# Why Does the US Want Greenland? Chapter One: Frozen Land and Hot Real Estate

An episode of [Stuff They Don't Want You To Know](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/732915228), 18 Sep 2026, 45 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/2e824128-fbd5-4c9e-9a57-ae2f0056b0c4/3410d502-c18a-44bf-9911-b4c801479ad8/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=66d98a23-900c-44b0-a40b-ae2f0056b0db

Let's be honest: most Americans aren't super familiar with Greenland, and even fewer have actually traveled there. Located far north in the Arctic, the world's largest island has historically been seen as remote, inaccessible, and brutal. So a ton of people were surprised when the United States asked -- then threatened -- to take it over. In the first chapter of this special two-part episode, Ben and Matt explore why Greenland has suddenly become the hottest real estate on the planet... and whether there's a conspiracy afoot. They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies, history is
[0:04] Speaker 1: riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or
[0:09] Speaker 1: learn the stuff they don't want you to know. A
[0:12] Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio.
[0:26] Speaker 2: Hello. Welcome back to the show. My name is Matt.
[0:29] Speaker 2: Our colleague Noel is on an adventure, but we'll be
[0:32] Speaker 2: returning shortly.
[0:33] Speaker 1: They call me Ben. We're joined, as always, with our
[0:36] Speaker 1: super producer, Dylan, the Tennessee pal Fagan. Most importantly, you
[0:41] Speaker 1: are you. You are here. That makes this the stuff
[0:44] Speaker 1: they don't want you to know. Folks, we're traveling around
[0:49] Speaker 1: the world today. We are going to a little place
[0:53] Speaker 1: named Kala'it Nonat. which is the awkward pronunciation of the
[1:01] Speaker 1: real name for a place we call Greenland.
[1:04] Speaker 2: That's right. Around these parts, they call it Cattle of
[1:06] Speaker 2: Leighton and Nott. They're just putting a little southern twang
[1:09] Speaker 2: on it. Sounds good, I think.
[1:11] Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think so too, Matt. And Dylan is
[1:16] Speaker 1: going to be hopping on the mic on and off
[1:19] Speaker 1: with us for this show because you guys... busted me
[1:23] Speaker 1: so hard for doing an East Tennessee accent of a
[1:27] Speaker 1: pretend Greenlander.
[1:30] Speaker 2: Oh, yes. That was very fun.
[1:32] Speaker 1: Well, it's weird too, man, because look, facts are facts.
[1:38] Speaker 1: Most Americans don't think of Greenland too often, at least
[1:42] Speaker 1: not until recent events or maybe World War II. We
[1:47] Speaker 1: all heard the whole story, the saga about Eric the Red.
[1:52] Speaker 1: and his weird PR marketing campaign that created the name
[1:56] Speaker 1: Greenlands we use today. But other than that, I think
[2:00] Speaker 1: it's fair to say a lot of us are pretty
[2:02] Speaker 1: unfamiliar with this stretch of volcanic activity. frozen ground i
[2:07] Speaker 1: mean look at the mercator projections most people don't really
[2:12] Speaker 1: know how uh right exactly oh i've got.
[2:15] Speaker 2: One of those as well trying to try to use
[2:16] Speaker 2: my hand there it is that giant thing right there
[2:19] Speaker 2: yeah oh god wait hold it hold it yeah.
[2:23] Speaker 1: There it is yeah so the mercator projection makes this
[2:28] Speaker 1: thing uh look misleading one way or another in its
[2:32] Speaker 1: size People learn about it in grade school in the West.
[2:37] Speaker 1: You learn about it definitely if you're a school kid
[2:39] Speaker 1: in Denmark. But it came as a surprise to a
[2:43] Speaker 1: lot of current Americans when our existing president, Donald J. Trump,
[2:50] Speaker 1: came out a while back and said, why don't we
[2:53] Speaker 1: just take over Greenland? And everybody said, what is wrong
[2:57] Speaker 1: with you? And then he doubled down on his original statement.
[3:01] Speaker 2: That was back in January, right? When was the Venezuela invasion?
[3:06] Speaker 2: Was that this year or last year? God, I can't remember.
[3:09] Speaker 1: It moved so quickly.
[3:11] Speaker 3: It was, I think, the very, very beginning of the year.
[3:14] Speaker 2: Okay. So around the same time, I think everybody was like,
[3:17] Speaker 2: take Greenland, man, that's crazy. We can dismiss that as
[3:20] Speaker 2: just a statement, right? And then we did that thing
[3:23] Speaker 2: we did to Venezuela, and I think everybody went, oh, crap.
[3:27] Speaker 1: Right. Right. Like, there is an irrational actor. say, a
[3:33] Speaker 1: lot of other world powers. So tonight's question, what the
[3:37] Speaker 1: heck is going on here, folks? Is Uncle Sam and
[3:40] Speaker 1: the current president, are they serious? If so, why does
[3:44] Speaker 1: the United States want Greenland in the first place? We'll
[3:48] Speaker 1: be back after a word from our sponsors. Here are
[3:57] Speaker 1: the facts. Join us in, like, a grade school... high
[4:02] Speaker 1: school introductory course. Let's learn about Greenland. Matt, you and
[4:08] Speaker 1: I are big fans of maps and we've got a bunch.
[4:13] Speaker 1: It's funny because, you know, you and I have the
[4:15] Speaker 1: same map. I have one out of frame here by
[4:19] Speaker 1: the skeleton.
[4:21] Speaker 2: Just past Agent Scully. There is a map. There be maps. Well,
[4:25] Speaker 2: speaking of those, we've One of the coolest ones you
[4:27] Speaker 2: can get, and I do not have one anywhere in
[4:30] Speaker 2: this layer right now, but an Arctic Circle map is
[4:34] Speaker 2: one of the coolest ones you can find. And this is,
[4:38] Speaker 2: imagine looking at a globe, but just top down on
[4:42] Speaker 2: the top of that globe and looking at the North
[4:45] Speaker 2: Pole as your center and then all of the land
[4:47] Speaker 2: masses and ice that surrounds that area and especially the waterways.
[4:53] Speaker 1: The waterways.
[4:56] Speaker 2: And you get to, there's one that's posted on Britannica.com.
[5:00] Speaker 2: If you just look for Greenland over there.
[5:03] Speaker 1: Yes.
