Drone Wars (2021)

Throughline

NPR

Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 16.4K Ratings

🗓️ 25 August 2022

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Unseen, they stalk their targets from thousands of feet in the air. Operators are piloting them from military bases halfway across the world. At any moment, they could launch a strike that comes without warning. The attack drone was supposed to be a symbol of the era of precision warfare — a way to wage wars with fewer casualties on both sides. It's a technology that's been honed since it was first dreamed up during World War 1. But are drones actually precise enough? Do drones desensitize us to the casualties of civilians caught between us and our enemies? In this episode, we will explore the past, present and future of drone warfare.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi everyone, it's Rund and Ramteen.
0:03.7	All this month we've been super proud to bring you our Peabody Award winning series
0:08.1	of Ranneson, The Center of the World.
0:11.2	Released at the 28th anniversary of 9-11 right after the US with Jew troops from Afghanistan
0:16.1	and the Taliban retook control, this series puts Afghanistan and its people at the center
0:21.7	of a century's old narrative.
0:24.4	We feel honored and proud that this is the kind of work we get to bring you every week.
0:29.4	So listen, relisten, tell a friend about us.
0:32.7	And before we get started, we want to let you know that this episode contains reenactments
0:37.0	of violence and language that might be upsetting to some listeners.
0:41.8	Episode 3.
0:43.3	Afghanistan.
0:44.3	Drone Wars.
1:02.4	Sunday, February 21st, 2010, on a mountain road in Central Afghanistan.
1:08.6	It was the middle of the night when the story starts.
1:13.7	There was no moon, so far as I know.
1:16.5	It was also very cold.
1:21.3	And a group of poor people who were trammed into these three very rickety vehicles were headed
1:27.7	to Kabul, men and women and children.
1:35.2	All together, about 30 of them, some of the women are carrying turkeys, which they were
1:41.3	bringing as presents for their relatives.
1:43.6	They were going to stay within Kabul.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.