SNAFUBAR

College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt
  • 5.0 (7)
  • HISTORY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

SNAFUBAR is a show about strategic and moral military errors and mishaps, and the myths that both lead to and then justify them. The histories they look at will make clear the degree to which the U.S. is a warful nation, contrary to the myth of a peaceful nation regularly compelled, against its will, to go to war. Through every episode, the show uncovers how we romanticize and fetishize the military while not always providing the support it needs to carry out its intended (or stated) goals, or to meet veterans’ needs when they return from combat.

  1. 08/09/2025

    Truman’s Faith, Niebuhr’s Doubt

    Welcome back to SNAFUBAR. In this week's episode, we’re going to focus our attention on President Harry Truman: we’re going to look a little bit at his pre-presidential life of military service, and then we’re going to turn to his presidency, highlighting the moral urgency that he brought to questions of global responsibility and interventionism. We’ll introduce the Truman Doctrine and then we’ll spend some time digging into his State of the Union addresses. We'll also look at the work of American Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and how his philosophy provides alternative approaches and ways of thinking to Truman's own thoughts on America's role in the world. Today's episode is co-hosted by Sara and our writer/researcher Roman Sotomayor, an alum of Cal Poly Humboldt who has worked closely with Sara on different research projects and on engaging with the local veterans community here in Humboldt. SNAFUBAR is regularly hosted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sara Hart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, who teaches Religious Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeff Crane ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni and Roman Sotomayor (who also hosted today's episode) SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.  Works Cited: National Parks Service, Harry S Truman and the Influences of his Service in World War I Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, Biographical Sketch: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States National Security Archive, President Harry S. Truman, Handwritten Remarks for Gridiron Dinner, circa 15 December 1945[78] National Archives, Truman Doctrine (1947) Allierten Museum, “Cold War” - The (Pre)History of a Term Linen for Project Gutenberg, State of the Union Addresses of Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, President Truman’s Remarks, Syracuse, NY The American Presidency Project, Harry S. Truman Public Approval Daily News, Daily News from New York 217 Reinhold Niebuhr, The Irony of American History Reinhold Niebuhr, The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness

    1h 8m

  2. 07/26/2025

    American Civil Religion

    Welcome back to SNAFUBAR. This week, we’re exploring the concept of American civil religion. This episode, like our Military Lingo episode, offers some insight into the deeper frameworks we’re using to shape our podcast. overall and, this episode will offer a deeper insight into a concept that, as we argue, really shapes the way the United States engages in warfare. Not sure what we mean by American civil religion or do you have some questions about how it works and exists in our culture? This is the episode for you! Also, if you know or thing or two already, this is an informative conversation that will help put this topic into a larger context. Today's episode is co-hosted by Sara Hart and our writer/researcher Roman Sotomayor. Roman has sat in Sara's classes as she has taught about American civil religion and their dynamic reflects their time in the classroom together. SNAFUBAR is regularly hosted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sara Hart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, who teaches Religious Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeff Crane ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni and Roman Sotomayor (who also hosted today's episode) SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.  Works Cited: Haberski Jr. - God and War: American Civil Religion since 1945, 2012 Ebel - G.I. Messiahs: Soldiering, War, and American Civil Religion, 2015 Keeler - Sacred Soldier: The Dangers of Worshiping Warriors, 2024 Gorski - American Covenant: A History of Civil Religion from the Puritans to the Present, 2017 Bacevich - Paths of Dissent: Soldiers Speak Out Against America's Misguided Wars, 2022 Rousseau - The Social Contract, 1762 Bellah - Civil Religion in America, 1967 Prothero - The American Bible: How Our Words Unite, Divide, and Define a Nation, 2012 Hedges - I Don’t Believe in Atheists, 2021 De Tocqueville - Democracy in America, 1835 Something to Believe In by Bret Michaels

