We embark on a new journey today.

How are you doing, Thomas?

I'm very well.

Thanks for hosting me.

This one is going to be...

This one's interesting to me because I was alive for part of this, and I was

sentient for...

I mean, I remember a lot of this.

So we had teased about talking about the Cold War, but you said that you had a, we're

going to start at the end and then go back to the beginning.

So what do you got?

Well, there's a few things here.

I want to explain my rationale before we deep dive into it.

You know, I don't presume the viewers and listeners have knowledge that they don't.

I mean, I'm not saying that anybody's not smart or anything, but some of this stuff has become somewhat esoteric.

It's just because of the way the news cycle doesn't properly provide context to historical events,

particularly where there's military variables involved and, you know, political narratives become paramount to characterize these

things. But also, it's just hard to place oneself conceptually in an epoch that has totally

passed. You know, I went through that when when people, like my parents, they'd talk about the 50s and the 60s and things. You know, I went through that when when people like my parents had to talk about the 50s and the 60s and things.

You know, I mean, all people go through that.

But, you know, the reason why I indicated, you know, I'm treating this as kind of the end was the beginning.

Everything that is happening today in political terms, in foreign policy terms, in terms of the guiding ideology of Washington.

...