{"podcast":{"title":"Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff","slug":"independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737","podcast_index_feed_id":981737,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/8GTvjwcf","website_url":"https://bleav.com/shows/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff/","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/6215cda8-011d-4ccd-9fe8-c389912a62af/005dccc3-d958-4ea8-9382-8a5154a5c04b/3000x3000/independent_20americans.jpg?aid=rss_feed","author":"Righteous Media | Bleav","episode_count":577,"summary":"Independent Americans is a daily news show hosted by Paul Rieckhoff. He’s a fighter, a patriot, and an independent political and media force to be reckoned with. After serving as a soldier in Iraq in 2004, Rieckhoff emerged as one of the most dynamic political and social leaders in America. In every episode, he breaks down the most important issues facing our country. And he interviews the most influential and compelling people. He’s taking on Republicans, Democrats—and everyone in between. If you’re in the angry middle, Independent Americans reminds you that you’re not alone. We’re all in this together. Join the Independent Americans movement and subscribe now. Produced by Righteous Media.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-19T20:20:40.597711+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737"},"episode":{"title":"“War Is Chaotic — and We Went In Without a Strategy'\" with General Mark Hertling.","slug":"war-is-chaotic-and-we-went-in-without-a-strategy-with-general-mark-hertling","published_at":"2026-06-30T19:36:46+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/war-is-chaotic-and-we-went-in-without-a-strategy-with-general-mark-hertling","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737","url":"https://bleav.com/shows/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff/episodes/war-is-chaotic-and-we-went-in-without-a-strategy-with-general-mark-hertling/","audio_url":"https://pdrl.fm/c39fb6/pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/1385/injector.simplecastaudio.com/c67dcf2c-bdc6-42d2-91a1-db918b8e8626/episodes/ecafe750-ce64-4383-b67c-24caf5aa62f6/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=c67dcf2c-bdc6-42d2-91a1-db918b8e8626&awEpisodeId=ecafe750-ce64-4383-b67c-24caf5aa62f6&feed=8GTvjwcf","summary":"War is chaotic and complex. You really never know which way it's going to go — and you especially don't know if you go in without a strategy. That's the line General Mark Hertling keeps coming back to in this no-BS conversation with Paul Rieckhoff, recorded as the Trump administration careens deeper into a war with Iran that Congress never authorized and the American people never signed off on. Hertling — former commanding general of US Army Europe, 36 months in combat, and author of the new book If I Don't Return: A Father's Wartime Journal — lays out exactly why this moment feels more like Vietnam than anything we've seen in a generation, and why the silence from both parties is its own kind of sucking chest wound.","meta_description":"War is chaotic and complex. You really never know which way it's going to go — and you especially don't know if you go in without a strategy. That's the l…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2566,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/episodes/war-is-chaotic-and-we-went-in-without-a-strategy-with-general-mark-hertling/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/war-is-chaotic-and-we-went-in-without-a-strategy-with-general-mark-hertling.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}