Makhmour, briefly overrun by ISIS, is the staging ground for Iraqi Army, Kurdish Peshmerga and U.S. forces in advance of the retaking of Mosul. I spoke with a Peshmerga commander and the former mayor of Makhmour during my visit in January. From “WAR: The Afterparty,” available now on Amazon here. —- Samir takes me back […]
Brian Gruber, Daesh, Iraq, ISIS, Makhmour, Samir, War: The Afterparty
The “War: The Afterparty” travel blog tracks my travels through Central America, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Now that the project moves from the travel and interview phase to the book writing and editing phase, we will be using Tumblr as our social media publishing platform. It allows for a new, more social form […]
Brian Gruber, facebook, Patreon, tumblr, War: The Afterparty
“War: The Afterparty” is now on Patreon. From the Patreon.com site, “Founded in May 2013 and based in San Francisco, California, Patreon was created to enable fans to support and engage with the artists and creators they love. Empowering a new generation of creators, Patreon is bringing patronage back to the 21st century.” The video […]
Brian Gruber, Jack Conte, Patreon, War: The Afterparty
From the National Priorities Project: A useful set of charts from the National Priorities Project. 54% of discretionary spending is military. That doesn’t include numerous spending areas from homeland security to veteran’s benefits which, by some estimates bring total spending close to one trillion dollars. Veteran’s benefits account for $10 billion per year more than […]
Brian Gruber, budget, military spending, War, War: The Afterparty
Read Part One of the interview at http://briangruber.tumblr.com/post/109933161004/kabuls-white-hat-hacker-on-afghan-cybersecurity “X” is a cybersecurity and programming staffer in the Afghan government. We agreed to meet for pizza near Shar-e-Naw Park and to keep his identity anonymous in the interview. He is known in Kabul IT circles as a ‘White Hat Hacker.’ This interview was transcribed by Afterparty editor […]
Afghanistan, Brian Gruber, Hacker, Islam, IT, Kabul, Lycée Esqetlal, Suicide Bombing, Taliban, War, War: The Afterparty, white hat
I worked with Shahid Butt at Charter Cable years ago, a smart, congenial fellow and accomplished marketer. As I posted interviews from my swing through the Islamic world, and pointed remarks about Pakistan’s role in the emergence of the Taliban, he offered some unique insights. I talked with Shahid over Skype one night from my […]
Afghanistan, Brian Gruber, Islam, Kabul, Koran, Mohammed, Pakistan, Quran, Shahid Butt, Taliban, War, War: The Afterparty
While in Kabul doing research for “War: The Afterparty,” I was approached via Facebook by “X,” a cybersecurity expert and programming staffer in the Afghan government. We agreed to meet for pizza near Shar-e-Naw Park and to keep his identity anonymous in the interview. When I mentioned our meeting to the head of a prominent […]
Afghanistan, Brian Gruber, cybercrime, cybersecurity, hack, Hacker, Kabul, War, War: The Afterparty
On my way from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, I taught English to the delightful students of the CPOC orphanage in Prey Nheak village.
Brian Gruber, Cambodia orphanage, CPOC, Takeo Province, War, War: The AfterpartyBrett Skarbakka is a photographer currently based in Hanoi, Vietnam. His project, 11 Days, “is a quiet memorial to a past scarred by terrific violence, a present changing by acceptance, and a personal way for me to contemplate the conflicting messages of shrouded histories.” We settled in for lunch in a Hanoi pub and compared our […]
11 days, bombing, Brett Skarbakka, Brian Gruber, Hanoi, Kayley Ingalls, Nixon, Vietnam, War: The AfterpartyJay Palevsky and I hunted down Jordan Plitteris on Facebook four decades after our last encounter. We were students at George Gershwin Junior High School 166 in the East New York section of Brooklyn. Jordan and I did our best to disrupt our classes in the most charming or clever manner possible. We finally connected […]
Brian Gruber, China, Hanoi, Kayley Ingalls, Steven Herman, Vietnam, War: The Afterparty