The Return of Conscription

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Stuff They Don't Want You To Know – The Return of Conscription

Date: July 17, 2026
Hosts: Ben, Matt Hud Hut, Noel
Producer: Dylan "the Tennessee pal" Fagan

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Overview

This episode dives deep into the history, mechanics, and renewed anxieties around military conscription—the draft—in the United States and worldwide. Prompted by current events and rumors of the draft’s possible return amid global tensions, the hosts break down the origins of conscription, its roles in historic conflicts, the ethical and social controversies it stirs, and how a modern draft might impact today’s youth and society at large.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Ritual and Reality of Registration (00:30 – 04:10)

• Turning 18 in the U.S.:
  The hosts reminisce about receiving their Selective Service System (SSS) registration cards—an American rite of passage, especially for young men, despite no active draft since 1973.
• Legal Requirement & Consequences:
  Not registering leads to loss of federal benefits, job ineligibility, potential loss of citizenship for immigrants, fines up to $250,000, and possible imprisonment.

Quote:
"Not registering will have serious consequences. You can basically never get a federal job again..." (Ben, 02:06)

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2. Historical Origins and Global View (08:31 – 14:25)

• Draft vs. Conscription:
  The term “draft” is U.S.-specific; most countries call it conscription or mandatory service — a practice going back to Mesopotamia, feudal Europe, and ancient Babylon.
• Civic Duty or Coercion:
  Historically, conscription arose both from the need to defend societies and as a way for ruling elites to expand empires, often exploiting the lower classes.

Quote:
"The empire rolls through, makes up some new rules...you've got to fight with your blood and your arms..." (Matt Hud Hut, 09:14)

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3. Conscription as a Tool of Power (14:25 – 18:54)

• The Modern "Draft":
  The French Revolution gave us the precedent for today’s mass conscription, sweeping aside class distinctions.
• Six Major U.S. Drafts:
  Revolutionary War, Civil War, WWI & II, Korean War, and Vietnam War.
• Public Support & Purpose:
  The rationale for draft participation (and war itself) shifts depending on public support and justification—often becoming contentious in ideological or foreign interventions.

Quotes:
"This ain't really about us, is it? And I don't want to go." (Noel, 17:17)
"The better communication technology is with the public, the more likely the public is to disagree with the reasons for going to war..." (Ben, 17:24)

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4. Controversy: Class, Loopholes & Protests (18:54 – 26:14)

• Avoiding the Draft:
  From conscientious objection and medical deferments to outright fleeing, draft evasion has a storied history. Loopholes include under-the-table diagnoses, political influence, or, historically, paying fees—the "golden parachute" of the Civil War.
• Civil War Inequality:
  The $300 buyout option (then a fortune) let the wealthy escape service, stoking class resentment and riots.

Quote:
"It became a war of the poor. Golden parachute. These are serious economic inequalities." (Ben, 21:47)

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5. The Modern Draft System & Current Concerns (27:27 – 34:36)

• Dark Lottery:
  Millions must register, but only a fraction are drafted—leaving lives in suspense.
• System on Standby:
  The SSS is dormant but easily reactivated. Registration is also required for legal non-citizen males.
• Global Approaches:
  Countries like Israel have hardline, universal conscription for both men and women, sparking debate over gender, fairness, and preparedness.

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6. Societal Attitudes and Geopolitical Anxiety (30:38 – 36:35)

• Public Opinion:
  Only 36% support U.S. conflict with Iran, while 57% strongly oppose it (Nate Silver, 2026 poll).
• Rationalizing War:
  The Vietnam War saw the “domino effect” rationale, later found to be ideologically driven and questionable.

Quote:
"People don't want to die for something they don't believe in." (Ben, 30:38)

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7. The Prospect of a New Draft (39:40 – 50:36)

• Modernizing the System:
  Politicians/national security officials are updating the SSS to make activation faster and more automated, making many nervous. Current White House messaging is pointedly ambiguous.
• Age Ranges & Lottery Mechanics:
  While traditionally 18-25 for draft eligibility, emergencies have expanded these ranges. Lottery picks target 20-21 year-olds before 18-19, contrary to popular belief.
• Role of Technology:
  Warfare’s new face—possible drone operators and tech specialists—means not all “draftees” would be ground troops.

Quote:
“This is an apolitical point: At the very least the current administration has some room for improvement in their bedside manner.” (Ben, 45:46)
“Some people will die when you go to war. Some people will die.” (Trump, as cited by Ben, 46:21)

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8. Systemic Inequality: Is Service “Voluntary”? (55:15 – 62:09)

• Economic Realities:
  Many “volunteers” join for lack of other options—poverty, lack of job prospects, and barriers to education are powerful motivators.
• “Quiet Draft”:
  The system’s structural inequality is described as a de facto draft for the poor, who essentially have no other way up.

Quote:
“That baked-in inequality arguably already functions as a quiet draft all its own...” (Ben, 59:11)

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9. The Technical Reality — Who Actually Qualifies? (66:32 – 68:15)

• Only 23% Eligible:
  The Department of Defense notes that only about 23% of Americans aged 17–24 could meet military eligibility—due to obesity, health, criminal record, or lack of a diploma.
• Workarounds & Waivers:
  Waivers exist for certain disqualifications, but even draft eligibility doesn’t mean automatic service—many will be exempted by circumstance.

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10. Legal and Gender Controversies (70:23 – 73:31)

• Women and the Draft:
  All combat roles are now open to women, but the draft remains male-only—a policy headed for legal and cultural confrontation, especially if conscription resumes.
• Congressional Maneuvers:
  Changes to SSS often get tucked into the National Defense Authorization Act, allowing major policy to pass with limited public debate.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the inevitability of the draft:

  "The military and the White House are still just in the driveway tinkering with that car, making it faster and faster every single afternoon." (Ben, 71:45)

• On the draft as a class mechanism:

  “It became a war of the poor. Golden parachute.” (Ben, 21:47)

• On official ambiguity:

  "A draft is not part of the current administration's plans. ... But also, our great president Donald Trump will not rule out ... any future options." (Ben quoting Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt, 41:08)

• On voluntarism and inequality:

  “Is that actually volunteering when there are no other options?” (Ben, 56:50)

• On public preparedness:

  “Expect the best. Prepare for the worst.” (Ben, 74:01)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Rite of Passage & The Draft’s Legal Threat — 00:30–04:10
• History & Global Mechanics of Conscription — 08:31–14:25
• Controversies Over Class & Protest — 18:54–26:14
• Modern Draft System & Loophole Discussion — 27:27–34:36
• Anxieties about New Draft — 39:40–50:36
• Structural Inequality as "Quiet Draft" — 55:15–62:09
• Eligibility and Disqualification Stats — 66:32–68:15
• Gender & Legal Implications — 70:23–73:31

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Final Thoughts & Listener Call to Action

• Reflection:
  The episode ends with a sober look at the implications of conscription, the social inequalities it exposes, and the government's signals that the draft could return with little warning.
• Invitation to Share Experiences:
  Listeners—especially those with draft or conscription experiences, in the U.S. or other countries—are encouraged to call, email, or reach out on social media to share their stories or concerns.

Quote:
"Getting conscripted is the stuff they don't want you to know. Until that letter arrives on your doorstep ..." (Ben, 74:40)

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Summary At a Glance

• The episode explores the history, mechanics, and renewed fears of conscription (the draft) in the U.S. and globally.
• Hosts mix personal experience, humor, and expert breakdowns, keeping a tone that's both irreverent and deeply serious as appropriate.
• Woven throughout are themes of class, ideology, legal loopholes, gender, and the lived experience of being “on the line” for a society that may not return the favor.
• Listeners are asked to engage with the topic and consider the personal and systemic impacts if the draft ever returns.

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Transcript

[Ben]

From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies, history is riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or learn the stuff they don't want you to know. A production of iHeartRadio.

[Ari Chambers]

Hello.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Welcome back to the show, soldier. My name is Matt Hud Hut.

[Noel]

My name is Noel.