    1h 1m

  3. 07/11/2025

    Military Lingo

    Welcome to SNAFUBAR! Here in the SNAFUBAR, we explore American military history and America’s national myths, or stories or traditional narratives. We’ll talk about some mishaps, about errors, both strategic and moral. And we’ll focus, a lot of the time, on tension points, on those places where our beliefs and our behaviors don’t quite match up. We’ll look at the ways that our national culture romanticizes (even fetishizes) the military, while not always providing the support that service-members need to carry out their objectives, and not meeting veterans’ needs when they return from service, especially when that service involves combat. We are happy to have you along as we discuss a variety of different topics and historical periods.  This week, we are diving into the topic of military lingo, a way of speaking that is embedded in everyday life of former and current military personnel. It's also really popular among civilians too! It turns out, a lot of the phrases and metaphors we use everyday got their origins in the military. In this episode, there are plenty of topics and stories that will make you stop and think about the language we use to describe our lived experiences. What do these words and metaphors we live by reveal about how navigate and understand the world around us? Why do Americans use military lingo and language in everyday conversation? Of course, we will find time to laugh and reflect on our own experiences, highlighting some key historical and social developments that might be partially responsible for introducing military jargon into our everyday lives. We hope you enjoy this episode! SNAFUBAR is hosted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sara Hart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, who teaches Religious Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeff Crane ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni, Lecturer with the History Department at Cal Poly Humboldt, and Roman Sotomayor. SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Works Cited:  Garard, Olivia. “Every Brief Ever.” War on the Rocks. October 27th, 2020. https://warontherocks.com/2020/10/every-brief-ever/. Greene, Joseph I. The Infantry Journal Reader. Doubleday, Doran, and Company, 1944. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.78561/page/n5/mode/1up Lakoff, George., Johnson, Mark. Metaphors We Live By. University of Chicago Press, 1981.  Martill, Jr.  O. W., Mock, Alfred J., et al. Military Review: Professional Journal of the US army, (1974):https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/collection/p124201coll1/id/393/page/0/inline/p124201coll1_393_0. McGurk, Marshall, “When Understanding Goes M.I.A: Lost in Metaphors, Idioms, and Analogies,”  Harding Project Substack. March 26th, 2024. https://www.hardingproject.com/p/when-understanding-goes-mia-lost Murray, Thomas E. “The Language of Naval Fighter Pilots.” American Speech 61, no. 2 (1986): 121-129, https://www.jstor.org/stable/455158?seq=1.

    59 min

  4. 06/28/2025

    Afghanistan III: Wake Me Up When September Ends

    Welcome back to SNAFUBAR. For today's episode, we will finish our three part series on Afghanistan and its relationship to the United States. Specifically from the post Cold War era to today, including the terror and deep loss of 9/11, the subsequent War on Terror, the continuing dynamic between the two countries, no matter the president and the withdrawal of troops in 2021.  This series is also the first of our "Close Look" groupings where we delve deep into one subject matter over the course of multiple episodes. SNAFUBAR is hosted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sara Hart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, who teaches Religious Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeff Crane ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. ⁠Bacevich, The New American Militarism Becker, “A Nation Challenged; Renaming an Operation to Fit the Mood” Bergen, The Longest War, 2011.  Bin Laden, Declaration of Jihad Against Americans The Bulletin, Doomsday Clock Bush Jr., “Remarks by the President Upon Arrival” Bush Jr., “Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People” Bush Jr., “President Bush Speakers to United Nations” Bush Jr., “President Delivers State of the Union Address” Costs of War Project, “Human and Budgetary Costs to Date of the U.S. War in Afghanistan, 2001-2022” Finkel, The Good Soldiers  Finkel, Thank you For Your Service Johnson, Nemesis Johnson, Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire Johnson, The Sorrows of Empire  Miller, “Greetings America, My name is Osama bin Laden” Nissenbaum, “Who Won in Afghanistan? Private Contractors” Roy, “The algebra of infinite justice” Vine, Base Nation Vine, Lists of U.S. Military Bases Abroad, 1776-2021 Purkiss and Serle, “Obama’s Covert Drone War in Numbers: Ten Times More Strikes Than Bush” Zenko, “Obama’s Final Drone Strike Data” Friedersdorf, “Calling U.S. Drone Strikes ‘Surgical’ is Orwellian Propaganda” Scahill, “The Assassination Complex” Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni and Roman Sotomayor SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.

    1h 6m

  5. 06/09/2025

    Afghanistan II: The Path to Jihad

    Welcome back to SNAFUBAR. This week's episode marks the second of three episodes focusing on Afghanistan from a historical and cultural perspective, both as a region and later, as a country. For today's episode , we will continue to look at Afghanistan and the role the United States played in the conflict and instability of the country in the late 20th and early 21st century and all that happened between the Soviet invasion in 1979 and the American invasion in 2001. This series is also the first of our "Close Look" groupings where we delve deep into one subject matter over the course of multiple episodes. SNAFUBAR is hosted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sara Hart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, who teaches Religious Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeff Crane ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Bacevich, America’s War for the Greater Middle East Bergen, The Longest War, 2011.  Carter, “Energy and the National Goals - A Crisis of Confidence” Carter, “January 4th Address to the Nation” Coll, Ghost Wars Britannica, Executive Order 11905 Bhutta, “Children of war: the real casualties of the Afghan conflict” History.com, “Domino Theory” Office of the Historian, “Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977-1980, Volume XII, Afghanistan” Reagan, “Proclamation 4908 - Afghanistan Day” Truman, “A Report of the National Security Council - NSC 68” U.S. Senate, “S. Res. 400 Establishing a New Seclect Committee: Church Committee” U.S. Dept of Justice, “The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978” Young, “40 years ago, Church Committee investigated Americans spying on Americans” Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni and Roman Sotomayor SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.

