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Last Updated: September 2, 2024

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081: "We all want to make America better. We just have differences of opinion on how we do it." News for the junior level of the military with Paul Szoldra

Dad, husband, dog lover, journalist, entrepreneur, veteran, and longtime fan of pizza Paul Szoldra shares how Task and Purpose informs, engages, entertains, and stand-ups for active-duty military members, veterans, and their families, with a primary focus on the junior levels of the military. He shares his experience on the relationship between the US Department of Defense and the press, how to find common ground despite divisive rhetoric, and encourages us to have better conversations with people in our sphere.

Website: https://www.paulszoldra.com/

Twitter / Instagram @paulszoldra

Facebook @pszoldra

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Jen Amos 0:00

All right. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to holding down the fort and award winning podcast show. I am your founder and co host, Jenn Ramos. And as always, I have my amazing co host with me, Jenny Lynch troupe. Gentlemen, welcome back. Hey, thanks

Unknown Speaker 0:11

for having me. Glad to be here.

Jen Amos 0:12

Yes, and we are pretty excited because we have yet another person that you invited to our show, which I am not complaining about because you make my job easier. So let's go ahead and bring him on. We have Paul zodra, who is the editor in chief of task and purpose and duffel blog. He's also a dad, husband, dog lover, journalist, entrepreneur, veteran. And this is fun, longtime fan of pizza. So Paul, welcome to the show.

Unknown Speaker 0:37

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Jen Amos 0:39

Speaker 1 0:44

Jen Amos 1:33

Yeah, that was definitely very controversial day, depending on what side you're on. But basically, everyone basically saw that was a very, very controversial day. And depending on who you're talking to, they could just suddenly stop being your friend because you're believing in something different. So you're hinting at kind of the work that you're doing. You know, we started mentioned here, Paul, that you are the editor in chief of task and purpose and duffel blog. So let's talk about tasking purpose. First, for people that are hearing about it for the first time. What is this new site about?

Speaker 1 2:02

Jen Amos 2:56

Well, how about this, let me ask you with this follow up question, what is the common feedback or testimonial? or what have you do you get from your readers?

Speaker 1 3:06

Okay, so great question. I think just to describe tasking purpose a little bit better. We focus primarily on the more junior levels of the military, I found that a lot of our competitors and national outlets, they cover the military, and they talk about what the generals are doing, and what the Pentagon is doing, and all these things, and then, you know, you end up missing a whole lot of stuff going on, at the ranks far below that, personally, I find those stories way more interesting, and way more meaningful. And so that's kind of what our coverage is that we think about, you know, how does, like, looking at a story that maybe would be about, you know, if some general says something in a speech, you know, some other might cover that, we're first thinking about, like, does the junior enlisted even care about this thing? Like, does it even matter to them? And, you know, the answer is no, we don't wait, you know, and and kind of start from that perspective, first being about, you know, the active duty ranks, you know, more at the at the junior levels than than other places.

Jen Amos 4:21

I actually appreciate that. Because you're right, when I think about what usually is covered, I often don't think about the junior level. So maybe that's just my own ignorance, but I think it's very smart in your end to cover that demographic.

Speaker 1 4:33

Yeah, I think that, you know, what's interesting for us is that we have that perspective. I mean, I'm a former Marine Sergeant. So I come with this sort of level of, you know, being a junior enlisted personnel, myself, and my staff. We have people on staff that are former military members, as well. And so we think about things a little bit differently. And a lot of times we'll cover something and that's kind of almost There's an educational effects to the senior leadership of like, we don't do our task and purpose might be covering something. Now, they didn't even think of it that way. When you have some, you know, former Sergeant pointing out to you in a headline, you know how stupid that policy is. We do that as well as double blog, it's kind of that same mindset is a level of, of, you know, getting information, but also, you know, bringing that information up to higher levels that, you know, they're in a bubble, they don't really get some of the questions we ask. And so like, I'll send my Pentagon correspondent, Jeff, to ask some really sort of question that's really of importance to a junior enlisted person or a junior officer. And, you know, those generals probably were never even going to be asked at all by some other reporter. And they, you know, sometimes it gets some catches them off guard. And, you know, sometimes it helps them get a better sense of what the vast majority of the Marines truly care about.

Jen Amos 6:07

Yeah, well, thank you for elaborating on that. Jenny. Lynn, I heard you nodding earlier. So I thought I'd sort of backtrack for a quick second. And if you can share, actually how you know, Paul, and what your thoughts are, if

Speaker 2 6:19

Jen Amos 7:48

Yeah, I really like that. Can you maybe share? What are some of the challenges you feel like you face Paul, in, you know, managing this new site, task and purpose?