[Ben]

They called me Ben. And you can as well. We're joined as always with our super producer Dylan, the Tennessee pal Fagan. Most importantly, you are you. You are here. That makes this the stuff they don't want you to know. Reporting for duty. We're talking. This is, this is a special one to all of Our recently turned 18 year old conspiracy realist. Here in the United States we have a ritual that might seem strange to outsiders. I bet, I bet all of us recording tonight can remember it. When you reach the age of 18 in the United States, if you are, if you are termed a male, then you are required to sign up for something called the Selective Service System. Street name the Draft.

[Noel]

Guys, do you think I could suck a golf ball through a garden hose if I tried real hard? And is that part of the ritual?

[Ben]

It depends on how long the hose is, Noel. But I believe in you.

[Noel]

You.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Sorry.

[Ben]

Full Metal Metal Jacket. Yeah, one of the best films. Well, Vietnam War, up there with Apocalypse

[Noel]

Now, I think it's tops. I really do. I think it's. It goes Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse now and Platoon. I think people often malign Platoon, but I think it has some really good moments as well. But Full Metal Jacket, the thing that's so great about it is it has this like story structure that really shows you all the sides of what it would mean to be in the military during a conflict like that. That is, you know, largely historically considered pretty unjustified.

[Ben]

But in real life you had to register right when you turned 18.

[Noel]

Remember it being a thing I was concerned about. Yeah. When I was younger because I mean, you know, I think I had to ask a teacher or something like that what, what this meant. Well, already having a little bit of knowledge through films like we're talking about, of what it meant to be drafted. But I think at the point that we were all in high school, it certainly was, was voluntary Georgia something, right. You, you have to, you have to sign up for the, for the Selective Service. But there was no active draft, Right.

[Ben]

You have to register.

[Noel]

Right.

[Ben]

The onus is on you. And if you don't register once you get the, the card that shows up at your mailbox or your doorstep once you get that dreaded envelope. Not registering will have serious consequences. You can basically never get a federal job again. Say goodbye to training and assistance programs from the government. And if you are an immigrant, even if you are in the country legally, dodging the draft, which we'll talk about at length, can lead to the loss of your citizenship.

[Noel]

And that card, Ben, that was the thing that people would burn in protest.

[Ben]

Burn the draft card. Yeah.

[Noel]

And you were talking about some Georgia specific stuff that it probably applied to all of us.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Yeah. In Georgia, you got something in the mail that just reminds you of how old you're about to turn and what you have to do for the Selective Service in the United States, the ss.

[Noel]

Well, I think that that was my issue. It's like, it's one thing to know about it, it's another thing to actually get the notice that you have to register. I think that's why I clarified. I'm like, what does this mean exactly? And the issue, I guess, is that it could change tbd, right?

[Ben]

Very much so. That's a great point, Noel.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Just to point out on that card, at least the one that I got, it mentions that it is illegal to not register when you are of age and you're a U.S. citizen. And it can lead to imprisonment and a fine. I don't know how much it was at the time, but right now the fine could be up to $250,000 U.S. yep.

[Ben]

Serious consequences. We. We also know that most of us today, most of us tuning in, especially if you're based in the United States, you're probably going to associate the draft with the Vietnam War because a lot of people have real life experience with that still. And it's been depicted so many times in works of fiction like the Things They Carried or works of film like, again, the excellent Apocalypse Now. But it goes so much deeper than that. And there's breaking news. There's a growing concern. Tonight's question as we record on Monday, July 13, 2026, will the US begin conscripting soldiers again? And if so, what happens? Let's dive into it. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[Noel]

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[Matt Hud Hut]

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[Ben]

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[Noel]

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[Matt Hud Hut]

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[Ben]

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[Noel]

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[Matt Hud Hut]

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[Noel]

Hey, everybody. It's the guys from Stuff they don't want you to know. And before we continue with the podcast, we'd really love it if you'd do us a solid and fill out these 37 forms about your listening history.

[Matt Hud Hut]

We'll wait. Just kidding. That would be ridiculous. Yet we do it every time we need healthcare.

[Ben]

Yeah, it's bonkers. However, there's good news. The new Amazon Health AI is different. It can connect your symptoms with your medical history. To offer personalized care 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

[Noel]

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[Matt Hud Hut]

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[Noel]

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[Noel]

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[Ben]

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[Matt Hud Hut]

Well, I thought you were all going

[Ben]

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[Ari Chambers]

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[Sam J]

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[Ben Nadifrey]

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[Sam J]

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[Ari Chambers]

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[Ben]

Here are the facts. We call it the draft here in the States. It's our local term for mandatory enlistment in the armed services. Most other countries call that conscription, right? Or mandatory service. It's been around forever, like Mesopotamia level forever.

[Noel]

Well, it's considered a civic duty, you know, as being part of a society, you got to fight for that society, which in a lot of ways makes sense. But it gets complicated once we get into some real murky political territories. But in the old days, I imagine it would have made sense to a certain degree that, you know, if you want the comfort of living in a protected civilization, that you may be called up to participate in its protection.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Yeah. It gets hairy, though, when we're talking about some of the early empires that were doing this kind of thing, right? Because the empire rolls through, makes up some new rules, and then says, hey, if we need you, you've got to fight with your blood and your arms, and you have to defend this empire that now controls and owns your entire society.

[Noel]

And you have to aid in us acquiring other empires or in. In broadening the reach of our empire. So at that point, it becomes a whole new thing, not just about protecting you and yours, but about aiding in some massive, essentially corporate takeover of the world.

[Ben]

Right, right, right. And you. You have to comply because similar to the way health care is tied to employment in the United States today, in the times of ancient empires like Babylon, before they had a warrior class like the Ottoman Janissaries of later eras, before they had a military elite. Your health insurance job thing, right? The connection for your rights and roles and responsibilities in this society was something called Ilkum I L k u m. It was a conscription system that said if you want to own land, for the right to own any land of your own in our empire, you have to be a soldier when we need you to be. To your earlier point, Noel. And we know this is true because it's literally carved in the code of Hammurabi.

[Matt Hud Hut]

And let's remember here that often when conscription is used throughout time, it's used in what would be called an emergency by the folks who are ringing the bell. Right, right. The ones who are saying hey, hey, hey, everybod time. We need you for this emergency to serve.

[Noel]

Right. Yeah.

[Ben]

And we know this is very popular for empires historically. It's actually more the rule than the exception. If you fast forward a bit through feudal Europe and the Middle Ages, we'll see all sorts of similar systems. If you are a peasant and you own land, you might be required to look around your family and choose one guy from your family for military duty. So everybody has to pay a blood price.

[Noel]

And in the feudal system. And maybe I'm Game of Thrones ifying this a little too much. It would be this idea of these lords calling up their bannermen, you know, that are sort of the folks under them in that structure. They answer to the lords of the region who answer to the king.

[Ben]

Right. And when the lords of the region answering to a king or attempting to overthrow a king, also a possibility. Right. Man fight. Or when they call up their troops, they're all given. This often happened. They were given like a quota. Go back to, you know, your little suzerain. Go back to the part of our area you control and don't come back unless you have 200 people with you. We don't care how you get them, just make sure they can fight. And if you didn't own land, you were not immune to this. If you were a serf, you didn't have much of a say in the. In the first place. The ruler said jump. They had no choice but to comply.

[Noel]

Well, and before we had things like nuclear weapons and cold wars and all that, I mean the, the measure of power was how many able bodied humans you could call up at any given time.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Yeah. And let's also remember that the lords are probably still wearing their silicon cloths.

[Noel]

No doubt about it. They're not riding out to battle with their guys.

[Matt Hud Hut]

They might have some chain mail or some ceremonial armor on, you know, and hang out on a parapet somewhere and see you all off.

[Ben]

Yeah. Do check out our. We did an episode on ridiculous history a while back on whether knights really wore suits of armor and how it worked. But for the lords, especially after a certain amount of time and aristocratic degeneracy, they became Ceremonial pieces. These guys weren't on the front line.

