How Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brought the culture wars to the military

2026-10-07 · 45 min · 9 entities

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mentioned Society & Culture concept

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mentioned Arts concept

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evidence rules-v5
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mentioned TV & Film concept

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discusses Society & Culture concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Society & Culture
discusses Arts concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Arts
discusses TV & Film concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: TV & Film
discusses Books concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Books

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hosted by NPR company

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New York Times military and Pentagon reporter Greg Jaffe says Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has disproportionately blocked promotions of Black and women senior officers, and he’s also been purging the military of transgender people. “Usually Secretaries of Defense do everything they can to protect the military from our divisive politics and those culture wars,” Jaffe tells Dave Davies. “Hegseth was really the first Secretary of Defense I've seen in my lifetime who invited that into the Pentagon, and made it a central plank of his identity and leadership.” Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our YouTube channel Check out the Fresh Air Archives See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy