Unraveling 41: Bedlam

Lunatic asylum. Loony bin. Madhouse. Mental healthcare institutions have a long and checkered history. Beginning in the 1960s, rising public sentiment against compulsory treatment led most to the closure of most state mental hospitals, throwing many desperate patients out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Jocko and Darryl welcome Saagar Enjeti, co-host of Breaking Points w/Krystal Ball, to discuss how the changes in the media environment have transformed the nature of American democracy.

Jocko and Darryl discuss the different perspectives of the Israelis and Palestinians, and whether peace is possible.

The history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is long and complicated, with heroes, villains, and legitimate grievances on both sides. None of that matters now. Jocko and Darryl discuss the recent assault by Hamas in southern Israel, and the upcoming Israeli response.

Since Elon Musk bought Twitter, we've learned much about how thoroughly the information environment has been corrupted and manipulated by politically-motivated actors in Big Tech and the US government. Does the regime change at Twitter herald a new era, or more of the same?

As the war in Ukraine enters its eighth month, both sides are digging in for a long, hard winter. After a series of Ukrainian successes, the Russians have increased the intensity of the conflict, knocking out civilian infrastructure and calling up hundreds of thousands of reservists to throw into the mix. Jocko and Darryl discuss some of the geopolitical implications of the ongoing fight, and try to answer the question: Whose side is time on?

Columbine. Virginia Tech. Las Vegas. Parkland. Buffalo. Uvalde. America has become the land of mass shootings. Jocko & Darryl discuss what might be behind this, and what, if anything, we can do about it. Link to Atlantic Ditch Run 800 fundraiser for veterans, via the Gary Sinise Foundation: https://donate.garysinisefoundation.org/fundraiser/3881751

The war between Russia and Ukraine has slowed to a grinding pace. The lightning strikes attempted by Russia in the early days of fighting were blunted by a determined Ukrainian defense, and Russia consolidated & refocused its forces to battle the heavily-fortified Ukrainian positions in the eastern part of the country. Jocko and Darryl discuss what's happened so far, and what's coming down the pipe.

For most of history, and in much of the world today, there were no effective police, courts, prisons, or states. People and groups protected themselves according to the law of honor immortalized as the epitaph of the Roman consul Lucius Sulla: No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full. Jocko and Darryl discuss honor and vengeance in societies ancient and modern.

Jocko and Darryl welcome special guest Scott Horton. Scott is the director of the Libertarian Institute, and the senior editor of antiwar.com. He's also an author of books such as Fool's Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan, and Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terror.