[Noel]

Golden, filigreed, you know, bespoke pieces that were worthy of the station. Not functional in any way, shape or form.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Why don't presidents.

[Noel]

It's a good analog, man.

[Ben]

And those portraits were exactly like the covers you would see on gangster rap CDs for their time because they had, you know, they always had Noel Knight. You were talking, you and I were talking about this. They always had like a little dog on the side, little sidekick. Look at my weapons, look at my jewelry. It is a rap album cover.

[Noel]

Well, real quick, Matt, you're talking about the President's. The analogy between, you know, the lords and the kings and the presidents. I mean, now instead of suits of arm, we just have suits.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Yeah, I was just referencing System of a Down, one of the best songs they made.

[Ben]

And we know this. We know that during the French Revolution, a lot of these nobles and rulers and aristocrats did end up on the front lines because their heads were taken from them. This is also right. This is also where we see the first, what we would call the first, like modern draft, from which most other draft systems descend.

[Noel]

Placed on pikes even, you know.

[Ben]

Yeah, and an interesting change in the French Revolution is that people were pressed into service regardless of their social class under the old regime. And the U.S. to be fair, caught onto this idea pretty quickly. We had something like a draft back in the Revolutionary War. So far up to now, again, July 13, 2026, the U.S. has passed some version of a draft in six separate conflicts. The aforementioned Revolutionary War, the Civil War, terrible name. World Wars I and 2, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. So only six times across like 250 something years.

[Noel]

Well, Ben, to your point about France too, I mean, with the lower classes also being called up to fight, the cause matters, you know, at a certain point. I mean, those lower class folks would go on to fight, but not for those in power against them, you know, to protect their own rights. So you do get to a really tricky situation where the cause you're being called up to defend is not yours and does not in any way aid you and your family. Then things really start to get iffy.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Let's stay on that for a second because just if we look at some stats, I only have stats for World War I through Vietnam War, but just with the number of human people that were conscripted to war during these wars within the US and this is coming from CNN via the Selective Service, like their actual data, World War I, which is 1917-18. 2.8 million people got conscripted. 2.8 million people got pulled up in this, which is just crazy to think about. But then World War II in the US 10.1 million people got conscripted. 10 million human beings got pulled into this. And when we're talking about, you know, why. Why we fight, right. There's a pretty famous propaganda film that the US Government made called why We Fight in a bunch of different parts. And we're actually going to be using that for a video coming up shortly for this show. But there's a very specific picture and compelling picture painted for why we needed that number of human beings to fight against Germany and then against Germany again. And, you know, why the world was at stake. Right. Then when you get to the Korean conflict, Ben, and this is where we start to see that part matter a little more. Is it. Are we really protecting the world or a country, or is this more ideological when we're talking about, you know, the country of Korea battling amongst itself for ideological purposes? Right. It's more ideological at that point, I think. I guess it is all the way down, but.

[Noel]

And then Vietnam really represents that, you know, public perception of that sea change, where. This ain't really about us, is it? And I don't want to go.

[Ben]

Yeah, I mean, that's part of why drafts have always been controversial to one degree or another, especially when, as we are saying, the overall public does not fully support a conflict. And public support for conflicts, history is proven. There's an interesting correlation. The better communication technology is with the public, the more likely the public is to disagree with the reasons for going to war, especially foreign interventions. Right. Things are not happening on U.S. soil.

[Noel]

Well, that was a big part of Vietnam, too, because there was more reporting on that. It was a lot more transparent. You know, I mean, I'm sure that the administration wasn't pleased about that to a certain degree, but it was more like people were really seeing what was going on, and it made it a lot harder to hit them with that propaganda piece because they were getting a more realistic portrayal of what was actually going on the ground, what was actually at stake and who was, you know, responsible for that.

[Ben]

Yeah, they were getting in media arrest video footage. That was the huge difference.

[Matt Hud Hut]

And yet still the United States government was able to conscript one and a half million people for the Korean war and then 1.9 million people for the Vietnam War. And. And it's still unfathomable, unfathomable to me that that number of human beings went through the system we're going to be describing today and then had to just go get on a bus, go get tested, and then head on out to a conflict, you know, half the world away.

[Ben]

Yeah. And again, for Americans, Vietnam is probably the most well represented instance of this controversy. We know during that draft period, a lot of people sought ways to get out, either as conscientious objectors, I think this rule is malarkey, or I think this war is malarkey, or they moved away. There's a great scene in the phenomenal novel the things they carried about people who contemplate going to Canada. It was much easier to squeeze over the border back in the 70s. Or they would try to escape military service through embellishing certain medical conditions. There's the story of. I think it was. Ted Nugent was accused. Ted. Pardon me if I'm off base here, if I'm confusing you with someone else, but the musician Ted Nugent was accused of purposely crapping himself to get out of service. And then of course, you have things like embellishing medical conditions like bone spurs.

[Noel]

Yeah. And Ted Nugent, of course, also famously had cat scratch fever. So that was also.

[Matt Hud Hut]

I don't, I.

[Noel]

You don't think that's grounds for.

[Matt Hud Hut]

I don't know. Well, the only reason I'm sitting here talking to you today and you can see me right now, is because my father got drafted to the Vietnam War. When he went in and got tested, they said, oh, no, you can't, because of this health thing, you need to come back. He got tested again. They passed him. So he went out to a bus and as he went to get on that bus, his name, for some reason, we don't know why, was not on the clipboard that as of people that are supposed to be taken for basic training. So he got off and he didn't have to go to war and he was able to have children. So there you go. A lot of my kind, man.

[Noel]

I mean, like, in terms of who we're going to get into all that, like the people that aren't qualified, quote unquote, once they do get called up. But even just the whole getting on the bus and having to go to be tested, like, when you think about it now, it feels like something out of a dystopian sci fi situation, you know, like being rounded up and forced to go to some sort of like, you know, facility. Like, I don't know, it's just the

[Matt Hud Hut]

reason why I'm emphasizing this emergency lever, like why the draft and conscription is such an emergency lever is because they're. They wanted people like my dad, who was very young, you know, just getting into college and still in his teens at the time. About to turn 20, I think, or a little. No, he was. He was still in his teens, and he was a college student, like a liberal arts college student. And what the hell is he going to do? Even if he goes through basic training, that guy doesn't have the. Whatever the warrior spirit thing that Hegseth always likes to talk about. He doesn't have that. And you're just going to put him out there on the front line somewhere because it's an emergency. It just seems. It seems backwards in a lot of ways.

[Ben]

It always brings up the dangerous, sinister implication of people being used as cannon, Father. Right. In shake and bake programs. And Vietnam, obviously, is the most recent in American memory. The most recent example of the draft, which ended in 1973. But before then, it was an even bigger conscription scandal during the Civil War. This led to a bunch of very violent riots because their draft act was in 1863. And it said, look, if you are 20 years old or between 20 and 45 years old, you have to register for the draft. But you only have to actually do this if you're poor because you can pay someone to show up in your place, or if you have $300, you can give it to Uncle Sam and you don't have to do anything after that. The problem was 300 bucks might not sound like a backbreaking amount of cash now, but it was a huge amount of cheddar back in the day, back in the 1800s. And so this $300 price point, by design, was to help save the children of the wealthy. They knew this option was far out of reach for the majority of families, for sure. So it became a war of the poor. Golden parachute. Yeah, golden parachute. These are serious economic inequalities. The most infamous backlash was the New York draft riots. Over 119 people died in just three days in July of 1863. And most of the people who were affected by this were impoverished Irish immigrants. There was also a culture war at play. The powers that be said, you know, Irish immigrants who are being targeted, don't question the system. You should find a different minority to hate. And we think that minority should be African Americans. So rioters even burned orphanages to the ground.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Oof.

[Noel]

She has a bad look. Bad luck.

[Mangesha]

That's.

[Noel]

Yeah, you know.

[Sam J]

Right.

[Ben]

Right.

[Noel]

Heart's in the right place. Bad execution.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Yeah, Ben, I. I'm still thinking about that concept of you could pay $300 and get out of it. That to me is mind blowing. And I. I don't think there's anything officially on the books today that's equivalent to that. Right. You can't pay to get out of.

