Radio War Nerd EP94—Romance of the Three Kingdoms, with Carl Zha

Guest: Carl Zha The War Nerd brings back our popular west coast wn guest Carl Zha to talk about the great Chinese war epic, Romance of the Three Kingdoms — the 14th century novel by Luo Guanzhong, and said to be one of Mao's favorite novels during his guerrilla years. The novel tells the story of chaos, divisions and betrayals in the late Han Empire era in the second and third centuries AD — and it's been the basis for countless retellings, online games, graphic comix and more. Carl talks about the context, history, and stories behind the three main characters and their rival kingdoms, and how they fit into Chinese history and politics. . . . Afterwards, the War Nerd and Ames — both at various stages of lung fluid sickness — talk about a New Republic article attacking Radio War Nerd as part of a "dirtbag left" movement, and the War Nerd's response . . . We also discuss problems in the shaky anti-Qatar coalition, CIA cutting off their "moderate" Al Qaeda militias, and more bad history from the Democratic Party brain trust . . . Total time: 2:47:25