Join Victor Davis Hanson and co-host Sami Winc for this 4th of July weekend episode. Topics covered include the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs verdict, U Penn and transgenders, Hispanics, tribalism and California’s political landscape, the latest FBI scandal, an overview of the Korean War, and more.
Victor, with all due respect your knowledge of events historical is unparalleled, but details about things aviation leave a bit to be desired.
In the previous episode, it was not a liquid-cooled Allison engine but the highly reliable air-cooled Wright Cyclones and later Pratt & Whitney Wasp radial engines that helped make the DC-3 and C-47 such a success.
It was Russian-flown MiG-15s that challenged American air superiority over Korea. And what made the MIG-15 such a threat in addition to advanced German swept-wing research was the engine, which was a direct copy of the best British engine of the moment, the Rolls Royce Nene that Clement Attlee sold the Russians in 1946 in hopes of improving east-west relations and that they’d license it. I can only imagine the screams of outrage in the closed rooms American strategic military circles when that happened, much less what Churchill thought. That gift advanced Russian jet engine technology and airframe capability by at least 5 years at a very crucial time.
American reaction to being confronted by the MiG 15s over Korea was not dissimilar to that of encountering the Mitsubishi Zero flown by the Japanese navy at the opening of WWII. It was simply assumed that our adversaries weren’t capable of fielding such an effective weapon, and that assumption was very expensive at the onset of both wars.
Thank you for the simply fascinating discussion of tribalism. Actually, it’s a concern that an otherwise modern society would take such a step backward.
The left’s commitment to victimhood is borne out in this case. No one had enough volition to evade Diddy. So much so they keep going bad again and again. How does one person gets “voluntarily” abused multiple times by the same perpetrator?
I’m 72 years old and you make me regret all the superficial education I have had. Thanks VDH.
Dr. Hanson’s reflections on the nature of tribalism and its ancient roots—the first book of Thucydides—has given me cause to reflect on the deeper meaning of the paradoxical Luke 14:26 and the true nature and prerequisites of a just society. Thank you, Dr. Hanson.