[Noel]

Well, not directly or at least register. You can pay somebody under the table to. To hook you up with the right diagnosis, I imagine.

[Mangesha]

Right?

[Ben]

Yeah, that's one way. You can also. You could also exercise a little bit of nepotism to get a Kush domestic assignment.

[Noel]

Right.

[Matt Hud Hut]

So if that's like, important to the

[Ben]

war, somehow important to the war or necessitates you not being in the war, so maybe you get a posh position in a federal level domestic operation.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Right, dude? Yep. Okay. Okay. So there is something like that. But just.

[Noel]

But it's all off the books. It's all like underhanded. And is this. This I. I got to at least respect or that they were right above board. Pay us 300 and you can. You can go.

[Matt Hud Hut]

I mean, there's something I was gonna say or. No, it has to be absolutely official. Like, it has to be some kind of big time official position that is so in the open as you're talking about, Ben. Everybody just goes, okay. Oh, no, definitely can't go.

[Noel]

No way too important, too big to fail.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Just seeing that $300, the equivalent now is around 8,000 bucks.

[Ben]

So imagine $979.12.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Yeah, so imagine if you just had that like cash lying around kind of thing. Like you had $8,000 you had access to right now, and you could get out of it. And now imagine how many people in your world don't have that, right?

[Noel]

I mean, it would have to be a more prohibitive number if they were going to do it today. It would have to be almost like paying for that gold immigration card. It had to be like a million bucks or something crazy that only the mega rich could have.

[Ben]

I think 10,000 would do it.

[Matt Hud Hut]

I think. I mean, 8 to 10,000. I'm really seriously. I think that's prohibitive. That's like a down payment. Like a huge down payment on a major purchase, right. That somebody's been saving up for, for a long time. So I'm just.

[Noel]

I know, but this would be. This is like emergency stuff. This is the kind of thing you would use your emergency fund. You would use all of your savings to do. I'm just saying, like, I think most people would. To save their kid from the draft would probably tap into every saving that every bit of savings they had. So I'm just saying the number for it not to be just everyone. I'm not saying everyone has $10,000 in savings. I'm just saying there would be accessibility to that kind of money, whether it be borrowing it from relatives or whatever that might cause a ding in the effectiveness of the draft. But if it were than that, then truly it would be that golden parachute.

[Ben]

Here's another thing that would happen immediately in this economic climate. There would be new operations that I would call freedom layaway where you have instead of a student loan, you have a get the out of the war loan.

[Mangesha]

Right.

[Ben]

And you just spend the rest of your life paying that off with interest at an egregious interest rate and it does not get discharged in bankruptcy. That very well could happen for sure.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Like all of your purchases for the next year are pre taxed somehow garnished wages.

[Sam J]

Yes.

[Ben]

And we see. So we see the United States and indeed all other countries consistently tinkering with this system. The Selective Service act of 1917 is signed by the Woodrow administration as the US is spinning up to enter World War I. We mentioned that earlier stat, about 2.8 million people. I think it's important to realize the ratio here. 2.8 million actually got drafted, but 24 million had to register. This is a dark lottery and it waxes and wanes over time. The thing that has a lot of people worried right now is currently our sss, the Selective Service system is on standby. Congress can very easily just the switch and start up again.

[Noel]

They might have to think about rebranding that name too given circumstance. It is, I don't know.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Zss.

[Noel]

Zss indeed.

[Ben]

It means that if you, even if you are not a citizen, if you are an immigrant resident here, legally a non citizen, if you're a dude between the ages of 18 and 25, you are registered with the system. You have to do it within a month of your 18th birthday. Currently women are excluded from the draft but are allowed to volunteer for service. And we'll see why that is leading to a very nasty bag of badgers in the near future. But I, I guess again without. We're going to focus on the States because we know that best for tonight's episode. But we do have to emphasize conscription models exist in so many countries across the planet and a lot of them actually have a more hardline thing. Countries like Israel for instance. Yeah. Both female and male citizens don't just have to register for the possibility of military service. You have a mandatory term in the army Unless you qualify for certain exemptions. Like, religious exemption is the most popular there.

[Noel]

Like, I believe the actress Gail Gadot was in the Israeli military for that very reason.

[Ben]

Yeah. And, I mean, there are little policy differences from one place to the next. But what it proves time and time again is that a significant amount of countries all ran a calculus and they said, look, we have to do something to make sure we actually have an army when we need one. So, ethics aside, objectively, that makes sense, but it also, you know, it makes sense that the public would see this as an incredibly controversial thing, especially if you don't support a war. I was looking at a awesome guy, Nate Silver, an amazing analyst, and on his website, his research indicates that as of July 12th, like yesterday, as we're recording, only 36% of the American public supported the idea of the conflict with Iran, 57% strongly oppose it. And people don't want to die for something they don't believe in.

[Noel]

Well, I mean, to the early versions of what we were talking about, where it sort of makes sense, where it's like, okay, in order to be a part of this civilization, I should be willing to protect it, you know, to participate in its protection from outside invaders or, you know, bad guys coming to threaten our way of life. But once you get into all of these political machinations and these, like, really nuanced kind of deals and international affairs, it starts to become really ideologically driven. And the justification for, well, no, this is that thing. This war is us protecting ourselves, but it's just this circuitous path to that. And we're saying, like, we're protecting ourselves now from what could happen if this happens. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's just. It becomes so far removed from the original notion of just, we're here to protect ourselves from people trying to hurt us.

[Ben]

Yeah. Interventionist policy is always tricky, especially in purported democracies. So in Vietnam, to your point, Noel, big rationalization for foreign intervention was sold to the public as ideological. It was called the domino effect, which I think we've all heard of, which argued that in the Great War between communism and capitalism, every country that agreed with the communist model would lead to another country agreeing, creating an exponential growth of communism. So that was our rationale and then

[Noel]

that of Red Scare thinking. Just, you know, I mean, the Big Bad, the boogeyman of communism. Right.

[Ben]

Yeah. And that didn't work. So we did a false flag with the Gulf of Tonkin.

[Noel]

Right.

[Ben]

And that. That was our Bella's cause. Yeah, Yeah. I mean, the Last, the last day, though, the last day there was ever a draft. A lot of, a lot of you in the audience tonight. This is going to sound wild and far removed from your lives. The last day of the Vietnam draft was June 30, 1973. Condolences to everyone who got roped in on June 29th. That's got to feel like a kick in the pants, dude.

[Noel]

Exactly.

[Ben]

The day before.

[Matt Hud Hut]

What are your opinions on the concept of mandatory basic training for every human being that reaches the age of 19?

[Ben]

I think it's a good idea.

[Noel]

I think it's similar to the idea of like presidential fit and physical fitness challenges in public schools. I mean, there's a certain amount of like, preparedness and, and positive things that come from. I don't think it has to be combat driven per se, but I just think there's certain, I think there should be some level of physical fitness requirements in this country and we can see the, you know, the downside of that not being the case. So, yeah, it's an interesting concept and I'm into it.

[Ben]

It's an issue of national security. And also a lot of countries that do have mandatory service. When you join up for your two years or what have you, that doesn't mean you're going to be in a combat role automatically. There's so many logistical and support positions that enable a fighting force.

[Matt Hud Hut]

I think about our previous discussions of a lot of European countries that have that six months, 12 months, basically where you're conscripted the moment you turn a certain age, or in Turkey, you, you go, you know, for several months and then you're done until you're possibly needed, at which time you would be like fully conscripted back into the thing. But you're trained now. I, I, part of me really wishes I had gone through some kind of basic training just to have that knowledge, you know, or that because fitness would be good. Right. But you have to maintain that. And if you're gonna, let's say, get this basic training and then five years down the road get conscripted for an emergency, you may not be in that same shape.

[Noel]

That's a good point. But you're talking about more the thinking behind the drills and like some of the strategic aspects, understanding. Yeah, yeah, yeah, right.

