Category: Politics & Society


Jul
07
2025
Tom Hanks – The Reluctant Wardaddy Richard Pendavingh 07.07.25

In this edition of wardaddies we'll be looking at Tom Hank's performance as Captain John Miller in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Jun
27
2025
Nigel Green – The Laconic Wardaddy Richard Pendavingh 27.06.25

In this edition of Wardaddies we look at Nigel Green's performance as Colour-Sergeant Frank Bourne in Cy Enfield's Zulu.

Jun
17
2025
Gregory Peck – The Stoic Wardaddy Richard Pendavingh 17.06.25

In this addition of wardaddies we look at Gregory Peck and his very understated performance as Lt. Joe Clemons in Pork Chop Hill.

Jun
07
2025
John Wayne – The Original Wardaddy Richard Pendavingh 07.06.25

How John Wayne saved the US Marine Corps and set the template for Hollywood's 'wardaddies'.

Mar
01
2025
The Military Metaverse: Part 2 Richard Pendavingh 01.03.25

Serious Games and the Global War on Terror

Mar
01
2025
The Military Metaverse: Part 1 Richard Pendavingh 01.03.25

A brief history of wargaming from the little blue tokens of the Prussian Kriegsspiel to the GI Joe sprites of Marine Doom.

Oct
22
2024
Such Is Life (Insurance) Richard Pendavingh 22.10.24

Prompted by a weak rebuttal of David Graeber's Bullshit Jobs we look at the history of life insurance and the role played by 'actuarial science' in our understanding of human mortality.

Oct
07
2024
Rallying Behind Palestine Richard Pendavingh 07.10.24

Nothing has done more to highlight the moral vacuum that Australia's corporate media inhabit than their coverage of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza.

Aug
04
2024
Soldiers & Sexuality: Part 2 Richard Pendavingh 04.08.24

In the second part of this essay we look at some of the ways that public denial and public hysteria around homosexuality has influenced the military history of Britain, Germany and Australia.

Apr
24
2024
The Museum Next Door Richard Pendavingh 24.04.24

How do you create an honest war museum?

May
18
2023
The Road to Hell: Conclusions Richard Pendavingh 18.05.23

Given this litany of disastrous invasions and bloody occupations, why do politicians continue to insist that their armies will be welcomed with open arms?

May
01
2023
The Road to Hell: Part IV Richard Pendavingh 01.05.23

Despite the long history of ‘humanitarian interventions’ the idea that nations have an obligation to defend the rights of those beyond their own borders has only recently begun to gain acceptance.

Apr
13
2023
The Road to Hell: Part III Richard Pendavingh 13.04.23

The fallacy of liberation played a major part in inciting conflicts during the Cold War but realism's hindsight makes it hard to appreciate the initial idealism that accompanied these conflicts.

Apr
05
2023
The Road to Hell: Part II Richard Pendavingh 05.04.23

Case studies in strategic optimism from the Greco-Turkish War to the end of the World War II.

Mar
24
2023
The Road To Hell: Part I Richard Pendavingh 24.03.23

A brief history of the fallacy of liberation from the wars of the French Revolution to the end of the long 19th century.

Feb
22
2023
Chatbot Chernobyl Richard Pendavingh 22.02.23

The public release of ChatGPT has permanently contaminated the Web. Welcome to the world of Average Garbage Forever.

Oct
06
2022
Putin's Doctrine of Maskirovka
Unmasking Maskirovka Richard Pendavingh 06.10.22

Putin's disastrous invasion of Ukraine has revealed the indiscriminate nature of Russian propaganda.

Jun
23
2020
How Georgia Abolished its Police Richard Pendavingh 23.06.20

The police were the first Georgians I met. Arriving in the capital, Tbilisi, at ten to midnight there were police officers waiting on the tarmac.

Jun
03
2020
American Stormtroopers Richard Pendavingh 03.06.20

Back in 2015 Amazon unveiled a promotional campaign for their TV adaptation of Philip K. Dick's famous novel The Man in the High Castle.

Apr
14
2020
Welcome to the Elephit House Richard Pendavingh 14.04.20

I knew it was going to be bad. I'd read all the one and two star reviews and looked at the pictures of weird murals and overgrown gardens but I kept circling back to the listing every time I looked for accommodation on Kauai.

Apr
13
2020
Violence in the Aloha State Richard Pendavingh 13.04.20

I knew that Hawaii was part of America but I still didn't expect it to be so American.