Task & Purpose Radio

Summer hiatus

This week, Lauren, Nate, and Weirick are joined by senior staff writer Adam Linehan. They discuss the research of Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, who has studied how combat impacts the mind and body. Adam interviewed Grossman for a long-form multimedia essay now published on Task & Purpose that offers a visual guide to this research.

In the wake of several high-profile training accidents in the last week, Lauren, Weirick, and Nate discuss the impact of budgets cuts on military readiness. Could these accidents have been prevented? Thanks to Perry & Co. for sponsoring the podcast. If you have a move coming up check out MilitaryReloHelp.com for more information.  

This week on Task & Purpose Radio, the crew is joined by Kristofer Goldsmith, Army vet and assistant director of policy and government relations for Vietnam Veterans of America, to discuss how service members get pushed out of the military with less than honorable discharges due to PTSD or traumatic brain injury. Thanks to Perry & Co. for sponsoring the podcast. If you have a move coming up check out MilitaryReloHelp.com for more information.  

The crew discusses what officers and enlisted drink at every stage of their careers. Everyone shares some of their best drinking in the military stories. Also, Weirick has an update on the Bowe Bergdahl trial. Thanks to Perry & Co. for sponsoring the podcast. If you have a move coming up check out MilitaryReloHelp.com for more information.  

Lauren, Weirick, and Nate examine military regulations, race, and double standards following a controversy over a photo taken by 16 black female cadets from West Point. Also, Lauren interviews John Lee Dumas about how veterans make natural entrepreneurs.  And Weirick reads more comments from Task & Purpose readers. Thanks to Perry & Co. for sponsoring the podcast. If you have a move coming up check out MilitaryReloHelp.com for more information.

Task & Purpose Radio talks Donald Trump and how he favors with the military and veterans community. Weirick is out this week after he was injured falling off a horse (no, really, that happened), so Task & Purpose’s Editor-in-Chief Brian Adam Jones joins the podcast. Thanks to Perry & Co. for sponsoring the podcast. If you have a move coming up check out MilitaryReloHelp.com for more information.  

The crew discusses the increase in troop numbers in Iraq and Syria and why the White House keeps denying, or at least refusing to say outright, that we have boots on the ground in combat. Nate and Weirick take Task & Purpose’s quiz, “Quiz: Which Of These 7 Infantry Guys Are You?” Lauren interviews the podcast’s producer Army vet Karl Morand. And Weirick reads comments from our loyal fan base. Thanks to Perry & Co. for sponsoring the podcast. If you have a move coming up check out MilitaryReloHelp.com for more information.

Nate, Weirick, and Lauren discuss the final episode of Serial and rate its overall ability to tell the story of Bergdahl and the war in Afghanistan. They each try to answer the question: What should we actually blame Bowe Bergdahl for?

Lauren, Weirick, and Nate discuss the revelation by Serial that the Army never officially investigated whether any service members were killed in the search efforts to recover Bergdahl after he walked off base. Also, Weirick talks about his in-person encounter with the women of Serial.

Producer Karl Morand discusses stolen valor with Weirick and Nate and whether the rise of stolen valor videos is helpful or hurtful to the veterans community.

Lauren, Nate, and Weirick discuss the latest episode of Serial, which covered the Bergdahl prisoner swap, Taliban reconciliation talks, the question of which would take the lead in conflict: the military or diplomacy.

Lauren interviews Ryan Gallucci, deputy director of the VFW National Veterans Service about the VA, VFW priorities in 2016, and what’s in Ryan’s survivor bag. In part two, Nate, Weirick, and Lauren discuss military retirement reforms and whether the latest changes proposed by defense officials are going too far. Also, Weirick reads some more messages from Task & Purpose readers.

Lauren, Weirick, and Nate discuss whether Bergdahl should have been let into the Army in the first place after washing out of Coast Guard basic training. They also debate Sarah Koenig’s “Come to Jesus” moment in the latest episode of Serial. Also, Weirick explains the latest on Bowe Bergdahl’s court-martial, which has come to a full stop.

This week on Task & Purpose Radio, Lauren Katzenberg interviews former Army Spc. Cody Full, who was a member of the same three-man fire team before Bergdahl disappeared. Lauren, Nate Bethea, and James Weirick discuss a new report released by the Government Accountability Office on hazing in the military. Weirick reads some real messages that Task & Purpose has received to its Facebook page.

Nate and Weirick rip into statements made by Bergdahl on the most recent episode of Serial about what it means to be a soldier in Afghanistan in 2009.

In an exclusive interview with Marine veteran and Task & Purpose CEO Zach Iscol, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus discussed the criticisms he faces from Marine Corps leadership for leading the charge on gender integration.

Following the latest episode of Serial — which examines hostage recovery efforts at the Pentagon in the years following Bowe Bergdahl’s disappearance — Lauren Katzenberg, Nate Bethea, and James Weirick discuss their personal experiences with government dysfunction and bureaucracy.

For episode five, “The View From The Ground,” Nate Bethea reached out and spoke with Mike Waltz, a former Special Forces commander who led seven Green Beret teams and one Navy SEAL team during recovery operations in Afghanistan looking for Bergdahl. Previously Waltz worked as a policy advisor in the White House and Pentagon and is the author of the book, “Warrior Diplomat: A Green Beret's Battles from Washington to Afghanistan.”

In a recent interview on The New Yorker Radio Hour, Sarah refused to discuss the terms under which Bowe Bergdahl’s agreed to talk with Mark Boal. Does the audience deserve more transparency? Also, the show discusses the latest episode of Serial and how Bergdahl’s ability to survive five years of captivity under the Taliban will impact his court-martial.