[Matt Hud Hut]

So if you do find yourself in that position in this emergency, you at least can hit the ground running.

[Ben]

And we, we, again, I've said it in the past, there, there are a lot of things involved with health and physical fitness that should be considered matters of national security. Public healthcare is a matter of national security. That's the only way it's going to pass in the United States. And now to this point about fitness. We see some long tail consequences on the horizon. Since 1973, since June 30, the US military has been an entirely voluntary force. And I'm going hard with the air quotes there because later in this episode, we'll see why that is not exactly 100% true. And we also see guys like we were talking in our earlier strange news segment this week. Given the growing tensions in the Middle Eastern sphere, in the East Asian sphere, the growing habit of appetite for intervention in Latin America, we see an administration that has more and more people worried. And more and more people are asking, based on recent signals in the news and from policymakers, what if the draft comes back? What will it look like? How will it be instituted? What does that mean for the future of America and American families? Hey, folks, have you ever picked up something at the grocery store that looked healthy? You know, but then you flip it over and you see the list of ingredients and you're saying, I can't pronounce half of these things.

[Noel]

That's true. And that's exactly why you should check out Wise Code, the Ultra Processed Food Detector. All you gotta do is scan a product and instantly you can see whether it's ultra processed.

[Matt Hud Hut]

You can even take a step further by viewing its nutrition quality and health quality, giving you a better understanding of what's really in the food you're picking up.

[Ben]

So don't delay. Download Wise Code, that's W, I, S, e code. All one word on the app store today and make grocery shopping a little easier.

[Ari Chambers]

What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers.

[Sam J]

Hey, what's up, y'?

[Ben Nadifrey]

All?

[Sam J]

It's your girl, Sam J.

[Ari Chambers]

And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports, a new podcast from Together. And I heart women's sports because, let's

[Sam J]

be real, women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days.

[Ari Chambers]

So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii.

[Sam J]

My first thought is, like, what's up with the snack? Like, what are we?

[Noel]

What are we eating?

[Ari Chambers]

The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire

[Sam J]

timeline and the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week. Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports.

[Ari Chambers]

Naomi Osaka showing out. She beat Sabalenka.

[Sam J]

Shout outs to you, Naomi.

[Ari Chambers]

You get The Palm, Naomi, you get the Palm for that.

[Sam J]

Because we're not just interested in what happened, we're interested in why everyone talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's Sports on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben Nadifrey]

Thirty years ago, an island off Manhattan almost brought down New York City.

[Ben]

Who will you trust? Your friends and neighbors? Who will you trust? The people five miles overseas.

[Ben Nadifrey]

This is a story about neighbors turning on each other and what happens when a forgotten place decides it's had enough.

[Ben]

We reached for a feeling that exists in this city, but we're not stopping, are we?

[Ben Nadifrey]

I'm Ben Nadifray, and for my new series on revisionist history, I took a deep dive into Staten Island's attempt to secede from New York city in the 1990s and what it all has to do with the politics of resentment that dominate America today. Listen to revisionist history, the Staten island problem on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mangesha]

I'm Mangesha together and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about and what it really means to live forever for all of us. I learned about some rad science.

[Ben]

I can make a brain for you

[Matt Hud Hut]

and then we can test what drug

[Ben]

is the best for your brain as opposed to his brain.

[Mangesha]

Here are some hard truths they would

[Ben]

have expect Indians to age faster, but

[Matt Hud Hut]

I did not expect it to be almost a four to five year acceleration

[Mangesha]

and get myself into a world of trouble.

[Sam J]

I'd say probably start bone smashing.

[Matt Hud Hut]

That doesn't work.

[Noel]

Make it look more defined.

[Sam J]

They say it works. I don't know.

[Mangesha]

Listen to Skyline Drive, how to live Forever on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Ben]

Here's where it gets crazy. We have been keeping an eye on this since the end of 2025 and the end early this year, 2026, because a lot of people began speculating about a return to conscription, a return from the draft to the draft. A big part of this is that we're seeing a lot of politicos and analysts in Washington and circles quietly working to modernize the current draft system we have. So imagine if you're walking past your neighbor's house, right, and you know, this guy used to street race all the time. And you see them with their sick cat Challenger to keep it military. You see him tinkering with that stuff and putting all kinds of mods under the hood. And you say, hey, are you getting back into street racing? And they say, oh, no, I'm just. Just modernizing.

[Noel]

So you're saying behind the scenes there have been for who knows how long, efforts to streamline this system in a way that if it were needed to be implemented, it could be done more efficiently.

[Ben]

Yes, that's. That's absolutely the aim of the current administration. There was a. Guys, remember for a while there was a press secretary named Carolyn Levitt.

[Noel]

Ain't she back?

[Ben]

Is she back?

[Noel]

Maternity. Maternity leave. Well, she's talking again, saying real smart stuff. Yeah. Yep. Love her.

[Ben]

So, Ted. Dad, no notes. In an earlier interview, Levitt said a draft is not part of the current administration's plans. Dramatic pause, ellipses. But also, our great president Donald Trump will not rule out what we call any future options.

[Noel]

Fearless leader.

[Ben]

Still, I'm not racing. I'm just fixing the car. You're the one being weird. Just because I'm painting racing stripes on my car.

[Noel]

I don't see it happening. I mean, I know we're not there yet, but it's just such an odd deflection and just a way of just increasing anxiety. I mean, I immediately Googled like, I'm 42. Do I qualify? And then it turned out there have been examples of that, that age range being broadened given certain emergency circumstances. So it's not beyond the realm of possibility that were they to flip it and it were extreme enough a situation to require them doing that in the first place. Flip it back on that. They might also broaden the age range.

[Ben]

Yeah, I keep thinking about that Eminem line while we're researching this. I'm 28, you're 23. They're going to take you before they take me. We also see it in Russia, by the way, which broadened some of their conscription age requirements.

[Matt Hud Hut]

I just had this image as you're describing this and you know, us being so old now at this point. Sorry. That we are a little bit. It's fine. I'm imagining all of these 18, 19 year olds getting conscripted out of high schools and stuff. And I'm just imagining all the kids, you know, like, look, and this is not trying to be ageist here. This is just my experience of what I've observed. But all these kids that are just this, you know, I gotta do what?

[Noel]

Fair, Matt. No, that's true. There's an attention span issue, I think too. But also warfare has changed fundamentally. Maybe a little more in line with that on the phone mentality. And some of those kids that are absolutely shredding at call of duty would probably be great at a drone operation and things like that. So, you know, it doesn't mean the same thing as it used to mean because getting drafted today wouldn't necessarily mean that you're quote unquote on the ground running with a rifle and you know, to. Towards the enemy or going over the top. It might be more likely mean that you piloting some sort of drone or, you know, anyway, no, if we're talking

[Matt Hud Hut]

about millions of people, right, or even hundreds of thousands of people, they get conscripted yet there aren't going to be that many drones.

[Noel]

I'm just being speculative here, but I am curious. We don't know what it looks like. It's a good point.

[Matt Hud Hut]

That's true.

[Ben]

And the to, to that earlier point, we know for sure that certain technical roles, certain different Moses that didn't exist in earlier conflicts are going to be prioritized. And actually 18 and 19 year olds are not usually the top prioritization in the draft system. I mean, I want to go back to this before we lose it. One of the worrying things geopolitically and domestically for this current administration is that strategic ambiguity that will they, won't they? Is it two weeks and another two weeks or is it right now? Because I had a bad day on Twitter, that's why a lot of the American public is definitely creeped out and not satisfied with this. Not right now, but maybe, maybe, maybe you don't know if I will. Yeah, I don't know if I will. Don't ask me if I will. I don't know. That's scary. That's terrifying because a lot of our Vietnam veterans in the crowd tonight and thank you for tuning in. You already know that being drafted can absolutely upend your life. Even if you're not in a combat role, even if you're not continually risking serious injury and death, you are losing years of your life that you can't get back. So to hear the White House, the leadership of the land, say there are no immediate plans, we all realize that's a hell of a lot different from saying absolutely not.