Unknown Speaker 8:00

challenge? One t?

Unknown Speaker 8:01

Can I rephrase that?

Speaker 1 8:04

I mean, I guess we have the same challenges of any other use, say, you know, trying to find stories and find people to talk to you and you know, get tips and all those things. And I think for us, we're pretty focused on on our audience and other readers and kind of what they respond to, or what really matters to them. And so that kind of leads us to getting the other stuff, getting the tips, getting the people that want to talk to us, I'm really heartened a lot of times by calling up whoever and hearing the phrase, you know, I love tasking purpose. When I say where I'm from, I used to work at Business Insider, to, you know, pretty big financial news site for the most part, but I did defense coverage there. And the difference was really apparent. I call up and say, Paul, soldier from Business Insider, and they would say, businesses that are what the hell is that? You know, like, you guys cover the military? I don't have to do any of that explanation, hardly ever, which is really nice. And, you know, people just trust us to, you know, to get it right. You know, and we're, we don't always do that, you know, we screw up plenty, I just like anyone else. But we try as much as possible to get it right. And, you know, get the help. You know, at the end of the day, our primary concern is informing our readers and giving them the best information that they can get, so that they can make, you know, proper decisions on whatever is going on in their lives. And, you know, I think we do that for the most part, and it's pretty awesome. I'm pretty honored and excited to work every single day doing this kind of stuff in this role. I know your question was about challenges, and I'll say the challenges for us in the past four years, with the Trump administration. It's interesting. We're talking right now. We're Before, we're gonna have a new presidential administration, and there's gonna be changes and things happening. And I honestly don't know what's gonna happen, you know, I don't know how it's gonna go or whatever. So, you know, I'm sure we'll have challenges there. And those are kind of, sort of wait and see the challenge over the last four years, I think we've had some serious problems with just transparency in God, you know, the public affairs mantra, you know, the principles and information. And there are things like, you know, maximum disclosure, minimum delay, these kinds of things that myself as a reporter, I've known and operated under that framework for a very long time. And so many more things have become classified, like troop numbers in Afghanistan, or even on how the war is going. Those were made classified under the Trump administration. And typically, things that get classified are usually things that people don't want to talk about. And so if everything was hunky dory, in Afghanistan, I imagine it wouldn't be classified. And just other things about just the relationship between God and the press. I think it's not a partisan statement, to look at President Trump's demonization of the media and calling us the enemy of the people and figuring out that that is really not helped us inform our readers as best as we possibly can. Because you know, this, the tone is set at the top. And so the DLD public affairs apparatus has responded, you know, to that by doing way less briefings on camera, you know, it's a little bit harder for us to, to deal with that. So that's been a challenge, it hasn't made our job impossible, you know, information that should be made public has a tendency to be made public, regardless of whether the government wants it to. So you know, if a public affairs God spokesperson doesn't get on camera, that will probably get that information by other needs. And so then they lose control of the message, and it's their fault. So those are all our challenges, will they be erased on day one of the ministration? Absolutely not. I would totally doubt that. But, you know, I have a feeling it will be a little bit better terms of transparency, but I think it'll be there'll be other challenges that kind of come up, you know, through the years, and I don't know what those are, but it'll be interesting to see. Yeah, wrenches get thrown in my way.

Yeah, I appreciate you elaborating on that. Because I just think that in a weird way, I feel conflicted with like, mainstream media and news outlets, and just the mixed messages, like left and right. And, for me, you know, being a former Cali girl of 20 years, like I could very much see the left side, and then being on the east coast and being around the military, I could see a lot of the right side, I could see a lot of libertarian side, I could see a lot of different perspectives. And I feel like they're all like, justified in their own way. But at the same time, it's like, it's like, where do we find common ground? And where do we find the truth? You know, like, It surprises me when I talked to some friends. And you know, it's just, they're so adamant, you know, on a certain side, like a sports team, like they won't care about the other team. They're so adamant about sticking to their side. And it's like, how do we find that common ground? And how do we provide like that truth, you know, for people to really know, like, what is really going on? And I think like, you know, since Trump came in, like, the talk of politics, in general has been such a major conversation point for many, you know, personal relationships, and people, you know, becoming more aware. And I think that, you know, the media, or mainstream media and Hollywood, for example, and big tech, I've really kind of capitalize off of that. And so, you know, I'm not trying to sound political or anything, but for me, I'm really just saying out loud, like my own frustration with kind of knowing where do I go, like, where do I go? Where do I try to understand and learn these things? And and then you're here telling me like, the God is being less transparent, but you're so trying to find a way which I guess gives me hope, you know, that we can still uncover the truth or at least get the facts right.

