam in the US Imagination

Like it says in title, there’s no show this Monday, but there is going to be a show this week. Rob Morris, Ernie Piper, and I are going to be broadcasting another live show this Thursday from 11am to 2pm EST and this time rather than being tangentially related to what we do here, it’s right … Continue reading Announcement—Vietnam Talk →

Announcement—Vietnam Talk

It’s a day late but nowhere near a dollar short (except, I guess, in terms of what I’m paid for these shows; in that case it’s several thousand behind: Ho Chi Minh’s entrance into our story. I don’t have a subsidiary story to tell in this set of notes, like I often enough did have … Continue reading Vietnam II: Ho Chi Minh →

Vietnam II: Ho Chi Minh

I’m back from down south in Oaxaca, and I’ve got the cut-down of the show that Rob Morris and I did, along with my buddy Ernie Piper, about a month ago. I met Ernie during a very brief stint in Istanbul, and since then he’s been all over the Near East and Eastern Europe, writing … Continue reading SFD Talk — Unending Oil →

SFD Talk — Unending Oil

Hey folks— It’s a longish show where myself and some Peace Corps friends of mine talk about two of the last few shorts, Liberal Arts, Again and Land and Food and Capitalism. The audio isn’t anything I could have wanted, and the looseness isn’t everything I did want, but it’s the first of what may be … Continue reading Peace Corps Chats →

Peace Corps Chats

Hey Folks, We’re back to a mix of history and short shows, which means we’re back to quick intros on the smaller episodes. It looks like I’m finally going to pull together that shorts discussion with some of my old Peace Corps buddies this week, and if I don’t have Vietnam II out by Monday—I’m … Continue reading SFD Short—Political Cynicism →

SFD Short—Political Cynicism

We're starting, literally, with the dawn of human history and carrying it all the way up to the 1700s. Like the folks over at Blank Check, we're connoisseurs of context, and to get Vietnam right in a way that the Americans didn't from 1946 to 1975, and in a way that even Ken Burns failed to get it in 2017, we've got to go way back.

Vietnam I: Ancient History

A look at the foreign policy disasters of the United States and their long-term consequences, both for the people in question and for the world today.

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