[Noel]

It's very flippant, very non committal. I'm not gonna lie, man, if I were even called up to go to be tested or to be in that system, I don't know what I would do. I think I would pull rip cord and get the, go back and, and be out of here because just to even be in that system, just to even be pulled into that, that could be life changing. And, and just the feeling, the loss of autonomy, the, the feeling that all of a sudden you're being pulled into something that you don't support or that you have no ideological connection to in any way, shape or form. I just, I think that would, it would, I would be terrified just to even get that call.

[Ben]

Absolutely. And it's understandable that terror, especially to the earlier note about being glib, we can say this is an apolitical point, that at the very least the current administration has some room for improvement in their bedside manner in their communication. I'm recalling a recent or a time interview a while back with President Donald Trump. He was asked about Iran, right? This interview was all about Iran for the most part. And he had a line that really stood out to me and I think to everybody when he was, he was being pressed on some points about the conflict and he said, quote, like I said, some people will die when you go to war. Some people will die, end quote. That doesn't.

[Noel]

What an analysis.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Sir, Isn't it weird to think you get a moral evaluation when you, when you show up at one of these, what do they call them, MEPs state, what is it called, military entrance or something like that, processing stations.

[Noel]

Feels like being amoral in certain parts of this discussion would be a feature, not a bug. You know, the ability to put morals aside in favor of a potentially incredibly amoral cause or conflict or set of orders.

[Ben]

And they considered for a lot of those evaluations in the past. Please remember, folks, they considered sexual orientation as a matter of morality, right? So there were a lot of loopholes and there still are a lot of loopholes. That's a huge problem with the system.

[Noel]

Can we also just point out, I don't remember the names of the group, but there was a group of legacy commanders, former, I believe, male military high commanding officials, who put out a video saying, saying it's your duty to, to deny or to ignore war crime, you know, you know, orders that would constitute war crimes. And then the administration said that's treason, right? To say that to remind people of their fundamental duty to not do war crime is, Is treason. That's.

[Ben]

And they're also, in addition to concerns about how many loopholes exist, there are also concerns, like you said, about the morality of compliance to war crimes. There are huge concerns about how some demographics are inevitably targeted more than others. For conscription. And then we also have to ask, is this system really a lottery? The current one, however, it gets modernized. We think the current one is still going to be like the Vietnam SSS of old. They're going to use a national lottery based on collected birth dates, meaning that birthdays will be drawn randomly to determine the order in which you are called for evaluation and potential membership. Non consensual in our fighting forces. So they aim for 20 year olds first. That gets prioritized first. At least that's the way the old system was. After that it aims for 21 year olds and then a range for people from 22 to 25. And then as the fourth iteration, the fourth step, they call up the 19 and 18 year olds. They actually don't want them first for a couple of reasons. You know, pretty understandable schooling, probably some cognitive development. Right when you get to your, when you report, like Matt was saying to your MEPs, you get a medical screening, a physical, an admin screening, and that is the time when unscrupulous people embellish or make up conditions to get out. That is also the time when people who may really want to serve might find out they have a condition that precludes them from service.

[Matt Hud Hut]

It's weird, just the word unscrupulous there, I'm just, you know, people who are aware of the system and the machine and don't want to fight for it is kind of the same as somebody who would be considered unscrupulous there.

[Ben]

I'm saying unscrupulous from the perspective in terms of people who make up conditions, medical conditions. That is why we're using the word unscrupulous. Conscientious objectors, which is what you're describing, I think, are a different bag of badgers and not in any way, if anything, they are scrupled.

[Noel]

All roads lead to Rome, I guess it's all about the outcome, you know what I mean? And like how you are able to pull it off. Your actual reasoning for wanting to get out of it, I think is not necessarily going to be the same. You know, some people might just want to get out of it because they just, you know, they don't necessarily have an opinion about it one way or the other. So I'd see your point, Ben, in differentiating between the kind of reasoning behind wanting to get out of it.

[Ben]

And there's not, by the way, the good news, which we'll, we'll harp out a couple times here. There is not currently a draft. The question is why is it so easy for the US to enact conscription whenever it wants, regardless of whether or not there is an actual war, regardless of whether or not the American public supports the idea of intervening in a conflict. The fact that lawmakers are looking so intently at tinkering with this system and modernizing it, it's a fat red flag for the critics. We can't ignore that some modernization is probably necessary whether or not a draft happens. It's been a while since one was in play. So the current process has a lot of problems. Not just conscription, but the way people can end up in the armed forces overall. I mean, the biggest one, obviously we talked about is that the onus is on you. You're a newly minted 18 year old. You've got so much going on in your life nowadays. You probably don't write letters statistically, but now you gotta reply with this one. And if you don't take action, then even though the government could register you themselves, you are going to find heavy consequences for not complying. It's so nuts. It's like how our IRS tax system makes no sense, right? Like, oh, we know how much money you actually made and you actually owe. And you say, oh, okay, well, can you just tell me? And they go, no, you have to guess. And if you don't guess right, you're going to jail.

[Matt Hud Hut]

God, I don't know. It's not because of the voice, but I just got this image of somebody like Ryan Seacrest, you know, on a live stream, on YouTube video or something and, or on Netflix. And he just got all the birthdays up on the board and they are choosing birthdays for the draft and it's just Ryan Seacrest making a big, like, patriotic deal somehow.

[Noel]

No, it's like Hunger Games vibes, you know, he's the presenter and the Great Lottery. Yes.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Congratulations. September.

[Ben]

Right? We. Congratulations, September 11th. Double whammy for you guys. So, yeah, this, I mean, this is also interesting because other countries way before now created automatic registration. It is not an impossible Rubicon to cross. This means the government would take your Social Security info from a grant database or state driver's license systems and they would just flip the switch. So you're 18, you probably get a notice in the mail or heck, maybe a text on your phone that just tells you, watch out, you're signed up. Now, supporters do dig this. They say it's a huge assist to compliance and it also inevitably will give us more comprehensive Palantir level data about individual people.

[Matt Hud Hut]

I would love to see like all of us draft what that what that message would be or, you know, like your text alert, like, congratulations, you're signed up for the strongest military in the world.

[Ben]

Or then even worse. Yeah, I feel even worse. We would try to be cool with it because we've got a lot of like, tone deaf, hello, fellow kids, language already with this ad.

[Sam J]

Yeah.

[Ben]

I'd be like, lmao. Broski, how come tighten up.

[Noel]

How come we don't have, like, monster energy drink sponsoring the US army at this point? It just seems like we should be. We should be getting close to that.

[Ben]

We kind of do. I feel like maybe not as official yet, but I. I could totally see it. No, I could totally see more private. Private sponsorship of the military.

[Mangesha]

Yeah.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Speaking of military adjacent stuff, guys, thinking back to the UFC now in the White House, there is a recent fight with Conor McGregor over the weekend as we record on July 3rd.

[Ben]

Yeah. It did not go well for Connor.

[Matt Hud Hut]

It was one of the most spectacular letdowns. There's been a couple in. In his career and in the UFC's like, run of having these, like, major, this is the fight that you gotta see. And then it just kind of ends with, yeah. And he, like, tried to do a jump kick, like a weird jump round kick kind of thing and totally busted his knee like on the first moment of the match. Oh, no. And then they just had to call it off out of competition.

[Ben]

He was just. He was trying to get to Bloodsport immediately. You know what I mean? He didn't build up to it. We also. We also know.

[Noel]

Hilarious. Save that for later in the match. At the very.

[Matt Hud Hut]

I just imagine. Ben, I don't mean to interrupt. I imagine that's the way a lot of this will end up going down when eventually the US Military tries to do this whole thing that we're kind of describing. It just. It's like, all right, here we go. And then it just kind of doesn't work very well.

