Blowback

What lies ahead for Blowback in 2026? A mini-series on Israel and America, a comic book, our seventh season and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 29 December 2025

Angolan anti-colonial rebels challenge Portugal. Cuba brings its revolution to Africa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 29 December 2025

A look into the Portuguese empire in southern Africa and the stirrings of nationalism in Angola. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 22 December 2025

An introduction to and overview of our sixth season: the story of Angola, Cuba, and apartheid South Africa's Cold War showdown. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 22 September 2025

New episodes drop September 22. This season, Cuba sends an army to defend newly independent Angola from the combined forces of apartheid South Africa, the CIA, and one of the most infamous warlords of Africa. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 10 September 2025

Wounded but not destroyed, Cambodia staggers into the 21st century. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 14 February 2025

Vietnam ends Democratic Kampuchea and the US backs the Khmer Rouge. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 7 February 2025

Khmer Rouge horrors spiral toward conflict with an ex-comrade: Vietnam. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 31 January 2025

Cambodia slips into darkness, as the Khmer Rouge seize the country. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 24 January 2025

The short-lived reign of the Khmer Republic; the end of Nixon. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 17 January 2025

One Cambodian coup, two US invasions and an unlikely American friend: China. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 10 January 2025

Nixon and Kissinger put Cambodia on the menu. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 3 January 2025

Sihanouk struggles to keep Cambodia out of LBJ's war in Vietnam. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 27 December 2024

Indochina rises up, the French Empire ends, the Cold War begins. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 20 December 2024

A prelude and a primer to this season's story: the tragedy of Cambodia. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 20 September 2024

Donald Trump cuts a deal with the Taliban — and America begins its withdrawal. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 10 January 2024

The Obama administration promises victory in ‘The Good War.’ Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 3 January 2024

America runs its war in Afghanistan on the cheap — and subcontracts to crooks, kingpins, and gangsters. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 27 December 2023

The Bush administration unleashes the first war of the 21st century. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 20 December 2023

The Afghan jihad spreads to Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 13 December 2023

The warlord years, and the rise of the Taliban. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 6 December 2023

Operation Cyclone whips through Afghanistan — until a deal is finally struck. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 29 November 2023

The USSR invades, and the Safari Club kicks things up a notch. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 22 November 2023

The build-up to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 15 November 2023

Welcome to Season 4: Afghanistan. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 25 August 2023

The armistice in Korea is supposed to be temporary. But a peace treaty never comes. As decades roll on, the war becomes permanent. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 28 November 2022

Stalemate on the battlefield does not stop the United States from obliterating North Korea. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 21 November 2022

President Truman and his “Big General in the Far East” enter their final standoff over the war. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 14 November 2022

The US threatens to cross the Yalu. The Chinese leadership debates its options in Korea. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 7 November 2022

Gen. MacArthur executes his revenge. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 31 October 2022

With a rightwing, US-backed klepto-case to his South, Kim Il-Sung bets the house. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 24 October 2022

The war before the war on a self-reliant island off South Korea. Soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/album/4e9hkmGdDhycmgcGKe3bF0?si=d97_H1fvS5CV84ZvcEhZqQ Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 17 October 2022

After a flash of hope post-WWII Korea is divided into North and South. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 10 October 2022

A pocket-sized history of the Korean peninsula, the upstart US and Japanese empires, and World War II. Soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/album/4e9hkmGdDhycmgcGKe3bF0?si=d97_H1fvS5CV84ZvcEhZqQ Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 1 October 2022

A new season, a new story: The Korean War. To listen to the rest of season 3 right now, visit www.blowback.show Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 25 July 2022

The third season of Blowback — the story of the Korean War — arrives July 2022. Pre-order and listening details at https://blowback.supportingcast.fm Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 12 April 2022

Guests Helen Yaffe, José Pertierra and Marta Núñez Sarmiento discuss the protests in Cuba during July 2021. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 15 November 2021

A rundown of the Cuban revolution's foreign policy in Africa with guest, Cuban diplomat Oscar Oramas-Oliva. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 8 November 2021

Noah talks with José Pertierra, a Cuban-American immigration attorney who has long tangled with right-wing Miami Cubans in the media and in court. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 1 November 2021

Guest Bill Corbett (Mystery Science Theater 3000, Rifftrax) and Brendan hang out and talk about some bad Cuba movies. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 25 October 2021

A discussion of Operation Peter Pan with Prof. Nelson Valdes, with a detour into Hungary, 1956.  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 18 October 2021

A brief overview of how American nuclear weapons strategy ran parallel to the story in our main narrative. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 11 October 2021

Guest Luna Olavarria-Gallegos explains how the US government infiltrated and co-opted the hip-hop scene in Cuba. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 4 October 2021

We talk to activists and historians about Cuba, black radicalism, and how the Revolution attacked the problem of racism. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 27 September 2021

Interviews with history professor Michelle Chase and Cuban scholar Marta Nuñez Sarmiento. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 20 September 2021

Guatemala: an origin story, inspiration, and cautionary tale just a few hundred miles from our main story. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 13 September 2021

After the Kennedy assassination, US-Cuba diplomacy wanes and the embargo continues. To this day. Our story ends. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 6 September 2021

Castro, Khrushchev, and Kennedy take tentative steps toward the path of peace post-Crisis. Cuban exile groups, and their CIA sponsors, are not pleased. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 30 August 2021

The USA announces to the world there are missiles in Cuba. Fidel prepares for war. Khrushchev secretly haggles with Kennedy. Americans enjoy Betty Crocker Super Moist Cake Mix. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 23 August 2021

Fearing another American invasion — "the big one" — Soviet and Cuban leaders plot a secret response. Camelot never sees it coming. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcribed - Published: 16 August 2021