[5:03] Speaker 2: This is precisely what we're talking about here. And there's
[5:06] Speaker 2: one on Britannica that shows all of the military bases
[5:10] Speaker 2: that are in this entire area. And it's actually at
[5:13] Speaker 2: a different angle. It's got Greenland kind of on the,
[5:18] Speaker 2: I guess it would be in the Southwest side of
[5:20] Speaker 2: the map, Ben. And it's, got basically in red, of
[5:25] Speaker 2: course they chose red, all of the Russian bases on
[5:29] Speaker 2: the side there. And then it's got, you know, just
[5:31] Speaker 2: a couple of the bases on the left side that
[5:35] Speaker 2: are US. Some of them are, what is this? Canadian.
[5:40] Speaker 2: A couple of them, there's like one Iceland base and,
[5:44] Speaker 2: two Greenland bases that are both controlled by the U.S.
[5:47] Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's the badger in the bag here. If
[5:51] Speaker 1: you're looking at this map that we're keeping up, you
[5:54] Speaker 1: will see that Greenland is huge. It is, in fact,
[5:59] Speaker 1: the world's largest island that is not a continent. Sorry, Australia,
[6:04] Speaker 1: you didn't make weight, so now you're heavy. You're a continent.
[6:07] Speaker 1: It looks pretty foreboding, right, if we take a gander
[6:11] Speaker 1: at these maps of, the Atlantic Ocean, or as you
[6:14] Speaker 1: were saying, Matt, especially the Arctic Circle. So in this
[6:18] Speaker 1: map here, you can see, we can all see that
[6:22] Speaker 1: dotted ring. That is what we would call the Arctic Circle.
[6:27] Speaker 1: Greenland is riddled with glaciers. Even now, its northernmost extensions
[6:33] Speaker 1: are just like less than 500 miles from the North Pole.
[6:36] Speaker 1: So when Santa Claus has to make a quick run
[6:42] Speaker 1: to the gas station. He probably stops by there.
[6:47] Speaker 2: Oh yeah, for sure. I bet there's all kinds of
[6:50] Speaker 2: wonderful little trinkets and extra things that he picks up
[6:52] Speaker 2: every year too. Just stuff that you can't get anywhere else,
[6:55] Speaker 2: you know?
[6:55] Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like July and he's got his baseball cap
[6:59] Speaker 1: on and he's saying, hey, nobody identify me in public. Yeah, exactly.
[7:03] Speaker 2: Well, another thing to remember when you're looking at, if
[7:06] Speaker 2: you look at that map of the is that even
[7:09] Speaker 2: in the parts where there's not land, there's quite a
[7:12] Speaker 2: bit of ice on account of it being so cold
[7:15] Speaker 2: up there. And, you know, there, well, we're going to
[7:19] Speaker 2: talk about it later in this, but one of the
[7:20] Speaker 2: major things that's happening right now and has been happening
[7:24] Speaker 2: for years is this thing called climate change, where it's
[7:28] Speaker 2: warming up a bit and quite a bit of that
[7:31] Speaker 2: ice is melting in places that are being used strategically
[7:34] Speaker 2: for travel throughout this whole area.
[7:37] Speaker 1: Yeah, shipping lanes. Yeah, for sure. And then access to, well,
[7:43] Speaker 1: we'll get into it for sure. We've been thinking about
[7:45] Speaker 1: this one for a long time, folks, even back to
[7:49] Speaker 1: years ago when we did an episode called, let me
[7:53] Speaker 1: get it, The Race to the Arctic, Who Will Control
[7:56] Speaker 1: the Poles? You remember that one?
[7:59] Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
[8:01] Speaker 1: Man.
[8:02] Speaker 2: Wow. Yeah, this does have a lot in common with
[8:05] Speaker 2: that one. Because the same themes are at play, right?
[8:09] Speaker 2: Anytime a, let's say a Navy force, no matter what
[8:14] Speaker 2: it is, can have ease of access and movement anywhere
[8:17] Speaker 2: throughout the world. What did you call them, Ben? A
[8:19] Speaker 2: blue water Navy?
[8:21] Speaker 1: A blue water Navy.
[8:22] Speaker 2: Where you can just go wherever you want as long
[8:24] Speaker 2: as you can physically go there, right?
[8:27] Speaker 1: Yes. As long as you can project that force and
[8:31] Speaker 1: convince other people this is for exploration or scientific enterprise,
[8:38] Speaker 1: you know, Hey guys, I'm invading your sovereign waters for
[8:42] Speaker 1: all of us, like for the general effort. Okay. So
[8:46] Speaker 1: why are you being weird?
[8:47] Speaker 2: So research vessels off the Sinai peninsula wink. Yeah.
[8:52] Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh, this guy hates dolphins. Sorry. So, uh, we
[8:57] Speaker 1: also know that Greenland has ancient evidence of human habitations.
[9:02] Speaker 1: 2500 BCE onward, the issue is a lot of cultures
[9:08] Speaker 1: came and went because they were living pretty challenging lives.
[9:13] Speaker 1: This is an environment that will kill you if you
[9:17] Speaker 1: are unprepared.
[9:19] Speaker 2: Yeah. That type of lack of heat that is just
[9:25] Speaker 2: unrelenting and scarce food sources, man, it is not fun.
[9:31] Speaker 1: No, no, no. But people still tried to pitch it.
[9:34] Speaker 1: The name that we respect the most is, of course,
[9:39] Speaker 1: Ka'alalit Nunat, which just means land of the Ka'alalit, one
[9:45] Speaker 1: of the most influential indigenous cultures to exist there, which
[9:50] Speaker 1: persists in the modern day. But the reason we call
[9:53] Speaker 1: it Greenland now dates back to 986 CE. There's this guy.
[10:00] Speaker 1: You may have heard of him. I don't know if
[10:02] Speaker 1: we can afford a sound cue. They call him Eric
[10:06] Speaker 1: the Red. Oh, Eric Therese.
[10:10] Speaker 2: And then everybody afterwards seems to have the name Frederick
[10:14] Speaker 2: in their name. Have you noticed that, Ben?
[10:16] Speaker 1: I've noticed, but I'm glad you brought it up first.
[10:19] Speaker 1: I didn't want to call you out.
[10:21] Speaker 2: I don't know why we Fredericks chose to do that,
[10:25] Speaker 2: but that's a thing.
[10:26] Speaker 1: Yeah, right. Maybe it's like how Ben in many languages
[10:32] Speaker 1: means son of. Maybe Fred Eric means like Benja Amin.
[10:37] Speaker 1: you know, like son of Eric. Probably not.
[10:41] Speaker 2: Well, you know, you can't have Frederick without Red. So
[10:45] Speaker 2: maybe it was Eric's fault.
[10:47] Speaker 1: Maybe it was Eric's fault and his phenomenal love of anagrams.