    58 min

  6. 06/01/2025

    Afghanistan I: America's Great Game

    Welcome back to SNAFUBAR. This week's episode marks the start of a three part series focusing on Afghanistan from a historical and cultural perspective, both as a region and later, as a country. And of course, as is the theme of our podcast, we will be discussing in detail the history of war and the role of outside players, namely Britain, Russia and the United States. This series is also the first of our "Close Look" groupings where we delve deep into one subject matter over the course of multiple episodes. SNAFUBAR is hosted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sara Hart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, who teaches Religious Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeff Crane ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Bacevich, America’s War for the Greater Middle East Bergen, The Longest War  Carter, “Energy and the National Goals - A Crisis of Confidence” Crosby, “The Real White Man’s Burden” Coll, Ghost Wars Deudney, “Sphere of Influence” Goodman and Coll, “Ghost Wars: How Reagan Armed the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan” Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden” Lakoff and Johnson, Metaphors We Live By NSA Archive, “Excerpt from Record of Conversation between Mikhail Gorbachev and James Baker, February 9, 1990” Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni and Roman Sotomayor SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt.

    45 min

  7. 05/25/2025

    Operation Never Mind

    Welcome back to SNAFUBAR. This week's episode focuses on a current SNAFU that is ever unfolding, known as "Signal Gate", involving United Secretary of Defense Hegseth, former National Security Advisor Mike Walz and the Editor in Chief of The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg. If some questions are starting to form in your head based on that last sentence, this is the show for you. Not only will Jeff and Sarah get into the nitty gritty of this careless and strategic blunder, but they will also give background and context for the event at the center of the whole SNAFUBAR to begin with; the bombing of the Houthis in Yemen. For those well versed in the events of the day and those who are just hearing about this absurd and massive mistake, there is something in this show for you that will make you laugh, cry or shake your fist. And as he does and will so often, historian Dr. Andrew J. Bacevich is a guiding light for this particular episode. SNAFUBAR is hosted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sara Hart⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, who teaches Religious Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeff Crane ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni and Roman Sotomayor SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Works Cited Operation Never Mind  Tweet on The Atlantic What is Signal? The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans Tweets on Hegseth Hegseth Said to Have Shared Attack Details in Second Signal Chat Timeline: A Chronology of the Signalgate Scandal The Greatest Scandal of Signalgate Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisers Shared on Signal The Worst Thing a MAGA Warrior Can Do National Security Advisor Mike Waltz Takes Responsibility for “Embarrassing” Signal Chat Leak The Greatest Evil is War As pressure mounts for Yemen ceasfire, US opinion united: end support to the war Poll: Most Americans Oppose US Support for the War on Yemen The Other Side of Signalgate The Saudi-led War in Yemen: Frequently Asked Questions Trump Organization leases brand to 2 new projects in Saudi Arabia USCENTCOM Forces Continue to Target Houthi Terrorists US said to have killed 500 Houthi fighters Operation Rough Rider US forces have hit more than 800 targets in Yemen since March Analysis of Multidimensional Poverty Households and the Overlapping Dimensions of Deprivation Yemen Crisis The Risks in Attacking the Houthis in Yemen Breach of Trust

    1h 6m

  8. 05/19/2025

    Stalled Supply Lines: Winter Uniforms During the Korean War

    On today’s episode of SNAFUBAR we dive into the first episode of the ongoing theme of “Stalled Supply Lines” where we will be investigating instances how U.S. military institutions either failed, or were prevented, from properly supplying troops in the field with necessary equipment.  Now, this theme isn’t meant to be a flat out condemnation of the institution. There are times where predictions fail, where unforeseen circumstances affect real people. There’s also times where, with hindsight being 20/20, we might ask ourselves how this happened in the first place. It’s these types of questions we’re going to be examining in each episode. This time, we’ll be discussing winter uniforms, or the lack there of, during the Korean War. So, strap on your parkas, if you got them, and let’s dive in. SNAFUBAR is hosted by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Sara Hart⁠⁠⁠⁠, who teaches Religious Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeff Crane ⁠⁠⁠⁠who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Research and writing for the show is done by Liam Salcuni and Roman Sotomayor SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Works Cited: The Hungnam and Chinnampo Evacuations Chosin Reservoir: Battle, Fighting Retreat, Evacuation  Combating Cold Korea New Treatments for Frostbite Chosin Reservoir The Chosin Few The Hungnam and Chinnampo Evacuations T⁠he Korean War Battle of Chosin, How Military Medics Saved the ‘Chosin Frozen’⁠

    1h 1m
See All (13)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

SNAFUBAR is a show about strategic and moral military errors and mishaps, and the myths that both lead to and then justify them. The histories they look at will make clear the degree to which the U.S. is a warful nation, contrary to the myth of a peaceful nation regularly compelled, against its will, to go to war. Through every episode, the show uncovers how we romanticize and fetishize the military while not always providing the support it needs to carry out its intended (or stated) goals, or to meet veterans’ needs when they return from combat.

Information

  • Creator
    College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt
  • Show Website
    SNAFUBAR