Yeah. Well, you hit on a you raise a few interesting points there. kind of want to jump on or dive into, you know, one of them is just the skepticism of the media. Like, I think people is right, you should be skeptical of everything, you know, but there's been a concerted effort of, you know, throwing skepticism or criticism on just about every institution, by the Trump administration. I mean, we're not talking to just the media and we're the quote unquote, me of the people but you know, the FBI, the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, Sounds like anyone that has kind of been seen or perceived as being, you know, in the way gets marginalized. And it's, you know, it has this building effect over time of people not being skeptical but being set up. And that is why I really, I'm concerned about long term, it's okay to be skeptical. I am the most ethical person in the world. As a journalist, there's a common like trope in journalism, that if your mother tells you, she loves you, make sure you check it out. You know, we never take anything at face value. But it's, you know, to be cynical everything and think that there's some kind of nefarious thing going on that every possible facet of life, it's long term, it's just, it hurts us. In America broadly, not thinking about this, like, you know, a common tree. How do we find that common ground? I mean, it's really hard to find common ground when you are told by your political leader, whoever, whatsit, whatever side, that is, that the other side is evil, that they want to destroy American, you know, they're just take your exaggeration, we've gotten away from this, sort of, you know, working together on issues to just we need to destroy the other side. Otherwise, we can't do anything outside.

Like, we can't get past that unless we destroy the other side.

That's, I mean, like, right now, you saw a little bit, you know, early on the Trump administration on the left and the resistance, I remember, there was like this big resistance flag like hanging from construction site in Washington, DC, and I was like, there was a new cycle on that. And that was, you know, I see that on a right. Same way, like, people are upset that they lost the election of their their guy. But I mean, the rhetoric of, you know, like, Biden is a radical, extreme socialist, madman is gonna put us into camps, and also their stuff like, that is obviously an exaggeration, but it's also it makes it really, really impossible to work on anything, get anything done. You know, like, I don't know, I don't know what the answer to that is. But I feel like it's just, I think the most that, you know, we can do is just to have better conversations with people around us in our sphere. And not fall into that, you know, they're evil are horrible, because most people are, some people support the Democrats, some people support the Republicans, some people are libertarian. And in all three of those groups, their avowed reason for existing is not to destroy the United States of America, to improve it, you know, everybody is on this thing that they want to make America better. And we all just have differences of opinion on how we do it. And it's just really disappointing to me and frustrating when I have, like, when we're having conversations, and this has happened to me in the past couple of weeks, I've had some friends that are veterans that I served with many, many years ago, I had guys in my first book tune, who was he was claiming that, you know, a person in the Capitol was, you know, an antique a guy. Just it's completely bogus and untrue. And I was asking him, like, how, why do you think that? What do you, you know, what leads you to that? And just me pushing back on it and asking questions, I was unfriended, like,

Hey, you know, what I think it is, I think we're in like this ghosting culture, or like, you know, kancil culture, as some people call it, where it's like, they just can't have a conversation and just like, block you, you know, it's just like, No, I don't want to confront you, I'm gonna block you. Like, that's just, you know, I even here in the workplace. Like, when people get like, hired, they like ghost, the employer, you know, I just feel like, it's just this weird time in generation where people are having direct conversations with each other and talking things out anymore. But it's quite fascinating. Obviously, we're not gonna be able to solve it all today. But you know, Paul, I really appreciate you taking the time to, you know, just entertain, you know, the topic and the conversation. Obviously, you know, Jenny Lynn, and I always talk about how we just kind of wing these conversations and very interesting how the conversation went this way. But I do want to make sure we end up on a positive note here in a minute because I know you have to go in about 10 minutes. I thought I'd check in with genuine first. Any thoughts so far?