[10:52] Speaker 1: So this guy, Eric, according to the Icelandic sagas, which
[10:58] Speaker 1: lay somewhere between fiction and oral history, in these Icelandic sagas,
[11:06] Speaker 1: Eric and his old man, his paterfamilias, they're exiled from Iceland,
[11:12] Speaker 1: which is just sort of to the east of Greenland.
[11:15] Speaker 1: And they're exiled for the crime of manslaughter. So they
[11:20] Speaker 1: get a group of 14 boats with all their extended
[11:25] Speaker 1: families and their thralls, modern word, slaves, and they light
[11:30] Speaker 1: out west. And so the story goes that Eric the
[11:33] Speaker 1: Red apparently named this place Greenland when he was one
[11:39] Speaker 1: of the first Viking forces to land there permanently. And
[11:42] Speaker 1: he said, hey, if we call it Greenland, the word
[11:44] Speaker 1: gets around, more people will come here. It's a cool story.
[11:48] Speaker 1: It's very Field of Dreams. But again, given the age
[11:53] Speaker 1: of these recollections, it's difficult to verify how true that
[11:58] Speaker 1: story is.
[11:59] Speaker 2: Absolutely. I think it's worth noting here, guys, just... some
[12:03] Speaker 2: of those minor differences between Greenland and Iceland and just
[12:06] Speaker 2: this concept of being exiled to Iceland only to return
[12:11] Speaker 2: back to Greenland, especially when we think about what we
[12:14] Speaker 2: know about these two places. Haven't you guys been to Iceland,
[12:18] Speaker 2: both you and Dylan?
[12:19] Speaker 1: Dylan, Tennessee, have you been to Iceland?
[12:22] Speaker 3: I have not. I think Paul had been to Iceland.
[12:25] Speaker 1: Oh, Paul, Mission Control.
[12:27] Speaker 2: I'm so sorry, Dylan.
[12:28] Speaker 1: A longtime friend of the show, Paul, Mission Control, Deccant, uh,
[12:33] Speaker 1: did journey to Iceland while we were working together and
[12:36] Speaker 1: he loved everything but the food. No offense.
[12:41] Speaker 2: Well, this, this is just to say that of what
[12:44] Speaker 2: I know of Iceland, I've seen many a picture, been
[12:47] Speaker 2: a bit obsessed with some of the musicians from there,
[12:50] Speaker 2: seen many a music video that's been created and like
[12:52] Speaker 2: kind of a travel YouTube documentary thing. It looks like
[12:56] Speaker 2: a gorgeous place. It looks like in areas quite an
[12:59] Speaker 2: inhospitable place, but in a lot of other places there
[13:02] Speaker 2: on Iceland, it's a great place to live as a
[13:04] Speaker 2: human being. I'm imagining arriving there to those lands and
[13:09] Speaker 2: then choosing to get back on those ships, Ben, and
[13:12] Speaker 2: then go across that icy water again, that freezing cold water,
[13:17] Speaker 2: to get back to the place that we know is
[13:20] Speaker 2: so dangerous and so rough. Man, it's a wonder that
[13:25] Speaker 2: that even occurred. And I guess it makes sense that
[13:29] Speaker 2: they created a saga out of it. And if it
[13:31] Speaker 2: truly did happen, right, then I imagine anyone who wanted
[13:39] Speaker 2: to be there would be kind of an astounding person,
[13:42] Speaker 2: a tough person.
[13:44] Speaker 1: Sure.
[13:44] Speaker 2: But then trying to get everybody else to come, you know,
[13:47] Speaker 2: as some kind of marketing campaign, as you're saying that
[13:50] Speaker 2: Raritha Red was doing, like.
[13:51] Speaker 1: Hey, you're going to love it. It's me, your buddy,
[13:55] Speaker 1: Big E.R. Yeah, it's interesting because the settlements that we
[14:00] Speaker 1: knew the Vikings created are on sort of the western side,
[14:06] Speaker 1: southwestern side, right? Where the glaciers had not completely overtaken
[14:12] Speaker 1: everything or where they had retreated, which will be a
[14:15] Speaker 1: common theme in tonight's exploration. It's also, the story just
[14:21] Speaker 1: gets weirder, you guys, because Denmark colonizes Greenland in the 1700s.
[14:28] Speaker 1: Denmark was and is still technically a kingdom OK, and
[14:34] Speaker 1: Greenland is in such a strange liminal space, a phrase
[14:39] Speaker 1: we don't try to overuse, but it's it's an autonomous
[14:43] Speaker 1: territory under the rule of the kingdom of Denmark. So
[14:48] Speaker 1: it is not sovereign. Instead, since 1982, when it gained
[14:53] Speaker 1: home rule, Greenland runs all its own domestic affairs. They've
[14:57] Speaker 1: got their own prime minister. They are dictating what happens
[15:03] Speaker 1: on their land or in their waters. Meanwhile, Denmark takes
[15:08] Speaker 1: care of foreign policy, defense, pretty much everything outside of Greenland.
[15:14] Speaker 1: And that kind of makes sense because This place is vast. Again,
[15:20] Speaker 1: it's the world's largest island. But get this, folks. The population,
[15:25] Speaker 1: so far as we know, hovers around 56,000 people. That's it.
[15:32] Speaker 1: And their population is declining. They've got a lot of
[15:34] Speaker 1: brain drain. They've got a lot of people leaving. They've
[15:38] Speaker 1: got a sharp decline in reproduction. So just 56,000 people
[15:44] Speaker 1: on this vast swath of land.
[15:46] Speaker 3: It's like a small college town in America.
[15:49] Speaker 1: It very much is, yes. Yeah.
[15:53] Speaker 2: Yeah, but then spread, just spread, you know, out pretty far,
[15:56] Speaker 2: especially along that western coast that you're talking about there, Ben.
[15:59] Speaker 2: I wonder if we could just go back to history
[16:02] Speaker 2: a little bit when it comes to the World Wars
[16:05] Speaker 2: and the Cold War of it. Like right before, what
[16:09] Speaker 2: did you say, Ben, 1982 is that kind of mark
[16:12] Speaker 2: that we're putting there when it comes to? when Greenland
[16:15] Speaker 2: is running itself, for the most part, it did change
[16:19] Speaker 2: hands a couple of different times throughout the World Wars.
