Recent Podcast Selections

I've found myself driving a lot lately, and that's allowed me to listen to a lot of podcasts that I wouldn't otherwise retain if I were doing more mentally-focused work.

Somewhat by accident, my year-ago studies of strategic nuclear doctrine have been bolstered by listening to a string of either new or saved podcasts on nuclear issues. I've listened to one podcast from last year (Beyond Compliance: Nonproliferation and the Private Sector) and two recent podcasts (PONI Live Debate: Triad Modernization and Military Strategy Forum: Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James on the Nuclear Enterprise) from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. I've also listened to, and thoroughly enjoyed, two podcasts from War on the Rocks: Nuclear Strategy and the Cold War, and Contemporary Nuclear Strategy. Last but not least on the nuclear theme, I enjoyed the second half of a recent King's College London Department of War Studies podcast in which the conversants discussed India's nuclear policy.

Continuing with War on the Rocks, I also enjoyed their podcasts on Cyberwar and Cybersecurity, and on Counter-Terrorism, Drones, Syria, & More. The War on the Rocks podcast is a great format, because it involves four people (who change up from one podcast to another) who sit around in a bar, drinking, and talking about strategic issues.

The BBC World Service did a documentary recently, which was entitled My War, My Playlist, and which discussed the music that British military personnel listen to while on deployment to Afghanistan.

A few years ago, I discovered the Feed the Pig Podcast, and I recently re-downloaded all of the episodes (partly to listen to, and partly to archive). I've been through about three of them in the last few weeks. They're a bit broad, but good information nonetheless.

One of my favorite podcasts is the Faroe Islands Podcast, and I've listened to two episodes recently: # 172 Hoyvik Church, and # 173 American in the Faroes. Sometimes, it's nice to listen to something that's just interesting, and not related to my work or education. In that same vein, I really love The History Chicks, and I've enjoyed three of their recent offerings, Queen Elizabeth I parts 1 and 2, and their minicast on Elizabethan Life.

Finally, I recently listened to a recent offering from the Heritage Foundation, Churchill’s First War: Young Winston at War with the Afghans, in which author Con Coughlin discusses his book of the same name. I'm tempted to get the book, but moreso, to read the book that inspired it: The Story of the Malakand Field Force by Churchill himself, which my buddy Todd (pictured, as Hawkeye - the only reason for that picture being attached to this post, in fact) recommended I do my MSc dissertation on. (We all know how that went.)

More to come.

On Travel and Working Abroad

A few months ago on the Operation Highlander blog, I posted my response to this article. In the mean time, I've collected some additional links on the topic that I wanted to post.

Buzzfeed: 11 Reasons You Should Travel Alone At Least Once: Most of my travel is done on my own, so I can identify with most of these. So, I suppose I agree: at least once, everyone should travel alone.

Mark Manson: Why Young Americans Should Work Overseas: I question some of the logic of Manson's article. What I can say, though, is that spending time overseas has been (mostly) beneficial for me. I spent over a year living and working in the Middle East, and it really changed my perception of a lot of things - both for better and for worse, but overall it gave me a better appreciation of why the world functions in the way it does. I've also spent the equivalent of about a year and a half of my life in the United Kingdom, and that time was beneficial as well. I'm reminded of a quote from General James Mattis, whom I met on several occasions:

"[No new technologies or weapons systems] would have helped me in the last three years [in Iraq and Afghanistan]. But I could have used cultural training [and] language training. I could have used more products from American universities [who] understood the world does not revolve around America and [who] embrace coalitions and allies for all of the strengths that they bring us."

I think there's a lot of truth to that statement (though there's a case to be made that coalitions and allies introduce a number of challenges as well, but that's another topic for another time). So, if you have the opportunity to spend some time overseas, either for leisure or for work, it's well worth considering, and probably worth actually doing.

Shipping Container Housing: Another Tiny House

A friend posted this link on Facebook a few days ago. It's yet another example from the so-called "Tiny House Movement". Something like that, particularly out in the boonies, would be a great interim step prior to my shipping container dream home.

Podcasts: Drawing from the Podcast Awards

A few years ago, during my waning days in the Middle East, I was working right around New Year's Day. The Michael Medved Show and the Nightside Project were on vacation, so I decided to try a few new podcasts. A few months prior, I'd discovered the Faroe Islands Podcast (RSS) while trying to find podcasts about Orkney. As the Faroe Islands Podcast was nominated for the 2010 Podcast Awards, and the host was encouraging people to go vote in some of the back episodes I'd been listening to, I decided to go to the Podcast Awards website to see if any of the other nominees for 2011 were anything I'd be interested in. I decided to try four.

The Sporkful (RSS) isn't for foodies, it's for eaters. When I started listening, it was still both Dan Pashman and Mark Garrison doing it; now it's just Dan Pashman, and he's great, but I really liked the sort of mature stability that Garrison brought to the show. My favorite episode is probably SF148 War Zone Eating. That one's now behind the "premium" firewall, but you can also listen to NPR's segment discussing that particular episode. (This podcast is also ironically reminiscent of one of the best gifts I ever received, a Titanium Spork. Awesome.)