I think Listen to both of you, what came up for me is with all the canceled culture and the, you know, this side, that side is what it's really brought about is a lot of anxiety. And, you know, everybody is just living in such a heightened state. And so here's my, you know, thump thump for mental health, which task and purpose also covers military mental health quite a bit for the post 911. guys and gals, you know, I think you're right, we have the opportunity to help the narrative with that and help ease the anxiety. And by easing the anxiety of the current culture, we can get back to some sort of normal status quo, like much less abrasive and invasive, and I think I have hoped for that. I mean, again, mental health, like, you will not find a bigger advocate than me. And, and, you know, for this very reason, I mean, living in a pandemic has made everything harder to do, you add in some unrest, and, and it just it is stirred the pot of anxiety so high that I think people just don't know how to come down from that. And so the, it's that auto shut off, like, I will shut you off, because I can handle no more input, because my anxiety is already at max capacity. And so I appreciate, you know, the folks that task and purpose really trying to look into things that are true and real, really affecting, like, the everyday people, you and I had a conversation earlier today. And, you know, talking about military spouses, and it's, I think we have the opportunity as people who are engaged in the media, to have conversations that help normalize talking about hard things, and help lower the overall anxiety and help folks, you know, get back to a place where we can have hard conversations without having it become a shouting match, or a shutting you out. So I'm hopeful for that and grateful for folks who do the hard work to help get us there.

Yeah, absolutely. Oh, go ahead. Paul,

I just wanted to echo the mental health aspect that Jenny Lynn talked about, I mean, especially now, I mean, in the middle of pandemic, and in a military context, you know, I the increase in suicide last year, and I think it's going to, you know, it's going to be on a prediction, but it's bad, right, and we kind of can see the the issue, you can kind of tell that that's happening in the background, and I see it in my personal life, you know, I can see my, you know, fellow veterans and struggling and, you know, dealing with those kinds of things, and, you know, I, I'm keeping my phone, like, if I get a late night call, then I'm like, okay, gotta answer that one doesn't matter what's happening now. And, you know, I just think like, one, mental health is really important. And it's not, it's not any kind of sign of weakness or anything to seek help, I'm happy to tell you that I go therapy and do that. And it's good for me. And it really helps because I'm a very anxious person. And, you know, like, you kind of need the outlet. So you don't have the outlet, then that's something you shouldn't look into, you know, especially if you're in the military or veteran, there's so many resources available to you that you can get therapy for free. So there's really no excuse for it. And, you know, I just, I don't know, I'm just, I'm really going back full circle here with like, how 2021 is going right now. Not so great. But I'm trying to just, you know, do the basics, do the job, get up in the morning and try to work out because that usually makes you feel better, it gives you a release and you know, energy and everything and all that kind of stuff, your therapy, there's an app for meditation, that apps for meditation, I would highly recommend and and the last thing is just to check in with each other, you know, I have this tendency to get really stressed out and I don't want to talk to anyone really like I just want to be like, you know, this sad individual. And I have to constantly tell myself, like no call friends, you know, they energize you, they build you up even best 510 minutes of conversation. It's really, really huge. And that's really how we're all going to get through this, you know, nightmare of lockdowns and pandemic is to keep connected with the people we care about and actually have those non shouting conversations just just to chat about things and eventually this will be behind us. I hope very soon. I have not been able to get my hands on the vaccine, but I keep trying

Awesome. Well, Paul, I know that your time is valuable. So before we go, just real briefly, I think it'd be sort of nice to end on a positive note here. Let people know what the devil blog is about in case people want to look into that.

Double blog is a satire website. It's commonly referred to as the onion for the military. And we've been around since 2012. And we are now a newsletter, actually. So if you go to duffel blog, calm as DU ff e L. blog, comm you can sign up for that and get our emails, and they come to your inbox every week. And they're usually stories written in a new style. So it looks like a news story, but it is decidedly not. But some of them have turned out to be true. So. But ultimately, I mean, some blogs just write about the military from a humorous lens and really point out the absurd when it comes up, which, frankly, there's a whole lot of absurdity going on. And

you've had some great fodder in the past year.

Yeah,

you know, really easy story making,

I can't believe what he's been around is. So March 2012, I think is that time we launched though, you know, we'll be we'll be what, nine years in later this year. And it's amazing, because I thought, you know, the first year or so I thought I was gonna run out of material like, oh, my goodness, we're gonna hit on all these big surprise jokes, and then run out of stuff. And, boy, were you wrong.

Still in business, y'all. Well, Paul, hey, thanks again for joining us, Daniel. And thank you for bringing on Paul again. Um, and I do have your contact information here. So people do want to get ahold of you and learn about you. We'll have that in the show notes. So I know you have to get going. So again, thank you so much for joining us genuine. Any final thoughts?

No, just thanks so much for coming on and joining us today. I appreciate the learning the backstory on all the things you do. Thanks for chatting.

Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

All right. And to our listeners. We hope that today's episode give you one more piece of knowledge resource irrelevant story so you can continue to make confident and informed decisions for you and your family. We look forward to speak with you the next episode. Tune in next time.