Having served five tours of duty as a Marine in Iraq and Afghanistan, Elliot Ackerman knows what he's talking about when it comes to military service. He makes the argument that a draft could increase public engagement with the military and thus potentially reduce wars because everyone would have more skin in the game. In this episode, Ted and Marni talk to Elliot about how his experience informs his perspective and if he sees any real potential for a universal draft to be brought to fruition.

Resources from this episode:

Elliot's Time article about reinstating the draft
Pre-order Elliot's latest book, 2054
Buy Elliot's National Book Award-nominated novel, Halcyon
Read more of Elliot's thoughts on war and military service in his book, Places and Names: On War, Revolution, and Returning
Elliot's recent interview with Terry Gross — that's right, we interviewed someone before Terry Gross did!

Thank you to Inny PDX for the music!

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The Atlantic's Elliot Ackerman on Reinstating the Draft

Woke Points