[16:26] Speaker 2: Just to put it in there, so if you do
[16:28] Speaker 2: want to look it up and check out this stuff,
[16:30] Speaker 2: because it becomes interesting, Ben, I think when you think
[16:33] Speaker 2: about the strategic location of it and how Greenland has
[16:37] Speaker 2: in the past been used and kind of, I would say... occupied,
[16:45] Speaker 2: especially by U.S. forces, for reasons of strategy. Just looking
[16:49] Speaker 2: at World War II and, you know, again, according to
[16:52] Speaker 2: just Britannica and a couple other places that just look
[16:54] Speaker 2: at the history, Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany and
[16:59] Speaker 2: then the United States ended up assuming responsibility temporarily for
[17:04] Speaker 2: Greenland's defense. And that's how you end up getting to
[17:09] Speaker 2: these two primary bases that are on Greenland that the U.S. controls,
[17:13] Speaker 2: that the U.S. still controls, that like they're still, they're cool. Like, yeah,
[17:18] Speaker 2: you guys can have control over here. Because the U.S.
[17:21] Speaker 2: in the past did attempt to make some moves, right,
[17:25] Speaker 2: to control Greenland more. But then Greenland said, no, we're
[17:28] Speaker 2: not doing that. But you can like expand your bases.
[17:31] Speaker 2: That's fine. It's just strange to me. And it comes
[17:36] Speaker 2: back to the Strait of Hormuz discussions we've had, Ben.
[17:39] Speaker 2: It goes back to a lot of these choke points
[17:41] Speaker 2: on the sea, on the oceans. With that, what is
[17:45] Speaker 2: it called, the GI-UK gap?
[17:47] Speaker 1: That would be the Greenland-Iceland gap.
[17:50] Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
[17:51] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[17:51] Speaker 2: Well, it's just another place where if you have a
[17:54] Speaker 2: powerful navy, you want to be able to secure ingress
[18:00] Speaker 2: and egress safely. you know, between basically around Iceland, on
[18:03] Speaker 2: either side of Iceland, between the UK and Iceland, and
[18:06] Speaker 2: then between Greenland and Iceland.
[18:07] Speaker 1: You want to own the door, right?
[18:09] Speaker 2: Yes.
[18:10] Speaker 1: And that's a huge part of this larger historical tapestry.
[18:16] Speaker 1: And we know, like we were teasing at the top,
[18:19] Speaker 1: that climate change is skyrocketing by any metric. That conspiracy
[18:25] Speaker 1: is real. It's happening. Welcome to 30 years from now
[18:29] Speaker 1: when you're fighting for water. Maybe 10. Anyway, Greenland has
[18:34] Speaker 1: acquired this new position of increasing significance. At least the
[18:39] Speaker 1: public thinks it. But as you were saying, Matt, there's
[18:42] Speaker 1: a lot of story behind it. If you look at
[18:45] Speaker 1: good folks like Harvard Kennedy School or the CFR, Council
[18:50] Speaker 1: on Foreign Relations, they will tell you what we just said.
[18:54] Speaker 1: Greenland's location makes it perfect for things like early missile
[18:59] Speaker 1: warning systems. that's vital to military defense. And additionally, if
[19:04] Speaker 1: you control Greenland in practice, kind of like playing the
[19:09] Speaker 1: game of risk, how control of the country of Siam
[19:13] Speaker 1: lets you run Australia, control of Greenland lets you run
[19:18] Speaker 1: those northern sea lanes, those gaps. It also gives you
[19:22] Speaker 1: access to rare earth minerals that are only increasing in value.
[19:28] Speaker 1: That's what we call foreshadowing. Stay tuned. On paper, though,
[19:33] Speaker 1: this is great for Greenland and Denmark.
[19:35] Speaker 2: Yeah, it really is. The thing I was trying to remember, Ben,
[19:38] Speaker 2: was that Harry Truman, another president, tried to buy Greenland unsuccessfully.
[19:43] Speaker 2: And that's where you get some of these strategic places
[19:46] Speaker 2: we're talking about. Correct me if I'm wrong here. I
[19:50] Speaker 2: think it's called the Pitufik Space Base. I think that's
[19:55] Speaker 2: the one that currently exists.
[19:57] Speaker 1: Yeah. I can't wait to get to it.
[19:59] Speaker 2: Oh, okay. Well, it used to be the Thule Base.
[20:02] Speaker 1: Yes.
[20:02] Speaker 2: And it became a big part of this whole deal-making
[20:07] Speaker 2: that the U.S. and Greenland got into right after World
[20:10] Speaker 2: War II.
[20:11] Speaker 1: A hundred percent, yeah. And again, there's so much precedent.
[20:16] Speaker 1: In practice, people in Greenland and Denmark are very worried
[20:21] Speaker 1: right now, understandably so. It is not as if Greenland's
[20:25] Speaker 1: importance has ever been a secret, right, since the days
[20:29] Speaker 1: of Eric the Red. Quite the opposite. And other countries
[20:32] Speaker 1: have often wanted in on the game, on the real estate,
[20:36] Speaker 1: The most notable of these countries being right now, as
[20:39] Speaker 1: you've probably heard, the United States. So our question then becomes,
[20:44] Speaker 1: Matt in Tennessee, what gives? Sorry, I'm beating Andy Rooney
[20:48] Speaker 1: in 60 minutes. What's the deal? What gives? With all
[20:52] Speaker 1: these recent headlines from the current U.S. president about making
[20:56] Speaker 1: Greenland somehow part of the United States, are these just
[21:00] Speaker 1: like off-the-wall, three coffees deep comments? Will they result in action?
[21:06] Speaker 1: Would Uncle Sam ever actually invade Greenland?
[21:11] Speaker 2: And why would they do that if they've already got
[21:13] Speaker 2: bases on the place?
[21:16] Speaker 1: We'll be right back. Here's where it gets crazy. Also,
[21:26] Speaker 1: shout out to this Illumination Global Unlimited hat. Oh, yeah.
[21:31] Speaker 1: It sounds, Matt Dillon, it sounds bonkers crazy. But it
[21:35] Speaker 1: is absolutely true. Since 2025, the second Trump administration has
[21:41] Speaker 1: been sending public signals about invading or annexing Greenland. But
[21:47] Speaker 1: most people forget these are renewed public signals. A lot
[21:53] Speaker 1: of people, guys, you know, Dylan, if you could tell
[21:57] Speaker 1: Matt and myself how you first reacted to this news,
[22:00] Speaker 1: I think a fair number of people in the United
[22:03] Speaker 1: States are decided to ignore the statement or just to
[22:07] Speaker 1: make fun of it. This is the same guy who
[22:09] Speaker 1: earlier off the cuff said, yeah, what if we nuke
[22:12] Speaker 1: a hurricane?
[22:13] Speaker 4: I just, I feel like it, I didn't take it
[22:16] Speaker 4: seriously at first, but then it became a pattern. I mean,
[22:19] Speaker 4: this was pre Venezuela and then Canada and he hasn't
[22:24] Speaker 4: really given up on Greenland. So, and also rumblings about Cuba.
