Episode Description
In this week's episode of In The Meanwhile, we do that uncomfortable, but necessary, thing where the abstractions of war fall away, and the human cost steps all the way into the room.
Nora and Marcus sit down with Gina Baskin, fresh out of the military and bringing a level of clarity that cuts clean through the usual talking points. She unpacks what war actually asks of the people sent to fight it, and what it takes from them in return. Not strategy nor geopolitics. But the intimate, irreversible weight of being asked to kill in a war you don't believe in.
Gina brings us inside the lived reality behind the headlines: the weight of service, the myth of protection, and the quiet ways systems, from foster care to the military, promise belonging while demanding sacrifice. And she does it with a mix of honesty, bite, and just enough humor to keep you from fully spiraling. As a queer veteran and organizer, she's not just challenging the narratives we've inherited about safety and power, but flipping them and asking who gets protected, who gets used, and who we've decided is expendable.
If you've only ever understood war from a safe, scrollable distance, this episode closes that gap, and doesn't let you look away.
Mentioned in the episode:
ID bathroom law | IOC trans women ruling | War is a Racket | ASVAB Waivers | Study: seeing a woman as a collection of body parts | Queer gun clubs | MAHA and public health scientists collaborate
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Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare | Readying to Rise
Music: No Tears for a Wolf · Ahamefule J. Oluo · Okanomodé. Used with permission.
Logo by Nikki Barron.
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