Serial Podcast Season 2 Episode 6 – Reflection

              This episode was a more in-depth analysis of what was going during Bowe’s deployment and why he left. Bowe’s platoon mates all repeatedly said that Bowe was an introvert. They noticed that Bowe had his own version of what leadership should be and that he was very disillusioned with the leadership in his unit from the beginning. Some of the comments and jokes from the chain of command caused Bowe to be irritated because he did not find the jokes funny nor did he find them appropriate. Jason Fry and Bowe were platoon mates and friends and Jason made some key observations about Bowe. Jason said that Bowe was always prepared and what some people would call as being squared away. Jason also said, “… as far as understanding Bowe. He isn’t a person who carelessly does something.” This is key to understanding Bowe and his mindset.  Bowe was deployed in the spring of 2009. This time was seen as a turning point in the war and the US looked like they were going to lose. Bowe’s battalion’s mission was counterinsurgency, COIN, for short. A lot of the soldiers were questioning what they were doing? Most of them didn’t know much about what they were doing and why. Jason Dempsey Ph.D., an officer at the brigade and battalion level and combat advisor, said that COIN is more likely to be effective in long-term and the 7-12 month rotation doesn’t let soldiers have enough time to understand the society. They unnecessarily went into the war zone to retrieve equipment and they were trapped in MRAPs with very little supplies for almost a week. They came under attack on the way back. When they got back the only thing their battalion commander said was about them not shaving and he never asked about the wellbeing/ safety of his soldiers. Bowe’s battalion experienced safety risks like sleeping outside with no shelter near a town. They had to dig and build a shelter in the middle of Afghan summer heat. The sergeant got an okay to relax the uniform rules however when the battalion commander arrived and he yelled at the sergeant. There was a photographer with them and photos of the guys not in full uniform got published. Then the battalion commander and other higher-ups got mad and equated the guys not wearing full uniform to the rapes of the Vietnamese.  Bowe saw that there was a breakdown in discipline and he thought of the punishments as punitive and irrational. Bowe said the failing leadership made him fear that the battalion commander would send them out on a suicide mission.

         For this podcast, Serial uses mostly primary stories. The people at Serial partnered with a production company who had done a lot of gathering sources, talking to people involved, and people with a more outside perspective. The podcast uses recordings of Mark Boal and Bowe Bergdahl and their candid conversations as a source. Sarah, the host of the podcast, talks to everyone from Taliban members to military officials and to some of Bowe’s platoon mates. In the listening guide, they use maps, radio interference transcripts, interview transcripts, photographs, and military documents. The podcast also uses secondary sources such as news articles, reports, and people’s opinions (those without a connection to the event).  The way the podcast uses stories and sources to provide a timeline while using multiple sources simultaneously is fascinating. One way this podcast captivates its audience is that the producers researched every perspective from fellow soldiers to the US government to people at home and even the Taliban’s view. The podcast doesn’t leave a stone unturned and values all sides of a story.