Martha Gellhorn, Racism, and the Atrocities of Vietnam

2026-02-13

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Episode Summary:In this episode of Explaining History, Nick returns to the grim realities of the Vietnam War through the eyes of one of the 20th century's most formidable journalists: Martha Gellhorn.Drawing on Philip Knightley's The First Casualty, we explore how Gellhorn—a veteran of the Spanish Civil War and D-Day—exposed the "hearts and minds" strategy as a hollow lie. While American generals bragged about "zapping Charlie Cong," Gellhorn visited the hospitals and refugee camps, documenting the civilian carnage inflicted by US fir...

Episode Summary:

In this episode of Explaining History, Nick returns to the grim realities of the Vietnam War through the eyes of one of the 20th century's most formidable journalists: Martha Gellhorn.

Drawing on Philip Knightley's The First Casualty, we explore how Gellhorn—a veteran of the Spanish Civil War and D-Day—exposed the "hearts and minds" strategy as a hollow lie. While American generals bragged about "zapping Charlie Cong," Gellhorn visited the hospitals and refugee camps, documenting the civilian carnage inflicted by US firepower.

Nick delves into the racialized hatred that fueled the war, examining how the dehumanization of the Vietnamese people ("dinks," "gooks") led to a culture of normalized depravity where ears were taken as trophies and massacres were dismissed as "turkey shoots." We also discuss how the US military learned from the PR disasters of Vietnam to create the sanitized "embedded" journalism of the Gulf Wars.

Plus: A reminder for history students! Our American History Masterclass (1945-74) is this Sunday, February 15th. Join us for a deep dive into the Cold War, Civil Rights, and Vietnam.

Key Topics:

Martha Gellhorn: The reporter who refused to look away from civilian suffering.
Dehumanization: How racism became a "patriotic virtue" in Vietnam.
The Myth of Hearts and Minds: The disconnect between official rhetoric and the reality of napalm.
Managing the Media: Why newspapers refused to print the truth about American atrocities.

Books Mentioned:

The First Casualty by Philip Knightley
Dispatches by Michael Herr
Maoism: A Global History by Julia Lovell

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