How cowboys, action movies, and hypermasculinity can help us understand the war with Iran

The Trump administration’s messaging around the war with Iran feels reminiscent of stuff like … cowboy movies. And video games. And the manosphere. This hour, a look at the rhetoric around the war and where it’s all coming from.

GUESTS:

• Casey Ryan Kelly: Professor of Rhetoric and Public Culture in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is also Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Speech, and author of books including Manifesting Violence: White Terrorism, Digital Culture, and the Rhetoric of Replacement
• Jonathan Guyer: Program Director at the Institute for Global Affairs at Eurasia Group, and a reporter and editor focused on foreign policy, national security, and the Middle East. He is host of the podcast “None of the Above”
• Roger Stahl: Author and Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Georgia. He is director of the documentary Theaters of War

Music featured (in order):

• “Hoe-Down” from Rodeo – Aaron Copland, NYO-USA, Michael Tilson Thomas
• You Should Have Seen the Other Guy – Nathaniel Rateliff
• Under My Thumb – Rolling Stones
• Son of Your Father – Elton John
• Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other – Orville Peck and Willie Nelson
• I Am a Rock – Simon and Garfunkel

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