Actor, writer and comedian Ed Helms is lending his voice to a new comedy podcast for iHeartMedia. The show is titled SNAFU, and it will be a seasonal nonfiction series that dissects some of history’s greatest screw-ups.
“I’m so thrilled to be jumping into the podcast space with SNAFU,” says Helms. “Not only is the story hilarious, utterly terrifying and somehow completely true, but it also finally gives my inner history nerd a chance to come out and party,” he said in the announcement.
SNAFU is actually an acronym for a term coined by soldiers during World War II standing for “Situation Normal: All F-d Up.” That will be on display during the podcast’s first season as Helms tells the story of Able Archer 83, the NATO military exercise that supposedly nearly caused a real nuclear war in November 1983. Using first-hand interviews, archival audio and extensive research from both the U.S./NATO and Soviet sides, the series will pull back the curtain on what has often been called by historians “the closest we came to nuclear war since the Bay of Pigs.”
Helms will also conduct interviews with guests including actor Matthew Broderick, former national security official Dr. Fiona Hill, former KGB sleeper agent Jack Barsky, and nuclear expert Dr. Jeffrey Lewis.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with FilmNation to launch this unique non-fiction series and honored to have the incredibly smart Ed Helms as our host,” said Will Pearson, Chief Operating Officer of iHeartPodcast Network. “Ed’s comedic take on these largely unknown historical blunders is both entertaining and educational, and we’re excited to offer history buffs new stories to enjoy.”
“SNAFU” is a production of iHeartPodcasts, FilmNation Entertainment, and Pacific Electric Picture Company – the production company Helms and Mike Falbo co-founded in 2012 -- in association with Gilded Audio. Executive producers are Dylan Fagan for iHeartPodcasts, Milan Popelka for FilmNation Entertainment, Ed Helms and Mike Falbo for Pacific Electric Picture Company, Andy Chugg and Whitney Donaldson for Gilded Audio. Producers are Alyssa Martino and Tory Smith for FilmNation Entertainment, Sara Joyner and Carl Nellis for Gilded Audio.
The series is distributed by iHeartPodcasts and will launch Wednesday, October 5.
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