[22:29] Speaker 4: I mean, at some point you start taking it seriously.
[22:32] Speaker 2: Yeah. And it makes you scratch your head even more,
[22:35] Speaker 2: I think. Ben, there's a thing I'm thinking about our
[22:42] Speaker 2: race to the Arctic episode now. We're thinking about his words,
[22:45] Speaker 2: the President's words on Greenland. And I'm remembering in that episode,
[22:51] Speaker 2: we talked about the moves Russia has been making in
[22:55] Speaker 2: the Arctic Circle area for a long time. And I
[22:59] Speaker 2: was thinking about the U.S. and our with the Middle
[23:03] Speaker 2: East from about 2002 up until even now and how we,
[23:09] Speaker 2: you know, we as a country, our naval forces, all
[23:12] Speaker 2: of our, most of our forces are so interested in
[23:14] Speaker 2: this one area of the world while Russia is really
[23:19] Speaker 2: focusing a lot of their efforts in this Arctic Circle.
[23:23] Speaker 2: And it's almost as though, or it feels maybe, like
[23:27] Speaker 2: the U.S. is aware it needs to play some catch
[23:30] Speaker 2: up in this realm.
[23:33] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[23:33] Speaker 1: Maybe you, yeah, you play the catch up or you
[23:36] Speaker 1: get the mustard, right? So I'm sure that's going to
[23:40] Speaker 1: translate very well.
[23:42] Speaker 2: But what of the mayo, Ben?
[23:43] Speaker 1: But what of the mayo, Matt? You didn't think about
[23:46] Speaker 1: the mayo. So this, this is true. You know, this
[23:51] Speaker 1: is one of the most powerful guys on the planet, right?
[23:55] Speaker 1: One of the, one of the people who can command the,
[23:59] Speaker 1: world-ending nuclear weapons. And so if you are another world
[24:04] Speaker 1: leader or you're a business tycoon, you pay attention to
[24:07] Speaker 1: everything this guy says, no matter how silly it might seem.
[24:11] Speaker 1: Like we were lightly roasting, we were brazing Vladimir Putin
[24:16] Speaker 1: over wanting to live forever. And at the same time,
[24:19] Speaker 1: you remember, Matt, at the very top, we all had
[24:23] Speaker 1: to acknowledge that that everybody pays attention to every wackadoo
[24:28] Speaker 1: thing that guy says. So like Trump appears to be serious.
[24:32] Speaker 1: President Trump appears to have doubled down. He's triggered an
[24:36] Speaker 1: international diplomatic crisis. It's happening now because he was asked,
[24:43] Speaker 1: he was asked about, we'll jump around in time, but multiple,
[24:47] Speaker 1: at multiple instances, he was asked about whether he would
[24:52] Speaker 1: use military force to invade Greenland, which is under Denmark,
[24:56] Speaker 1: which is part of NATO. And he routinely refused to
[25:01] Speaker 1: rule it out. He was like, you know, anything's on
[25:03] Speaker 1: the table. He at first, he at first, in this
[25:10] Speaker 1: iteration of his administration, he at first went to Denmark
[25:14] Speaker 1: and said, can I just have it? Yeah. He just
[25:19] Speaker 1: passed the ball. Gimme. Gimme. And they said no, by
[25:26] Speaker 1: the way. Spoiler. Yeah.
[25:28] Speaker 2: Yeah. Just like they did when Truman asked for it.
[25:31] Speaker 2: Truman at least said, I'll pay you.
[25:33] Speaker 1: He tried to buy it. Yeah. And then when, and
[25:37] Speaker 1: it is funny because Trump did the same thing in
[25:39] Speaker 1: his first administration. He tried to buy, to purchase Greenland.
[25:43] Speaker 1: Denmark said no. So he came back and was like, okay,
[25:46] Speaker 1: I think I get it. you guys just want to
[25:48] Speaker 1: give it to me, right? Now that I'm president again,
[25:51] Speaker 1: like you don't want money between friends. And they said no.
[25:55] Speaker 1: And then he came forward to, and the rest of
[25:58] Speaker 1: the EU, by the way, also said, what is wrong
[26:01] Speaker 1: with your boy? And he then responded by threatening to
[26:06] Speaker 1: hit multiple European countries with a 25% import tax. Cough, cough. Dude. Tariffs.
[26:14] Speaker 2: Yeah. You get a tariff. You get a tariff. I
[26:18] Speaker 2: don't like you. More tariffs. Really interesting situation. Ben, here's
[26:25] Speaker 2: where we get to the Fredericks of it all. Jens
[26:27] Speaker 2: Frederick Nielsen.
[26:29] Speaker 1: Ah, yes, the prime minister of Greenland.
[26:32] Speaker 4: Oh, yes.
[26:33] Speaker 2: Got a quick little quote here in one of the
[26:36] Speaker 2: rejections of the whole pitch idea of taking Greenland or
[26:40] Speaker 2: buying it or whatever. Here you go. And this is
[26:43] Speaker 2: translated to English, by the way. So here we go.
[26:46] Speaker 1: Quote.
[26:47] Speaker 2: No more pressure, no more hints, no more fantasies about annexation.
[26:51] Speaker 2: When the president of the United States talks about, quote,
[26:54] Speaker 2: we need Greenland, unquote, and connects us with Venezuela and
[26:58] Speaker 2: military intervention, it's not just wrong. It's so disrespectful. We
[27:03] Speaker 2: are a part of NATO and we are fully aware
[27:06] Speaker 2: of our country's strategic location.
[27:10] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[27:11] Speaker 1: That's part of why that guy is prime minister. He's
[27:13] Speaker 1: very well-reasoned. He knows what he's talking about. He's an expert.
[27:17] Speaker 1: And we, like the rest of the world now, have
[27:22] Speaker 1: to figure out why the U.S. presidential administration, I'm being fair,
[27:27] Speaker 1: a system, not an individual, wants Greenland, quote unquote, why
[27:31] Speaker 1: they want it in a specific way. And the history
[27:35] Speaker 1: that we've already teased, the real estate is terrible if
[27:39] Speaker 1: you are in an individual human basis. But if you
[27:43] Speaker 1: are a country, that real estate is cat bird seat,
[27:46] Speaker 1: you know, the world powers, Ooh, they want that Arctic.
[27:51] Speaker 2: Uh, you got those military budgets and contracts for what
[27:55] Speaker 2: have we, Oh, what is the thing?
[27:56] Speaker 1: A sack.
[27:57] Speaker 2: A single construction contract thing. The stuff we could build.
