Introducing ‘The Gun Machine’, a podcast about how America was forged by the gun industry

Dear Sugars

WBUR

Boston, Wbur, Sugar, Cheryl Strayed, Society & Culture, Dear, Relationships, Advice, Steve Almond

4.6 • 5.9K Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2023

⏱️ 3 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Produced by WBUR, Boston’s NPR, in partnership with The Trace, The Gun Machine looks into the past to bring you a story that most Americans never learned in history class: how early partnerships between mad scientist gunsmiths and a fledgling U.S. government created the gun industry in the Northeast, and how that industry has been partners with the government ever since.

Host Alain Stephens examines how this 250-year relationship underpins all Americans’ interactions with guns — including our failures in dealing with the fallout of gun violence.

The Gun Machine episodes drop every Wednesday, starting Oct. 4, 2023. Listen and follow on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

https://link.chtbl.com/thegunmachine

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey listeners, this is Grace Tatter, a producer at WBWAR podcasts.
0:04.1	We have a new project I want to introduce you to that's different than what you'd normally
0:07.5	hear in this feed. It's the trailer of a new series from WBWAR and the Trace. It's called
0:13.2	The Gun Machine, an eight-part series about the history of the gun industry in America
0:18.4	and the industry's biggest supporter, the government. I've been working on it for a few months now
0:24.0	in partnership with our host, Alon Stevens. This podcast is raw, it's surprising, and it will make
0:29.5	you see all sides of the gun debate differently. Be sure to search and follow the show after listening
0:34.4	if you want to hear more. WBWAR podcasts. Boston.
0:47.6	Maybe you've heard that there's a civil war coming. Tyrants disarm the people they intend to
0:52.4	oppress. That with 111 gun deaths a day in America, the powers that be are going to have to do
0:58.9	something. They don't like the Second Amendment. They want to get rid of the Second Amendment.
1:03.3	You've heard that the government has always hated an armed populace, that it's always been that
1:08.2	way from bunker hill to branched avidians. All they want to do is take guns away from law-binding
1:13.0	citizens. They're coming for your firearms. Democrats say they're held hostage by an all-powerful
1:20.8	industry. Republicans say they're holding an assault on liberty at bay. In real America,
1:26.8	when we say come and take it, we damn well mean it. But in my eight years of gun reporting,
1:34.8	these dudes is tripping. Guns are flying off the show. It's ghost gun mill indoor chesters.
1:42.4	Bringsfield is a bad place. It's no wonder. My name is Alon Stevens and I'm an investigative reporter.
1:49.4	I've covered federal agents, arms traffickers, and the gun industry. And what if I told you that
1:54.5	when it comes to the US government, we're the biggest gun dealers on the block. It was true in the
2:00.0	1790s during George Washington's presidency and it's true today. The Uncle Sam subsidizes the gun
2:06.3	lobby. It was really ugly and it was very nasty. And that you and every single US taxpayer has a
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -542 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WBUR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of WBUR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.