The French Bombing of Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior

The Rainbow Warrior's Mission

• 🚢 The Rainbow Warrior was the flagship vessel of Greenpeace in the 1970s and 80s, used for high-profile, attention-grabbing actions.
• 🌊 Greenpeace activists would sail these ships to confront environmental wrongdoers, such as whalers in the North Atlantic or nuclear plants dumping waste.
• 🎯 Their actions were designed to make the news and confront issues like nuclear waste disposal and nuclear testing.

Greenpeace's Activist Tactics

• ✊ Greenpeace operated as a more guerrilla activist organization in its early days, focusing on direct confrontation.
• 🎭 They aimed to present themselves as lovable underdogs fighting against big corporate and government interests that harmed the environment.
• ⛓️ Activists engaged in actions like chaining themselves to outflow tanks at nuclear plants or sailing into dangerous situations to get their message across.

The "Operation Satanique" Plot

• 🇫🇷 The article discusses a specific incident where environmental activists, specifically Greenpeace, angered the French government.
• 💣 This led to a plot by the French government, codenamed "Operation Satanique", which involved the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior.
• ⚠️ The incident serves as a cautionary tale about what happens when environmental activists piss off the wrong kind of people.

Slate's "Big Swing" Journalism

• ✍️ The article is highlighted as one of Slate's "big swings", where writers are given the freedom to pursue ambitious projects.
• 🎙️ The discussion features Dan Kois, a long-time Slate writer and game designer, who wrote the piece.
• 🎧 The episode is part of Slate's "What Next" podcast, with a portion being member-exclusive for Slate Plus subscribers.