Ed Helms

And I just –

I love that because it speaks to this kind of like grand human intuition that we all share and that we all understand these fundamental truths.

I love that podcasting has emerged as such a vital medium in our culture now because it feels like an antidote to social media.

It feels like an antidote to all of the just, like—

crazy, flashy, quick, disposable stuff.

Yes.

To your point, it has provided a great scaffolding for my curiosity and connection with so many cool people like yourself.

All right.

Are you ready to snafu Kelly?

So you've probably heard the phrase the fog of war.

It's a perfect metaphor, the chaos and confusion and split-second decisions made with bad information.

But in today's story, that fog wasn't just metaphorical.

It was quite literal.

We're heading back to World War II and to one of history's most baffling military mix-ups, Operation Cottage.

I'm assuming you've never heard of this.

Never.

It was actually a giant operation in the Pacific Theater, but it is largely forgotten to popular memory.

Kelly, you may not seem like the obvious co-pilot for a war story here.

Especially one this gloriously botched, but I actually think you're perfect for it.

Because your superpower is bringing empathy and curiosity to human folly and finding sort of the human through line when things go sideways.