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 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 […]
