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Thanks for posting this thread. I became obsessed with John Dolan a couple of years back when he soberly cut through the ISIS hysteria to show how exaggerated their strength was. He has a way of cutting through BS and challenging accepted norms that I really admire. He's also an excellent writer, both hilarious and poignant - I've read a bunch of his articles a bunch of times they're so good. It's a shame someone that talented has slipped under the radar all his life; I only ever learned of him through a hyperlink in an ISIS-related article. I'm glad his podcast is successful but I do miss his written work. I should join the Patreon so I at least get his newsletters. Do you know if there's a backcatalogue for them?
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Feb 2, 2017 04:03
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Example of his goodness:quote:But let’s take the question seriously for a second here: who won in Iraq? To answer it, you have to start with a close-up of the region, then change magnification to look at the world picture. At a regional level the big winner is obvious: Iran. In fact, Iran wins so big in this war that I’ve already said that Dick Cheney’s DNA should be checked out by a reputable lab, because he has to be a Persian mole. My theory is that they took a fiery young Revolutionary Guard from the slums of Tehran, dipped him in a vat of lye to get that pale, pasty Anglo skin, zapped his scalp for that authentic bald CEO look, squirted a quart of cholesterol into his arteries so he’d develop classic American cardiac disease, and parachuted him into the outskirts of some Wyoming town. And that’s how our VP was born again, a half-frozen zombie with sagebrush twigs in his jumpsuit, stumbling into the first all-night coffee shop in Casper talking American with a Persian accent: “Hello my friends! Er, I mean, hello my fellow Americans! Coffee? I will have coffee at once, indeed, and is not free enterprise a glorious thing? Say, O brethren of the frosty tundra, what do you say we finish our donuts and march on Baghdad now, this very moment, to remove the Baathist abomination Saddam?”
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Feb 2, 2017 04:10
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If you join the Patreon do you get access to War Nerd's previous newsletters?
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Feb 14, 2017 13:29
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Pener Kropoopkin posted:Got a reply back from the man himself on the newsletter backlogs. Ah cool, thanks for asking.
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Feb 18, 2017 01:03
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I wonder how many writers there are out there like Dolan who struggle (until recently) to get by because what they say pisses off people with the power to hurt them. I recall he wrote part one of a two part piece about genocide in East Timor but never managed to write part two because someone (an Aussie diplomat I think?) sent people to gently caress with him and he had to leave the country.
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Mar 1, 2017 23:21
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This was either mentioned in the most recent episode or the one with Rania Khalek (listened to both last night), but I was intrigued when Dolan pointed out that Assad isn't a sociopath in the sense that his dead brother was but is more of a dynastic figurehead for the generals and officials who are actually governing things. I wouldn't mind reading about the internal dynamics if anyone knows of any good articles on them.
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Apr 15, 2017 06:34
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So he's basically Syrian Jeb Bush.
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Apr 15, 2017 06:43
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Listened to Robert Parry. I'm trying to unpack the sheer tenacity of Nixon committing treason before the election, being inexplicably excused for it by LBJ, and then threatening LBJ with blackmail for having eavesdropped on him in the first place. I wasn't even aware he committed treason in the first place, despite doing a politics subject in university specifically on the Nixon-Carter years. Is it a little known thing? I was aware of the Reagan-Iranian hostage deal. Are there any episodes that are a primer of sorts for the Syria war? Wouldn't mind something else on Michael Weiss and his kind because they bring him up a lot.
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Apr 16, 2017 07:40
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I subscribed and have been devouring the podcasts backwards the last few days and love Dolan's misadventures around the world, particularly his debacle with the landlord he thought he'd paid when he hadn't. Also, I always knew Gary Brecher was a character, but it's a rude awakening to see how removed Dolan is from the character, which I guess is a good thing. I'm intrigued by Dolan gritting his teeth when Ames mentioned that someone said Dolan was stepping on Matt Taibbi's territory in bringing up Thomas Friedman recently. Dolan implied that he gave Taibbi the template for his (great) takedowns of Friedman. I've never come across a closer connection between the two before. Interesting.
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Apr 18, 2017 15:56
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The recent episode with Carl Zha was a great listen. I went in knowing nothing about Xinjiang but was enthralled by how beautifully he was able to map things out and give a general history. I hope they get him back more often.
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May 1, 2017 03:29
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War Nerd is sending out past newsletters to any patrons who ask for them. I replied to the most recent newsletter and received a lot of them this morning.
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May 8, 2017 01:41
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Not ashamed to admit the only thing Zha spoke of that I've heard of is the Mandate of Heaven because it's the name of the recent Europa Universalis DLC. He's really great at capturing a scene and Ames and Dolan bounce off him well.
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May 11, 2017 05:10
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I'm reading Hogeland's The Whiskey Rebellion and find it accessible and enjoyable, though because I'm economically illiterate I can't understand some of the financial stuff I assume is being put very simply.
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Jun 4, 2017 09:38
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Really want to read Autumn of the Black Snake after hearing Hogeland talk about Mad Anthony Wayne, the man who was bad at everything in life except war who rode within pistol shooting distance of a British fort to insult everyone inside by 'inspecting' it up close. If it's anything like The Whiskey Rebellion there are probably a bunch of colourful characters like that. That was a joy to read.