The History Chicks (RSS) are two dames, Susan and Beckett, who do a great podcast about women from history. I wasn't optimistic at first, but I decided to take a chance on their Mary Shelley minicast, and I followed it with another about Queen Victoria (both parts 1 and 2). I don't get spun up about all of their podcasts, but the ones that got my interest have all been fantastic. I've also had some great correspondence with the Chicks over the last few years, and they're such fun ladies. You should check them out.

I listened to a few episodes of the Manager Tools Podcast. Pretty much done with that now.

Finally, I listened to, and have occasionally continued listening to, The Sci-Fi Christian Podcast (RSS). I think their actual intent is to look at "genre fiction" (a phrase that one of the hosts uses as a catch-all so that they can discuss whatever they want, even if it's not science fiction) and discuss the theological ramifications of one item or another. Generally speaking, they either discuss "genre fiction", or else theology, but they're sort of inconsistent on discussing the juxtaposition of the two.

The Podcast Awards website is great for finding new content. The one big drawback is that they don't appear to keep a list of the nominees from previous years, only the winners. That's all well and good if you really like the winners, but it has the disadvantage of not listing such great podcasts as the History Chicks and the Faroe Islands Podcast, which are some of the best podcasts I've ever listened to.

Leatherman Visits The Shepperson Ranch

I love my Leatherman Tools, though I'm really disappointed that they discontinued the classic Leatherman Tool. Anyway, I saw this video, and thought it was really cool, so I figured I'd share it.


Pretty cool, huh?

Podcasts: War on the Rocks

I've discovered another podcast. I recently added War on the Rocks ("WOTR") to my Feedly feed, and on Monday morning they published a new podcast (which I mentioned yesterday on the JTS blog). I wasn't aware that they did podcasts, only that they frustrate me by publishing a lot of articles worth reading, thus chewing into my waking hours. Their podcasts will certainly complicate matters further.

Childhood Bedroom Treasure Hunt

A few days ago, I mentioned that I've been downsizing my massive collection of books. I spent Wednesday evening working on that particular project, and at the moment I have about two and a half boxes full of books to unload. Some will be passed on to friends for whom they'll have a particular purpose or meaning, others will be sold, and those that fall into neither category will be given to a local library's community interest group for their annual book sale. At this point, I've been through most of the books, and I've identified a lot of books to unload - still only a fraction of the entire collection, but it's a good dent.

As I've been going through my childhood bedroom, I've found both books and items that have reminded me of bygone days, bringing back memories that have laid dormant in one corner of my mind for years or even decades. Here are a few of the highlights.

1) A long-since spoiled, though completely intact and still-sealed, bottle of W Ketchup™ dating back to the 2004 election. I received this as a gift from my friend Young Nathan, and though the memory's great, I binned it because, let's face it, only a lunatic has room in their home for a nine-year-old bottle of ketchup.

2) A copy of Catapult: Harry and I Build a Siege Weapon by Jim Paul. This reminds me of my friend Super Dave (who, ironically, is the recipient of some of the books I'm unloading), who built a scale model of a trebuchet when we were in college, and who had originally intended to build a full-sized replica of a trebuchet until a back injury, budgeting, and common sense caught up with him. I didn't buy the book with him, but the book always reminds me of him. (Pictured is an actual trebuchet that I saw in March of 2013 when visiting Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness.)

3) Four binders worth of class notes from one of my history professors' classes. I had originally expected that these binders were going to be a bunch of religious literature I'd printed out from the Internet or purchased. Having realized that I neither did nor will walk the streets of my hometown as an evangelist, I had anticipated dumping all of it, but I simply can't unload those class notes, which were essentially textbooks on a variety of topics relating to ancient history. I was on the phone with another buddy, Big Red, and we agreed that we'd both bought each and every piece of literature that the professor in question had assigned, but had failed to read the vast majority of it. I'll have to figure out a place to put it all. (As for the religious literature, isn't it amazing how technological innovations like smartphones, flash drives, and tablets have changed the way we think about storing and transporting information?

4) A copy of The Book of Questions by Gregory Stock. I purchased this at a long since closed branch of Borders while on a quasi-date with a distant non-blood relative, around August of 2002. It was basically never cracked again. It will either be sold or donated.

5) A copy of Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book and Dictionary that I received from my friend Kelly Rose prior to my 2003 trip to Italy. As much as I'd love to hold on to this, it's going to be sold or donated. As I have no immediate plans to return to Italy in the foreseeable future, hopefully it can help someone else on their way. As with Item #3, it amazes me how much smart phones and tablets have changed how we (I?) think about carrying information for travel. I can remember my 2013 trip to Paris, at which time I put the DLI's French Basic LSK on my Kindle, but never actually used it.

More treasures certainly await me as I continue the process.