[28:04] Speaker 1: The stuff we could build. The U.S. is super concerned
[28:10] Speaker 1: about Russia controlling the area. This is a valid concern,
[28:14] Speaker 1: by the way, because breaking up the ice around the
[28:19] Speaker 1: North Pole makes all that formerly not great real estate
[28:25] Speaker 1: to the north of Russia It makes it amazing. Now
[28:29] Speaker 1: we can build bases. Now we can have ports that
[28:33] Speaker 1: are maybe all year round ports. We can also fix
[28:38] Speaker 1: up our infrastructure to transport minerals. And China, the nation
[28:43] Speaker 1: of China, which does not share a land border with
[28:46] Speaker 1: the Arctic Circle, they're also super interested in it. Sending
[28:50] Speaker 1: around some subs to do some, you know, looky-loos, just
[28:54] Speaker 1: checking out for science kind of stuff.
[28:56] Speaker 2: And there were, I don't know how deep we're going
[28:58] Speaker 2: to get into it today, Ben, but there were multiple
[29:00] Speaker 2: major investments by China in Greenland and in specific projects
[29:05] Speaker 2: that ended up getting squashed and not moving forward. Like
[29:09] Speaker 2: they got canceled because of pressure from the U S.
[29:14] Speaker 1: And because of environmental concerns from the government of Greenland,
[29:18] Speaker 1: they got bureaucratically stonewalled as well. Uh, and we'll see
[29:22] Speaker 1: that applies to a lot of things.
[29:24] Speaker 2: I think, uh, Dude, whenever that happens, Ben, I always
[29:26] Speaker 2: think if that is the maneuver, the excuse for some
[29:32] Speaker 2: other geopolitical actor to step in and say, oh, it's
[29:35] Speaker 2: the environmentals. It's not going to work on the environmentals, guys.
[29:38] Speaker 2: so but really there's somebody with a gun in the
[29:41] Speaker 2: office next door and just be like they better say.
[29:44] Speaker 5: No 100% and I love it Matt because you're doing
[29:49] Speaker 5: such great boardroom talk the environmentals we love the creative
[29:54] Speaker 5: we're concerned about the environmentals so the Trump is beautiful
[29:59] Speaker 5: the Trump administration has also, with validity, to be fair,
[30:05] Speaker 5: they have raised warnings about Russian and Chinese hegemony, really,
[30:12] Speaker 5: in Greenland, in the North Pole. And they paint it
[30:15] Speaker 5: or embellish it in these scary terms. They're saying, Greenland,
[30:19] Speaker 5: without us, will be surrounded by Russian and Chinese vessels.
[30:23] Speaker 5: Look what's happening in the South China Sea.
[30:26] Speaker 1: Right. And that's true. China's being kind of a dick
[30:29] Speaker 1: out there. But Donald Trump, the current U.S. president, also
[30:34] Speaker 1: argues that Denmark does not have the ability to defend
[30:39] Speaker 1: Greenland from these dystopian incursions. The implication being that if
[30:45] Speaker 1: the United States does not control the world's largest island,
[30:50] Speaker 1: then Russia or China, by hook or by crook, eventually will.
[30:54] Speaker 2: I was going to try and point out Denmark on
[30:56] Speaker 2: this map over here, but I don't think.
[30:59] Speaker 4: No, you're close.
[30:59] Speaker 1: You're close.
[31:00] Speaker 2: It's like pretty close. I'm going to Sweden. Going up
[31:04] Speaker 2: near Sweden.
[31:05] Speaker 1: Oh, this is hard. It's looking like Canada. We're on
[31:08] Speaker 1: different viewpoints.
[31:11] Speaker 2: Well, like, okay. If you go, it's not going to
[31:16] Speaker 2: work with me being able to do this way.
[31:17] Speaker 1: I'm sorry.
[31:17] Speaker 2: I'm not a weatherman. Okay. I don't know how they
[31:19] Speaker 2: figured how to do that thing.
[31:21] Speaker 1: That's a skill set. That's pretty cool, right? The green
[31:23] Speaker 1: screen thing.
[31:24] Speaker 5: Right.
[31:25] Speaker 2: But you can look up Denmark. It's very tiny and
[31:27] Speaker 2: it is hidden. It's basically hidden over here. It's just
[31:31] Speaker 2: below Norway and Sweden. You'll find it.
[31:34] Speaker 1: You'll find it. It's, it's, uh, it's got a wonderful
[31:38] Speaker 1: culture and we can't wait to hang out there. And
[31:42] Speaker 1: just so you know, before you travel in person on average,
[31:46] Speaker 1: they are very tall. So yes. Yeah. So work on
[31:50] Speaker 1: your charisma. Uh, this, I love that you mentioned earlier, Matt,
[31:54] Speaker 1: this historic thing that escapes so many people. Like Truman
[31:59] Speaker 1: before him, during the first Trump administration, the president tried
[32:04] Speaker 1: to buy Greenland, and the U.S. has loved Greenland all
[32:10] Speaker 1: the way back to World War II through the Cold War.
[32:13] Speaker 1: This is not a new crisis. This is an escalation
[32:16] Speaker 1: of an existing pattern, but it's a dangerous escalation still.
[32:21] Speaker 1: I mean, it would be like Noel saying, I want
[32:25] Speaker 1: Dylan's house. Dylan, give me your house, or I can
[32:29] Speaker 1: maybe buy it.
[32:31] Speaker 2: Or, f * * * it, I'll just take it.
[32:33] Speaker 1: Or I'll just go in.
[32:34] Speaker 3: Oh, man.
[32:36] Speaker 1: So at this point, folks, we've got a lot of history.
[32:40] Speaker 1: We've got a lot of dope beats to step to geopolitically.
[32:44] Speaker 1: So we need to talk about the fallout, the international reaction, right?
[32:50] Speaker 1: How do... So in this.
[32:53] Speaker 1: In this analogy with Dylan and Noel, Matt, you and
[32:57] Speaker 1: I are the rest of the world. So the first
[33:01] Speaker 1: big hurdle here is that you and I don't own
[33:06] Speaker 1: Dylan's house ourselves. Greenland is not part of the European Union.
[33:12] Speaker 1: Denmark is. Actually, Greenland voted to not be part of
[33:17] Speaker 1: the EU after they got home rule.
[33:21] Speaker 3: My mortgage is with... Denmark.
[33:25] Speaker 5: Dylan's mortgages with Denmark, which is apparently the two of us,
[33:29] Speaker 5: and you tuning in, and Agent Scully.
[33:31] Speaker 2: This is getting too complicated. I think we're just going
[33:33] Speaker 2: to have to invade. I'm sorry, Dylan.
