Power, Propaganda, and the Consequences of American Empire | S.O.S. #265

Power, Propaganda, and the Consequences of American Empire | S.O.S. #265

From S.O.S. (Stories of Service) - Ordinary people who do extraordinary work by Theresa Carpenter

April 24, 2026 · 1h 2m

About this episode

The episode discusses the complexities of patriotism and American identity with veteran Michael T. Lester.

Let us know what you think of the show and what we can do better! Calling yourself patriotic is easy. Living like a patriot is harder, especially when the facts feel messy and the incentives in politics push us toward slogans instead of responsibility. We sit down with Michael T. Lester, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Desert Storm veteran, and cybersecurity leader, to talk about why he titled his book We Are the Bad Guys and what he means by it: not that Americans are bad people, but that U....

People in this episode

Host: Theresa Carpenter

Guest: Michael T. Lester

Topics covered

  • American Empire
  • Patriotism
  • Cybersecurity
  • Military Service
  • Political Responsibility

Keywords

  • patriotism
  • American Empire
  • cybersecurity
  • military
  • politics
  • responsibility
  • Desert Storm

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: U.S. Naval Academy

Books & works: We Are the Bad Guys

More episodes of S.O.S. (Stories of Service) - Ordinary people who do extraordinary work

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the S.O.S. (Stories of Service) - Ordinary people who do extraordinary work podcast page.