# "World War Z" Author Max Brooks on Veterans, Hope & the Antidote to Despair.

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/world-war-z-author-max-brooks-on-veterans-hope-the-antidote-to-despair
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/world-war-z-author-max-brooks-on-veterans-hope-the-antidote-to-despair.md
Podcast: [Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff](https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737)
Published: 2026-06-19T19:36:29+00:00
Episode link: https://bleav.com/shows/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff/episodes/world-war-z-author-max-brooks-on-veterans-hope-the-antidote-to-despair/
Audio file: https://pdrl.fm/c39fb6/pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/1385/injector.simplecastaudio.com/c67dcf2c-bdc6-42d2-91a1-db918b8e8626/episodes/a701c64b-972c-4423-84b1-656d5d511f27/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=c67dcf2c-bdc6-42d2-91a1-db918b8e8626&awEpisodeId=a701c64b-972c-4423-84b1-656d5d511f27&feed=8GTvjwcf
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/episodes/world-war-z-author-max-brooks-on-veterans-hope-the-antidote-to-despair
Duration seconds: 3530

## Resource

The Iran operation is being called the biggest American strategic loss in a generation, and the receipts are damning. Thirteen service members dead, billions unaccounted for, forty percent of the Navy tied up, sanctions lifted, assets returned, the nuclear program left intact, and the brutal regime in Tehran emboldened. Meanwhile the president is publicly floating Cuba as the next target, and Congress still hasn't invoked the War Powers Act. Paul Rieckhoff sits down with World War Z author Max Brooks to cut through the spin and ask the harder question: what do citizens actually do when the institutions designed to protect them are this badly broken?

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## Transcript

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