[33:35] Speaker 3: Does that mean I don't have to pay my mortgage?
[33:37] Speaker 1: It does. It does. It should. So we're going to
[33:42] Speaker 1: take stuff from your house, and that'll be the mortgage. Oh, man,
[33:46] Speaker 1: that's too scarily accurate. Well, one thing, folks, one thing
[33:50] Speaker 1: that Matt and Tennessee and I wanted to share with
[33:52] Speaker 1: you is the big concern about U.S. action against Greenland.
[33:59] Speaker 1: If it ever happened, this would mean triggering something that
[34:04] Speaker 1: is very important to NATO. The United States is a
[34:07] Speaker 1: huge funder of NATO. Even now, it's an historic big
[34:10] Speaker 1: boy partner. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is primarily meant
[34:16] Speaker 1: to stop what they see as an expansionist Soviet Union.
[34:21] Speaker 2: Right?
[34:21] Speaker 1: And now an expansionist Russia. Russia, to be fair, sees
[34:25] Speaker 1: NATO itself as an expansionist force. These are two crews
[34:29] Speaker 1: that don't get along with each other. And part of
[34:33] Speaker 1: the reason that the NATO thing is such a big
[34:36] Speaker 1: deal is because of something called Article 5, which we
[34:40] Speaker 1: have mentioned often. It reads in part, quote, an armed
[34:44] Speaker 1: attack against one NATO member shall be considered an attack
[34:49] Speaker 1: against all members and triggers an obligation for each member
[34:54] Speaker 1: to come to its assistance. Meaning in short, if you
[34:58] Speaker 1: pop off at one person in our gang, then we
[35:03] Speaker 1: all jump in. So if, uh, if Matt and Dylan
[35:07] Speaker 1: and I are at a house party and then someone, uh,
[35:11] Speaker 1: offends Dylan, right. Offends his dignity or, you know, uh,
[35:17] Speaker 1: Let's say strikes Dylan. Strikes. Well, if someone, God forbid,
[35:20] Speaker 1: strikes Dylan, then Matt and I are obligated to jump
[35:26] Speaker 1: in to the best of our ability. International relations is
[35:32] Speaker 1: always one big house party, a backyard cookout where the
[35:36] Speaker 1: resources are scarce and the people are many. There you
[35:38] Speaker 1: have it. We're going to take a pause for a
[35:41] Speaker 1: word from our sponsors and hopefully we'll get back to you.
[35:50] Speaker 2: Let's take a look at this North Atlantic slash Arctic
[35:54] Speaker 2: Ocean map, the Arctic Circle again, and let's just take
[35:57] Speaker 2: a look at the countries that are NATO and.
[35:59] Speaker 1: The ones that are not.
[36:02] Speaker 2: You won't be able to see maybe my cursor on here,
[36:05] Speaker 2: but if you look over here, this is Alaska. You
[36:08] Speaker 2: can probably see Alaska up there in the north.
[36:11] Speaker 1: Yeah, sort of at 1130.
[36:13] Speaker 2: And then it continues all around here with Canada and
[36:17] Speaker 2: then across over here to Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland.
[36:22] Speaker 2: So this whole side, it's almost half, almost exactly half.
[36:27] Speaker 2: These are all of the NATO countries over here. And
[36:31] Speaker 2: then on this side, Russia, basically. Isn't that crazy? All
[36:37] Speaker 2: of these countries versus Russia when it comes to who
[36:40] Speaker 2: are we afraid of and what are we defending against?
[36:43] Speaker 5: Right.
[36:43] Speaker 1: And we have to wonder about the rationale. Wonder and wander.
[36:48] Speaker 1: Because this issue is, if the U.S., even with the
[36:54] Speaker 1: best of intentions, the most noble of intent, even if
[36:58] Speaker 1: the U.S. invades Greenland for a good reason, will it
[37:03] Speaker 1: trigger Article 5? How does the rest of your gang
[37:07] Speaker 1: handle a betrayal from within? This is a U.S. pulling
[37:11] Speaker 1: a Judas Iscariot for a greater good. I mean, obviously,
[37:15] Speaker 1: it's going to be a great day for Daddy V,
[37:17] Speaker 1: for Daddy Vlad, if NATO disintegrates, right? It's going to
[37:23] Speaker 1: wreak havoc on international relations. We're going to see economic warfare.
[37:28] Speaker 1: We're going to see sanctions, tariffs up the wazoo. You're
[37:31] Speaker 1: probably going to get flight restrictions if you live in
[37:34] Speaker 1: any NATO country to some degree. There are going to
[37:37] Speaker 1: be crazy changes in immigration policy. If you think it's
[37:41] Speaker 1: bad now, folks, just wait. And there's also going to be,
[37:45] Speaker 1: you know, countries pulling out of NATO entirely. I'll take
[37:49] Speaker 1: my ball and go home. There are going to be
[37:51] Speaker 1: countries that want to join NATO that are going to
[37:54] Speaker 1: reconsider it because NATO doesn't look as solid as it
[37:58] Speaker 1: advertised itself to be.
[38:00] Speaker 2: Well, is it any wonder that, you know, some of
[38:04] Speaker 2: the major conflicts that Russia has been getting into deal
[38:07] Speaker 2: specifically with other countries wanting to maybe join NATO? Exactly.
[38:13] Speaker 2: Or being in the process of getting a NATO membership
[38:17] Speaker 2: card so they can do all the things and have,
[38:20] Speaker 2: you know, so NATO's got their back from now on?
[38:23] Speaker 2: You can see this happening back in our discussions with Crimea,
[38:26] Speaker 2: back in our discussions with basic... Even that Arctic episode
[38:30] Speaker 2: we did, all of these, that is one of the
[38:34] Speaker 2: key situations that Russia is grappling with right now. Look
[38:38] Speaker 2: at that map. Everybody on that map is against us
[38:43] Speaker 2: and ready to fight back if we try and do anything.
[38:47] Speaker 2: That's probably a pretty uncomfortable position to be in if
[38:50] Speaker 2: we're using that whole empathy thing, right? Just thinking about
[38:53] Speaker 2: it that way, getting a different perspective. But also, maybe
[38:57] Speaker 2: there's a really good reason That all those countries joined
[39:01] Speaker 2: up and made an organization like this.
[39:03] Speaker 1: And also, why should we waste blood and treasure fighting
[39:08] Speaker 1: all of them at once when we can get them
[39:10] Speaker 1: to fight themselves? Right? Oh, yeah.
[39:13] Speaker 2: Just needle them. Get them to.
