In the Hindsight episodes, Sarah Koenig explores the idea that Bowe was unfit for military service. In Part 1, Bowe’s prior military history, his entering the U.S. Coast Guard and being discharged on a psychological diagnosis after a breakdown, is told. In Part 2, Bowe’s admittance to the U.S. Army after his previous medical and mental health based discharge is scrutinized, as well as the diagnosis of Bowe having Schizotypal personality disorder. By the end of Hindsight, Parts 1 and 2, all of this history is applied to Bowe walking off of OP Mest, and how his irrational and potentially dangerous behavior could be explained.
Serial 2 5 O’Clock Shadow Response
In episode 6 of Serial 2, narrator Sarah Koenig digs more deeply into primary source accounts from people who were involved in the same missions Bowe was, and with Bowe himself to probe how he arrived at the decision to walk off of OP Mest to FOB Sharana.
Serial 2 The Captors Response
In the fourth episode of Serial 2, Bowe’s treatment by the Taliban is contrasted with that of David Rohde, an American journalist. After last episode, where Bowe’s attempts to escape during the first year are documented, The Captors focuses on how he is treated and held for the following four years.
Serial 2 Meanwhile, in Tampa Response
In Serial 2’s fifth episode, narrator Sarah Koenig tries to make sense the entangled and frustrating process to try to bring Bowe back to the U.S., but the finished product seems to obscure more than it enlightens. The episode seems to show how impossible the situation was: Pakistan is friendly, the Haqqanis and Taliban are terrorists, Bowe is an enlisted solider.
Serial 2 Escaping Response
From the third episode, Escaping, it looks like Bowe Bergdahl is at least 60 (and probably much more than that) away from FOB Sharana, in Pakistan. Wherever he is held, especially in Pakistan, it is far from any metropolis, and far from U.S. personnel. In the third episode of the Serial 2, the listener begins to feel a sense of the vast aloneness Bowe felt in captivity, and two escapes he attempted in the first year of captivity. I was much harsher in my opinion of Bowe when I had only heard the first part of the story, but now hearing about this first year and how much he suffered, he was still a young, twenty-three year old guy, not much older than me. I do not think the media treatment of Bowe, the sensationalization of him was at all deserved.
Serial 2 The Golden Chicken Response
In the second episode of Serial 2, issues about freedom of the press and finding reliable journalistic sources is explored through contrasting stories surrounding Bowe Bergdahl’s capture by the Taliban. Narratives throughout the podcast, whether given by the Taliban of Bowe’s capture, or depicted through reactions to his disappearance from fellow soldiers, contrasted with the Wikileaks account, show that even with all the technology at our disposal to search and share information, sometimes factual truth and emotional story have effectively the same outcome.
Serial 2 DUSTWUN Response
This is the first in a series of posts about Serial 2, a podcast focused on the war in Afghanistan. It centered around Bowe Bergdahl, and I wrote responses to the podcast for my first semester International Relations major-required course, Introduction to World Politics. We learned about the international state system, and challenges to international […]
Chapter Nine Summary
In chapter nine of professors Karen A. Mingst and Ivan Arreguín-Toft’s Essentials of International Relations, the international political economy is explained by its history, systems, functions and challenges. By explaining the institutions and reforms that maintain economic globalization, states who participate in its liberalization, and crises that show its weaknesses, Mingst and Arreguín-Toft highlight the […]
Immigrants in America
First titled “Immigrants in America”, this post was a video exploration of the stories of Syrian Americans during the 20th century. In first history course during my first year, I wrote about migration from Syria across the Atlantic ocean, but not what life was like when they arrived. These videos help to contextualize that work, […]
The power of a liberal arts education
This essay is my proudest achievement of first year. In my Leadership 101 course, I learned the power of communicators to leave a meaningful legacy. I was in the midst of considering my second semester, in the first phase of reflecting on an intense growth experience. I was considering my future college life, galvanized by […]