[Ben]

Exactly. Yeah. I agree with the military with that comparison. Yeah. There is one thing we have to talk about. This is personally important to me and I think it's going to be important to all of us. Tuning in. I know it's important to us as a group are on the same page. There's a related problem to the system that's not part of the draft, but it is tangential. Remember how we use those hard air quotes when we said our current armed forces are entirely voluntary? I think that's technically true, but it's misleading. Just leaving that statement as is is cognitively fraudulent. Yeah, it's Fraudulent. Yeah. Because the ranks of the US Military are filled with young people who often had no other options in life. It is historically common across cultures for people who have disadvantaged backgrounds to sign up as a way of escaping living circumstances. You're from a very poor area. You look around, there are no jobs, there's no educational opportunity, no economic opportunity. Yeah, you could say those folks in those situations are volunteering, but they're doing it because they feel they have no other choice. So the question then becomes a lot of us still quarrel with this. Is that actually volunteering when there are no other options?

[Matt Hud Hut]

Uh, oh, and it's called service. So could you use the word servitude?

[Ben]

Right, yeah, that's. I mean, there's some etymology in there too, for sure, man. I mean, even we fast forward the modern day. Right. Like, I remember talking to a lot of Vietnam vets who said, I, yeah, if I hadn't have gotten drafted, I would have volunteered because there was nothing going on in my part of Alabama. Right. And college was out of the question. We're seeing the same factors again. We're in a K shaped economy. That's what the boffins call it. Socioeconomic inequality is skyrocketing. The cost of living across the board is ballooning. Property rates, cars, household items, childcare. Beat me here again, Dylan and Jordan. People are getting squeezed. There's. We don't even have to get into health care. There are people who join the army because they could get room and board medical treatment. Depending on your specific role. You can also get high level training that sets you up for a private industry career after you do your bid. And it's the kind of thing where the money is great and you probably could not have had that training if you hadn't been in the military. It's kind of like how so many commercial pilots have military service. Not all of them, but a lot of them, because it's the easiest way to get the training for sure.

[Noel]

And also, like, I mean, there is the GI Bill. There are some positive aspects of joining the military. Like a friend of mine, very smart dude, struggled in school though, I believe, kind of due to some undiagnosed mental health issues. But then he went on to join the Navy, and it really did kind of give him some structure and taught him a lot about himself. And then he used that GI Bill money to become a lawyer. And now he is a lawyer who protects people who are getting unfairly evicted and treated horribly by, you know, slumlords. So there is a path, there is A career path that involves the military that doesn't always necessarily feel like a forced move.

[Ben]

Yeah, but again, is it volunteering if that's your only option? Right. And the GI Bill is magnificent. It has changed people's lives. Yeah.

[Noel]

That's all I'm saying. I'm just saying there's, there's. There's a myriad of situations out there, you know? You know, but you're absolutely right, Ben. I mean, there are folks who, because of lack of resources, sources in our society, and because of historical things like racism and redlining and all of the stuff that legacy inequality, then you could argue that they don't have any other options.

[Ben]

Yeah, man. I go a step further. I would say certain powerful forces are very happy with the inequality of the system because it feeds the war machine. That baked in inequality arguably already functions as a quiet draft all its own. And it happens every day in the United States.

[Noel]

Grist for the mill, as they say.

[Ben]

Just so. Cannon fighter.

[Matt Hud Hut]

I don't want to derail us. I just had a thought about the cost of becoming trained in combat in any sort. And I only know this because of direct experience with my kids in just studying Taekwondo and how expensive that is on a yearly basis. Right. And what I have to budget for, for that. That and then imagining in. In the same state, if my kids were just into baseball, it would cost a fraction of that price for them to get all of their equipment to go and play, you know, a season of baseball and do all the tournaments and all that stuff, it would cost a fraction. But then if I'm actually trying to get my kids, like in a. In some small way combat trained or aware in the things that Taekwondo teaches, it costs that much money. Sorry, if you're on Netflix. I'm trying to illustrate with my hands here. But then just imagining how much combat training you're getting by becoming constricted and going into the military voluntarily or not, just what you are gaining from that. And I wonder, Ben, I've never seen it written out as like a how much would cost. Right. Or what is the worth of the training you're getting when you're going through some of the basic and then specialist training? I just, I've never actually seen that in a dollar amount.

[Ben]

Yeah, there are some breakdowns. I don't know how accurate they are, but as we can imagine, they vary widely depending upon the specific skill set. So for instance, we have a good friend of the show who joined the Navy. Navy a while back and is now. I don't want to Be too specific because it's rarefied air. But now, this guy has been out of the Navy for quite some time, works in Germany and the United States back and forth with very, very high level sensitivity submarine instruments. And he technically works for a private company, but he is one of the only guys who could do the job because he's one of the only people in all of the world's military who had this training. Right?

[Matt Hud Hut]

So.

[Noel]

So I think we're all just agreeing that there are bankable skills that can come from military service, conscripted or not.

[Ben]

And the question then is, yeah, if you're. Are you really volunteering if you feel like that's your only option, and also,

[Matt Hud Hut]

how bad is that actually right for your life if you're. Or if you're involuntarily going in?

[Ben]

I have a hilarious relative who was drafted in the Vietnam War and spent two tours working at an ice cream factory. He says he had a blast. He doesn't work in the ice cream industry today.

[Matt Hud Hut]

As long as he didn't have a blizzard. That's trademarked.

[Ben]

There we go.

[Noel]

That's very funny. What about a breeze?

[Ben]

Speaking of sponsors, we're gonna pause for one more ad break. We'll be back with a problem that the system itself is very worried about. Hey, folks, have you ever picked up something at the grocery store that looked healthy, you know, but then you flip it over and you see the list of ingredients and you're saying, I can't pronounce half of these things.

[Noel]

That's true. And that's exactly why you should check out Wise Code, the Ultra Processed Food Detector. All you got to do is scan a product and instantly you can see what they whether it's ultra processed.

[Matt Hud Hut]

You can even take a step further by viewing its nutrition quality and health quality, giving you a better understanding of what's really in the food you're picking up.

[Ben]

So don't delay. Download wise code. That's W, I, S, e code. All one word on the app store today and make grocery shopping a little easier.

[Ari Chambers]

What's up, fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers.

[Sam J]

Hey, what's up, y'?

[Mangesha]

All?

[Sam J]

It's your girl, Sam J.

[Ari Chambers]

And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women's Sports and a new podcast from Together and I heart women's sports because,

[Sam J]

let's be real, women's sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days.

[Ari Chambers]

So Kelsey Finler, she became the first female solo rower to go from California to Hawaii.

[Sam J]

My first thought is just like what's up with the snacks? Like, what are we eating?

[Ari Chambers]

The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars, the moments that take over your entire

[Sam J]

timeline and the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week, every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women's sports.

[Ari Chambers]

Naomi Osaka showing out. She beat Sabalenka.

[Sam J]

Shout out to you, Naomi, you get the Palm.

[Ari Chambers]

Naomi, you get the Palm for that.

[Sam J]

Because we're not just interested in what happened, we're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's Sports on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Ben Nadifrey]

Thirty years ago, an island off Manhattan almost brought down New York City.

[Ben]

Who will you trust? Your friends and neighbors? Who will you trust? The people five miles overseas.

[Ben Nadifrey]

This is a story about neighbors turning on each other and what happens when a forgotten place decides it's had enough.

[Ben]

We reached for a feeling that exists

[Noel]

this in this city.

[Matt Hud Hut]

But we're not stopping, are we?

[Ben Nadifrey]

I'm Ben Nadifrey, and for my new series on revisionist history, I took a deep dive into Staten Island's attempt to secede from New York city in the 1990s and what it all has to do with the politics of resentment that dominate America today. Listen to revisionist history, the Staten island problem, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Mangesha]

I'm Mangesha together and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones and brain replacement. To try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about and what it really means to live for forever, for all of us. I learned about some rad science.

[Ben]

I can make a brain for you.

[Matt Hud Hut]

And then we can test what drug

[Ben]

is the best for your brain as opposed to his brain.

[Mangesha]

Here are some hard truths.

[Ben]

I would expect Indians to age faster,

[Matt Hud Hut]

but I did not expect it to be almost a four to five year

[Mangesha]

acceleration and get myself into a world of trouble.

