How to survive any dangerous situation with these deadly skills
Release Date: 03/02/2018
The story of the slave who survived the Alamo
Mandatory Fun
Our guest, attorney-turned-author Lewis Cook discovered that the Alamo was more than a bunch of white male landowners fighting for Texas. The fort was full of women, minorities, and followers of many religions. So he set out to tell the story of the Alamo, a story that he believes belongs to all of us through the diversity of its defenders.
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Why Navy SEALs will storm the beaches of Normandy in 2018
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Jumping into freezing water is just part of the legacy of being a Navy SEAL. During World War II, the U.S. Navy Combat Demolition Units were just a handful of guys equipped only with a pair of shorts, a knife, and maybe some explosives. But the roots of being amphibious is still close to the Navy special warfare community – that's why they still call themselves "Frogmen."
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How going to war brings out the best and worst in people
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Our guest Sebastian Junger is not a military veteran. He makes that clear, but he sure sounds like one. Maybe it's because he's seen more conflict than many in the United States military. If there's an expert on modern warfare and the long-term effects of those who live it, that person is Sebastian Junger.
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It will make you angry to learn how a veteran lost $100k in benefits
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For almost a decade Moses Maddox has built a career helping veterans with personal, academic, and financial counseling. But he didn't become the veterans champion he is today without first overcoming his own transition struggles. Here's how he used his transition experience and knowledge in navigating the VA system to lobby for veterans in DC and take his message to the national level.
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PTSD is temporary, here are the first steps to defeating it
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Our guest, the Director of Innovation and Collaboration for the VA’s Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Dr. Wendy Tenhula joins us for a discussion on identifying and treating mental health issues.
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How to 'Conquer Anything,' according to a Green Beret
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War has a way of shooting holes in your best-laid plans. Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Stube (Ret.) suffered life-changing wounds during the battle of Operation Medusa in Afghanistan in 2006, but using the Green Beret methods he learned in the Special Forces, Stube knew he could conquer anything.
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Combat poetry reveals what life is like on the Afghan front lines
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Marine Corps veteran turned poet, and author Justin Eggen brings modern warfare, poetry, and short stories into a beautiful storm that reveals the inner workings of life on the front lines of Southern Afghanistan.
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4 survival skills that will help you thrive in a disaster or zombie apocalypse
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The Mandatory Fun crew got their hands on "100 Deadly Skills: Survival Edition" by national bestselling author and Navy SEAL Clint Emerson. Emerson's book is the SEAL operative's guide to surviving in the wild and being prepared for any disaster, but the crew decides that it's the perfect guide against a zombie apocalypse.
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That time Senator Mitch McConnell was fooled by 'Duffel Blog'
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Our guest founder and editor-in-chief of our favorite military satire publication Duffel Blog Paul Szoldra joins us for a hilarious discussion about his adventures in military satire. We discuss Szoldra's first book, the funny times Duffel Blog was mistaken for real news, and his new party game "WTF, Over."
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5 insane stories from the life of Britain's most successful double agent
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The real James Bond is finally revealed: A few years ago our guest Larry Loftis decided to stop publishing legal articles and work full-time on researching and writing the story of Dusko Popov, the daring World War II double agent who worked tirelessly to keep the Nazis off guard about the upcoming D-Day invasions.
info_outlineClint Emerson is not your average U.S. Navy retiree. He's not your average anything and he never was. That might be why so many Fortune 500 companies want Emerson to not only speak at their corporate gatherings but also teach them how to survive some extreme circumstances.
Emerson is a former Navy SEAL and the author of a number of books, notably "100 Deadly Skills: The SEAL Operative's Guide Eluding Pursuers, Evading Capture, and Surviving Any Dangerous Situation." He also wrote "100 Deadly Skills: Survival Edition" and "Escape the Wolf: Risk Mitigation Personal Security Handbook for the Traveling Professional."
In his books, he covers everything from making a homemade taser to teaching your children how to handle themselves during an active shooter situation. No one needs to be a sheep among wolves when going about their daily lives – and Emerson wants you to know how to handle yourself.
"Violence is not limited to bad guys," Emerson says. "Violence is okay for good people to activate and use against anything coming your way."
He spent 20 years in the Navy as what he calls a "violent nomad." But it was a lifelong dream. In this episode of Mandatory Fun, he describes how a chance meeting in an airport with a man who claimed to be a SEAL altered the course of his life forever.
But he wants you to be a violent nomad in the same way – he wants to make you self-reliant, able to self-rescue, and help others in any given situation, be they natural disasters, man-made crises, or medical emergencies. And you can do it without hiring him and his consulting firm to show you what "violence of action" means.
"This kind of violence of action can save your life," he says. "You just need to know how to turn it on."
Mandatory Fun is hosted By:
Blake Stilwell: Air Force veteran and Managing Editor
Tim Kirkpatrick: Navy veteran and Editorial Coordinator
Orvelin Valle (aka O.V.): Navy veteran and Podcast Producer
Catch the show on Twitter at: @MandoFun and on our Facebook group.