Since the attacks in Paris, the question of how to engage ISIS and Syria has been front and center. Underlying that debate is the changing nature of America’s armed forces and how technology is shaping the future of soldiers. On today’s show a look at how America’s colleges and universities are reflecting the new military. Then, America’s bright young minds are being lured to jobs offering perks from gourmet food to telecommuting, that's stiff competition for the ordered and inflexible military. We’ll hear about the Pentagon's plan to fight "brain drain".
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Universities Adapt to Military Needs
William Arkin is an author, journalist, former US soldier, and national security adviser to Vice News. Together with Alexa O’Brien, he investigated and ranked "The 100 Most Militarized Universities in America" for Vice. He joined us to talk about which schools profit the most from these significant investments.
War of Words
Reporters Joe Galloway and John Fialka, along with scholar Dan Hallin, discuss how coverage of Vietnam lead to new restrictions on the press in war zones that lingers on today. From the podcast Backstory with the American History Guys.
You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.
Fighting 'Brain Drain' in the Military
Nora Bensahel is a scholar who's worked with and written about the military, and David Barno is a retired Army office who had overall command of us forces in Afghanistan. Together, they are researching and advising on how to best prepare the US Military for the future. They wrote the article ‘Can The Us Military Halt Its Brain Drain' for The Atlantic.
Show of Force
During World War II, a massive recruitment effort targeted students from the top art schools across the country. These young designers, artists, and makers were being asked to help execute a wild idea that came out of one the nation’s most conservative organizations: the United States Army. Roman Mars from the podcast 99% Invisible brings us the story.
You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.