[Sam J]

I'd say probably start bone smashing.

[Ben]

That doesn't work.

[Noel]

Make it look more defined.

[Sam J]

They say it works. I don't know.

[Mangesha]

Listen to Skyline Drive, how to live Forever on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben]

And we've returned. Okay, we've talked about a lot of the problems for the people getting sucked into the system by hook or by crook. But we also have to acknowledge the, the big guys, the big dogs who are often vilified in these conspiracies, they have problems too. If Uncle Sam reactivated the draft today, and we'll check after we record, there are still very difficult questions about how many Americans will actually be able to qualify. The DoD came out with an estimate and they said if we took everyone who was 17 to 24 years old, male, could be drafted. Only about 23% would meet our basic eligibility standards. We'd have to give the rest special waivers which do happen. But what they're, what they're saying here is three out of four of all the possible draftees are not going to make the ordinary cut because of obesity, health conditions, criminal records, lack of educational credentials, you know, like no high school diploma or a good enough degree. Or they might have drug use or behavioral issues. This is a growing, growing problem in regular recruitment. Even without a draft, it's increasingly common or less uncommon for someone to volunteer because they think it's the right thing to do. And then they find out that they don't qualify.

[Noel]

Well, and I just wanted, I was looking into this cause I wasn't sure. Does criminal record automatically disqualify you from military service? And the answer is no. And there are of course also situations where waivers can be granted and there can be, you know, specific exceptions made.

[Ben]

Yeah.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Ben, isn't it interesting that they include 17 year olds in their Department of Defense? Because they know that's not officially what the SSS looks at. They know it's it 18.6 is the youngest person that can be conscripted over six months into your 18th year. But also they're taking out 25 year olds and I wonder if it's just the idea of they're looking at the window. If we were going to conscript these people here in this window of time, they would be this old at this moment. But 17 year olds, most of them don't have a high school diploma yet. Just because they haven't reached the end of high school yet.

[Ben]

Yeah, like they might join JROTC or a similar program to give them a leg up at securing officer status. That happens all the time. We've got relatives who did that. But also, you know, it's the, it's the sneaky thing. I want to be careful. I always say this. It's the sneaky thing that assholes do when they know they're doing something wrong. They don't directly say what they're doing is wrong. Even when they know, they try to slowly erode the boundaries and exploit decent people while they're doing that. So like we see it happen in Russia where the boundary of what was considered conscription aid kept getting eroded. Right. And the erosion of boundaries is one of the dangerous things that happens in so many toxic relationships. And maybe the US is in a toxic relationship with the military. It's a good question. But yeah, to your point, without being conspiratorial, I would say it's probably modeling based on like we have a 17 year old who is in an ROTC program. So when they hit 18 and they sign up for a draft, what's their likelihood of qualifying? You know what I mean? So they're probably just trying to track fitness and qualification over time.

[Matt Hud Hut]

I hope heard.

[Ben]

I hope. I don't know. I don't know. Hagseth hasn't texted us back. Let's check. He said lmao, that's so.

[Matt Hud Hut]

And also Pete.

[Noel]

That's so Pete.

[Ben Nadifrey]

Yeah.

[Noel]

Such a joker. Such a silly, goofy guy.

[Ben]

Another issue we're having this is future facing. Remember we said there hasn't been a draft since 1973. A lot of stuff has happened between 1973 and 2026. People were born, people died, people got new jobs, joined and left the military. In 2015, pushed by Long standing arguments of discrimination and sexism, the Pentagon opened all combat roles to women. And a few years later, 2019 federal courts said, hey, the mail only draft system is unconstitutional. This got turned over on appeal. SCOTUS declined to make a call on it. So back in 2021. So it's still a male only draft for now, but a new wave of conscription is going to bring this right back smack dab into the center stage, under the spotlight because the Pentagon ruling and that draft gender question pose really serious issues about discrimination and prioritization and legality. Dare say tradition. So we have a whole other thing that we have to wrestle with in the legal system. They're not ready for it, but they're still, even though they say nobody wants a draft, even though they say there's not a draft happening, the military and the White House are still just in the driveway tinkering with that car, making it faster and faster every single afternoon.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Makes you think just to bring this in because we talked about it on, I want to say strange news a little while ago because I was getting deja vu and talking about my dad in the Vietnam War. But the National Defense Authorization act, which is, oh, such a, such a fun thing to discuss and try and parse through every year when it comes up when, you know, national defense spending gets authorized by the President and Congress and everything. And there's always fun things, guys. I can't think of any major specifics, but I know some of the major things that have been highly conspiratorial in our world come up in the NDAA every time it comes around. Like stuff about warrantless spying and the FISA courts and all kinds of stuff with FEMA and, you know, some of these major topics. It's usually that National Defense Authorization Act. Well, the one in 2025, that's the one that changed. The automatic registration thing where, you know, in a lot of states you're automatically registered at a certain age for the sss, but now it's because of this act, everybody's just going to go click, click, click. You're. You are now a part of the team. You didn't have to send anything in. You have to sign any letters. You just get the notification. And I suppose this is just a reminder that every time the military budget comes up, the defense budget, the Pentagon budget, every time it comes up, there are sneaky little things that get slipped into that bill.

[Noel]

Right.

[Matt Hud Hut]

And sometimes stuff that's not even related to defense.

[Noel]

Oh, yes. Sort of like pork or whatever. Whatever they call it when they sneak

[Ben]

things into bills like budget consolidation or. Yeah, there's a word, something like that. I think it may start with a reconciliation. Budget reconciliation. That's where a lot of stuff gets. Gets pushed through. And we, look, we know the thing is that a draft's not happening now, but it's absolutely on the table. And if it does happen, friends and neighbors, it is going to happen quickly. So this is a message to you, young conspiracy realist. Expect the best. Prepare for the possible worst. We want to thank all our current, past, present and future service members for their work. We know it's an incredibly personal decision for people to decide whether they want to volunteer for service. We ourselves have never been drafted, but we have plenty of family members, plenty of friends who have, and we would love to hear your thoughts on the possibility of a new wave of conscription. Is it good, Bad? Are you forward against it? How will America handle it in an age of technology that's groundbreaking? Changing warfare, increased internal division. Let us know. The one thing for sure, though, is that if policymakers are planning to move like this, they're gonna keep it on the hush until it's too late. Getting conscripted is the stuff they don't want you to know. Until that letter arrives on your doorstep,

[Noel]

make sure you have your lighter fluid

[Ben]

and lighter ready and we would love to hear your thoughts, especially your personal experiences. Older conspiracy realist who did undergo the draft period in Vietnam or in another country find us on the phone. You can leave us a message on the lines and you can always send us an email.

[Noel]

Sure can find us on the Internet with the handle conspiracy or Conspiracy stuff show, depending on which social media platform you prefer.

[Matt Hud Hut]

Do you want to call us? Our number is 1-833-S-T D-W- Y- T K. Turn those letters into numbers. You'll figure it out. Then give us a call. You got three minutes. Give yourself a cool nickname and let us know if we can use your name and message on one of our listener mail episodes that show up in the audio feeds. You can find them out there somewhere, not here on Netflix. And if you are listening exclusively with your ear holes, why not check us out on Netflix? It's pretty easy to find us. Just put stuff in that old search bar if you want to send us an email. We are the entities that read each

[Ben]

piece of correspondence we receive. Be well aware, yet unafraid. Sometimes the void writes back. We've been playing quite a game, all of us and all of you. We will send you a random fact if you want one, and we'd love for you to send us one one in turn right now. Speaking of things being in turn, our random fact for this evening is the rotation of Earth is changing speed. The length of a day increases by about 1.8 seconds per century, which means that 600 million years ago, a day was only 21 hours long. And kudos to everybody who lived through that. I don't think there was a draft then, but it was a very different place. We'll see you out here in the dark [e-mail].

[Matt Hud Hut]

Stuff they Don't Want yout to Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Ben]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Sam J]

Guaranteed Human.