An Army that reads is an Army better prepared to fight and win its nation’s wars. When the stakes on the battlefield are life and death, victory or defeat, the force that brings more knowledge, more wisdom, and better understanding to the fight has a distinct advantage. And reading is a key means of building that advantage. That’s why we recently launched the MWI Book Club. For each episode of the new podcast, hosts John Amble and Theo Lipsky pick a book, read it, and then record their exploration of the book’s lessons for today’s warfighters. Four episodes are already live, and in this special bonus episode, you’ll hear one of them—featuring Joe Haldeman’s classic of military science fiction, The Forever War.

Episodes of the MWI Book Club release monthly, and you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss an episode!

The MWI Podcast is produced with the generous support of the West Point Class of 1974.

Chapters

  • (00:00:00) - Introducing the MWI Book Club crossover
  • (00:02:54) - Episode intro: The Forever War
  • (00:03:24) - About Joe Haldeman and why this book
  • (00:06:40) - Book overview and time dilation concept
  • (00:08:52) - Part One: Training and becoming a soldier
  • (00:16:29) - Realism, desensitization, and training casualties
  • (00:21:21) - First combat engagement and berserker bloodlust
  • (00:24:24) - Bayonet training and psychological conditioning to kill
  • (00:28:15) - Part Two: Return to a dystopian Earth
  • (00:35:08) - Mary Gay Potter and the civil-military divide
  • (00:38:42) - South Dakota commune and return to the military
  • (00:43:24) - Part Three: Command and leadership dilemmas
  • (00:53:24) - Technology, measure-countermeasure cycles, and war
  • (01:02:57) - Final battle, AI, and moral distance in killing
  • (01:08:28) - Strategic critique of the war and its ending
  • (01:14:22) - Margin notes: naming, moral injury, and brain drain
  • (01:22:05) - Saved rounds: film adaptations and literary influences
  • (01:24:29) - Starship Troopers rebuttal debate
  • (01:26:27) - Bonus reads and closing thoughts
  • (01:28:35) - Upcoming books and sign-off

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