[39:16] Speaker 1: Full slice of dice. Well, he said, she said, I
[39:19] Speaker 1: don't know. I don't know, your highness. The prime minister
[39:23] Speaker 1: in Greenland kind of says you're a poop. He said
[39:27] Speaker 1: he called you a poop and I asked him if
[39:29] Speaker 1: it was a translation error, and he said no. He
[39:31] Speaker 1: said you smell weird. Oh, dude.
[39:35] Speaker 2: Let's go back to the Fredericks of it all one
[39:37] Speaker 2: more time, because we've got another prime minister also with
[39:40] Speaker 2: Frederick in the name. This time, the Danish prime minister
[39:44] Speaker 2: met Fredrickson, or Friedrickson. No, it's Frederickson. And it's even
[39:49] Speaker 2: got that ER in it. But all of these have
[39:51] Speaker 2: the ER. What the heck's going on?
[39:53] Speaker 1: Ellis Island. Yep.
[39:57] Speaker 3: Here's a quote.
[39:58] Speaker 2: If the U.S. chooses to attack another NATO country militarily,
[40:02] Speaker 2: then everything stops, including NATO, and thus the security that
[40:07] Speaker 2: has been established since the end of the Second World War.
[40:09] Speaker 2: And then she goes on to urge the United States to, quote,
[40:12] Speaker 2: cease its threats against a historically close ally and against
[40:16] Speaker 2: another country and another people who have stated very clearly
[40:20] Speaker 2: that they are not for sale. You know, another prime
[40:24] Speaker 2: minister that feels like they should have that position.
[40:28] Speaker 1: Right. Yeah. And also, folks, if you'll humor us, if
[40:32] Speaker 1: you're watching this episode on Netflix, here is our flawless
[40:37] Speaker 1: interpretation of Vladimir Putin reading that statement.
[40:44] Speaker 2: With a skeleton behind him.
[40:46] Speaker 1: Yes, yes. If you're listening on an audio platform, check
[40:51] Speaker 1: us out on Netflix. Give us two thumbs up. Let
[40:54] Speaker 1: us screw up your algorithm with you. It goes further, man.
[41:00] Speaker 1: Speaking of prime ministers, let's go to Jonas Garstor. In
[41:06] Speaker 1: January of 2026, there were some leaked texts between the U.S.
[41:11] Speaker 1: president and the prime minister, of Norway, our buddy Jonas.
[41:16] Speaker 1: And in these texts, seriously, they're just like texting each other.
[41:20] Speaker 1: In these texts, the president of the United States of
[41:24] Speaker 1: America said, I don't really have to think about peace
[41:28] Speaker 1: anymore because I didn't get the Nobel Peace Prize. He
[41:33] Speaker 1: specifically said, again, to another world leader in a casual text,
[41:38] Speaker 1: the following. We're not going to do the voice. Considering
[41:42] Speaker 1: your country has decided not to give me the Nobel
[41:47] Speaker 1: Peace Prize for having stopped eight wars, capital, plus, comma,
[41:52] Speaker 1: I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace.
[41:59] Speaker 1: So he's like, yeah, you didn't give me what I
[42:01] Speaker 1: wanted earlier, so why should I play reindeer games? There
[42:06] Speaker 1: are a lot of reindeer in Greenland, that's why. Ah.
[42:10] Speaker 2: Everybody just needs to go. I'm doing it again. Get ready.
[42:13] Speaker 2: Go and listen to and watch the Bo Burnham performance
[42:16] Speaker 2: of Art is Dead. And you will see an example
[42:21] Speaker 2: of the person who puts that statement into the world,
[42:24] Speaker 2: either via text, via saying it to someone out loud,
[42:27] Speaker 2: or just having the thought, you didn't give me what
[42:31] Speaker 2: I want, so now I'm going to take it.
[42:33] Speaker 1: Right. And this, in Trump's case, maybe not Burnham's, Maybe
[42:38] Speaker 1: not Bose.
[42:38] Speaker 2: No, Burnham is illustrating it via.
[42:40] Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. He's going by example. I'm saying like in
[42:43] Speaker 1: the president's case, this is a textbook iteration of what
[42:48] Speaker 1: we call brinksmanship in international affairs. That's where you push
[42:52] Speaker 1: a dangerous situation or confrontation to the edge of safety
[42:57] Speaker 1: in hopes of forcing concessions from your opponent or the
[43:01] Speaker 1: other player. It's Dick.
[43:04] Speaker 2: It's also the, Known as the thing that happens right
[43:07] Speaker 2: before war.
[43:07] Speaker 1: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Because it's brinksmanship until it's war, right?
[43:13] Speaker 1: And DPRK is great at it. And folks, we're going
[43:17] Speaker 1: to pause it here. This is chapter one of a
[43:20] Speaker 1: two-part exploration on the United States' strange obsession with Greenland.
[43:27] Speaker 2: This has been fun, you guys. Gotta say, hit that like. Oh, wait, wait.
[43:31] Speaker 2: What platform are we on?
[43:33] Speaker 1: We're on a lot of platforms. We're in the back rooms, too.
[43:36] Speaker 1: We're in your back rooms.
[43:38] Speaker 2: Oh, God. I just watched that movie, Ben.
[43:40] Speaker 1: I loved it. Fans of SCP, you'll get what we're
[43:45] Speaker 1: talking about as well. You can find us on the internet.
[43:47] Speaker 1: You can call us on the phone.
[43:48] Speaker 2: That's right. We're all over the place on most of
[43:52] Speaker 2: the socials. We're at Conspiracy Stuff. You may find a
[43:56] Speaker 2: few of them where we are at Conspiracy Stuff Show. Hey,
[44:00] Speaker 2: we have a phone number. It is 1-833-STD-WYTK. Call in
[44:06] Speaker 2: with your thoughts, anything you want to say. You got
[44:08] Speaker 2: about three minutes. It's a voicemail system. Give yourself a
[44:11] Speaker 2: cool nickname so we know when you call in next time.
[44:13] Speaker 2: And let us know within the message if we can
[44:16] Speaker 2: use your name and message on one of our listener
[44:18] Speaker 2: mail episodes that show up in the audio feed. Ben,
[44:22] Speaker 2: there's one more exceedingly good way to contact us.
[44:25] Speaker 1: Ah, yes, the Ouija board or the scry or the
[44:29] Speaker 1: mirror in the dark. If you don't have those home,
[44:33] Speaker 1: I've been reading a lot of online recipes. If you
[44:35] Speaker 1: don't have those ingredients handy, you can substitute with an email.
[44:40] Speaker 1: We'll see you out here. Conspiracy at iHeartRadio.com.
[45:01] Speaker 2: Stuff They Don't Want You To Know is a production
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