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Jun 30, 2017 14:02
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Another good one in a similar vein is episode 51 where they respond to the Russia controversy by talking about a rightwing conspiracy novel from the Cold War called "The Spike". It's funny because they're both embarrassed that they were into it, both being pretty rightwing at the time.
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Jul 3, 2017 11:48
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Some War Nerd/Dolan articles I like: Tom Clancy is Not One of Us Reagan's Cheshire Snarl A Million Pieces of poo poo (Dolan noticed James Frey's biography was fraudulent before anyone else but didn't get credit for it) Jonathan Franzen: "Will Rim Bobos for Book-of-the-Month Fame" Thomas Friedman: The Empire's Useful Idiot Lord Byron: The Exile's Patron Saint Specifically about wars: Land of the Flies Why Sherman was right to burn Atlanta Congo: a Tutsi empire interrupted once again by do-gooders
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Aug 29, 2017 08:46
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Someone might have said this earlier, but you can really sense Dolan's indignation when he writes about the South in the Civil War. It's been a while since the last newsletter - a great read.
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Sep 1, 2017 02:44
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Did anyone buy The Iliad? I didn't pre-order but wish I did, since a few excerpts I've come across make it look like a rollicking good time.
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Oct 7, 2017 01:41
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Yeah I grabbed one, got a 13+ day wait though 
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Oct 7, 2017 02:44
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My Iliad arrived at the post office a week early! I haven't been this pumped for a book ever.
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Oct 18, 2017 05:26
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Agamemnon is like a Trump twitter storm:quote:He thinks, "Why attack Troy? That's too simple! Too obvious!" Like all truly stupid people, Agamemnon hates the obvious. snoremac has issued a correction as of 13:37 on Oct 18, 2017 |
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Oct 18, 2017 13:34
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I'm not subscribed anymore so don't know the episode numbers, but the ones with William Hogeland (on the Whiskey Rebellion and war between Americans and Indians) are fantastic. EDIT: #63 and #85 Also any episode with Carl Zha on Chinese history. snoremac has issued a correction as of 03:31 on Dec 1, 2017 |
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Dec 1, 2017 03:28
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Pener Kropoopkin posted:RWN just posted the interview with Nasser Arrabyee on the current state of the war in Yemen for free.
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Apr 22, 2018 08:33
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A while back I sent them an e-mail requesting the newsletter back catalogue (which they'd offered new subs) and around 4am the next morning my phone went off about 50 times as each newsletter was sent individually.
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May 16, 2018 04:25
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Everything is subscription but they’ve unlocked a bunch of episodes for free. Basically anything reposted on their Patreon.
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May 19, 2018 13:01
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Dolan is probably just happy making a steady income for the first time in his post-teaching career.
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Jun 18, 2018 05:30
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He's lookin' good since I last saw him.
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Aug 31, 2018 13:18
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I loved John’s story about having a panic attack because he couldn’t unlock a toilet door. Every day is a battle for him.
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Dec 7, 2018 05:37
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Patton today would have a Joker cosplay Facebook profile.
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Dec 15, 2018 02:54
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StashAugustine posted:I honestly think I'm gonna get autumn of the black snake for my sister, she's into history and used to go to a summer camp at camp chief little turtle
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Dec 17, 2018 06:59
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The extent I’ve ever seen the War Nerd boys acknowledge videogames is Mark saying he loved GTA5 and John admitting games are probably more sophisticated culturally these days but he doesn’t know anything about them. It’s probably because he’s a bit older than Mark.
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Jan 10, 2019 04:20
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I’m assuming that “War of the Babies” Dolan article (the link to it leads nowhere) is him in full Gary Brecher mode and the author is mischaracterising it.
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Jan 21, 2019 14:23
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Pener Kropoopkin posted:It's great that eXiled slipped in an article about "4th generation warfare" which a lot of CHUDs are obsessed with, where he makes fun of their obsession with being replaced.
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Jan 22, 2019 04:01
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A jarring moment for me was hearing mild-mannered John Dolan for the first time after going through the Brecher archives. The man wouldn't hurt a fly. He locked himself in a toilet with the key and thought he was about to die.
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Jan 22, 2019 04:41
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Dilkington posted:I don't believe someone wrote this: https://www.takimag.com/article/war_of_the_babies/ and got it published in Taki's Mag as a fun satire. Unless you believe Taki Mag's remit- Counter-Currents in evening wear- to also be satirical. One of his things as Brecher was being a right-wing guy baffled at why other right-wingers were being so stupid. snoremac has issued a correction as of 05:47 on Jan 22, 2019 |
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Jan 22, 2019 05:30
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TV EXEC: It's Swift as Jackass. NATHAN BARLEY: Yeah, but faster.
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Jan 29, 2019 07:44
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Plutonis posted:Once again Dolan sympathizes with the losing side in the conflict.
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Feb 21, 2019 22:45
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Semi-related, I recall John casting shade in Matt’s direction once because his articles on Thomas Friedman were similar to earlier ones John had written. It might have been early on in the podcast.
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Mar 19, 2019 23:23
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I do legal transcription and had a case today where a Mr John Dolan was in a siege against police. The defense and judge agreed that the details of his upbringing were so appalling that a reduced sentence was merited.
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Mar 22, 2019 09:04
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What happened w/ Zha? Who would hurt Carl Zha?
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Mar 24, 2019 21:28
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