Sirens: A Bombshell production

In this week's episode, while Loren cleans out her office, Radha and Erin dig into an array of China-related topics: Huawei! India! Hong Kong! And last, but certainly not least, the World Health Organization. The ladies then turn to White House/American mayhem and try to be analytical while lamenting ongoing violence against black Americans and the potential deployment of U.S. troops in American cities. And finally, an awkward transition to a discussion of pop-culture yields some gems. Links Huawei Scott Bade, "Huawei's Terrible Week," Tech Crunch, May 30, 2020 Emily Feng, "The Latest US Blow to China's Huawei Could Knock Out Its Global 5G Plans," NPR, May 28, 2020 India Border Jeffrey Gettleman and Steven Lee Myers, "China and India at 14,000 Feet Along the Border," New York Times, May 30, 2020 Hong Kong Sergei Klebnikov, "Trump Announces New Sanctions On Chinese Officials, But Won't Scrap Phase One Trade Deal," Forbes, May 29, 2020 "Trump Targets China Over Hong Kong Security Law," BBC News, May 30, 2020 Kenneth Rapoza, "Imaging Hong Kong Without Its US Special Status Deal," Forbes, May 29, 2020 Jack Caporal, "The US-China Mini Deal (That Never Was?)" CSIS, October 17, 2019 WHO Brianna Ehley and Alice Miranda Ollstein, "Trump Announces US Withdrawal from the World Health Organization," Politico, May 29, 2020 "Coronavirus: Backlash After Trump Signals US Exit from WHO," BBC News, May 30, 2020 Protests in US Dan Lamothe, "Trump Administration Offers Active-Duty Military Forces and Intelligence to Help Quell Minnesota Unrest," Washington Post, May 30, 2020 Samuel Sinyangwe, Tweet, October 5, 2019 Jennifer Doleac, Tweet, May 31, 2020 Megan Ming Francis, Tweet, May 30, 2020 Audrey McNamara, " Paul Mayor Says Earlier Comments About Arrested Protesters Being Out of State Were Not Correct," CBS News, May 30, 2020 "Pentagon Puts Military Police on Alert to Go to Minneapolis," CNBC, May 30, 2020 George Floyd Kate Shellnutt, "George Floy Left a Gospel Legacy in Houston," Chrsitanity Today, May 28, 2020

This week Erin, Loren, and Radha regroup for a "what did I miss" session to discuss the events of the last few weeks. Starting with the bizarre coup that wasn't in Venezuela, the ladies go on to talk about the Iran not-so-snap-back sanctions — including the Babysitter's Club analogy that you'll need in order to understand why everyone is so annoyed — and the potentially pending restart of the China trade war. They then turn to the dwindling number of inspector generals and remind everyone why process is their valentine. They close out this episode with a discussion of books that will help you to learn if you feel like, cope when you need help, and escape when you want to.

Jung Pak, senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, joins Bombshell to discuss her fascinating and timely new book: Becoming Kim Jong Un. Radha, Erin, and Loren remind listeners that Afghanistan is still a thing even if the U.S. government would prefer it not to be. Also, did you know it's possible to restart a trade war amid the pandemic? Or that the United States is a participant in the JCPOA? Neither did we. Plus, pop culture!

This week the ladies are back with a normal-ish episode, complete with special guest Nora Bensahel! She helps them dive deep on COVID-19 impacts on the defense budget. From there, they explore possible changes to the "global order," Loren offers a tutorial on Hungary and Israel, and Radha schools us on trade issues. The ladies wrap up with a discussion of the most pressing issue of the day - haircuts. And issue a heartfelt socially distant hug to the Iyengar family. Links "Coronavirus: Iran and the US Trade Blame Over Sanctions," BBC, April 17, 2020 Jessie Yeung, "The US is Halting funding to the WHO. What Does This Actually Mean?" CNN, April 16, 2020 Thomas Y. Choi, Dale Rogers, Bindiya Vakil, "Coronavirus is a Wake-Up Call for Supply Chain Management," Harvard Business Review, March 27, 2020 David Barno and Nora Bensahel, "After the Pandemic: America and National Security in a Changed World," War on the Rocks, March 31, 2020 Thomas Wright, "Stretching the International Order to Its Breaking Point," Atlantic, April 04, 2020 Daniel W. Drezner, "The Most Counterintuitive Prediction About World Politics and the Coronavirus,"Washington Post, March 30, 2020 Thomas Wright and Kurt M. Campbell, "If Biden Wins, He'll Have to Put the World Back Together," Atlantic, April 13, 2020

This week Loren and Erin talk their way through all the coronavirus feelings: fear, hope, gratitude, some minor policy questions, and the pop culture that's giving us life. Stay home, be safe, wash your hands.

Kathleen Hicks, director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and all-around superhero, joins Loren, Radha, and Erin for an all-COVID-19 episode, starting with potential contributions by the Department of Defense to addressing this crisis. The ladies explore different angles of the global pandemic, including how it's impacting other ongoing international events, the economy, and domestic politics. Thanks be they also spend a lot of time on pop culture to soothe the soul.

This week Erin, Loren, and Radha reunite after a midwinter break to talk pandemics. They then turn to the Afghanistan "peace" deal, Israeli elections (third time's the charm?), and recent developments in Syria. As always, there's plenty of White House mayhem with a new chief of staff, and vacancies as far as the eye can see in Pentagon civilian leadership. Thankfully, Hilary Mantel books and Love is Blind provide a pop culture escape to soothe (or at least distract) the soul. Links Coronavirus Matthew Herper, "Susan Desmond-Hellmann: The Coronavirus is Alarming. Here's Why You Should Not Panic," Stat, March 6, 2020 "Covid-19 is Now In 50 Countries, and Things Will Get Worse," The Economist, February 2020 Afghanistan Diaa Hadid and Scott Neuman, "US, Afghanistan and Taliban Announce 7-Day Reduction in Violence," NPR Morning Edition, February 21, 2020 Shereen Qazi, "Will the Ghani-Abdullah Rivalry Undermine Afghan Peace Process?" Aljazeera, March 9, 2020 Kathy Gilsinan, "The US Once Wanted Peace in Afghanistan," Atlantic, February 29, 2020 David E. Sanger, Eric Schmitt, and Thomas Gibbons-Neff, "A Secret Accord With the Taliban: When and How the US Would Leave Afghanistan," New York Times, March 8, 2020 Susannah George, "Thrown Under the Bus: Some Afghans View US-Taliban Peace Deal with Mix of Disbelief and Anger," Washington Post, March 7, 2020 Courtney Kube, Ken Dilanian, and Dan De Luce, "US Has Persuasive Intel Taliban Do Not Intend to Abide by Terms of Peal Deal, Officials Say," NBC New, March 6, 2020 Elizabeth Threlkeld, "Reading Between the Lines of Afghan Agreement," Lawfare, March 8, 2020 Pop Culture Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On, (St. Martin's Griffin, 2007) Wolf Hall, PBS Syria Jen Kirby, "Turkey and Russia Reached a Ceasefire in Syria. Will it Hold?" Vox, March 6, 2020 "Water Cannon and Tear Gas at Turkish-Greek Border," BBC, March 7, 2020 OSD Lara Seligman and Daniel Lippman, "Civilian Vacancies at Trump's Pentagon Hit New High," Politico, March 6, 2020

This week the ladies return to regular programming and try to catch up after one of the more crazy weeks in recent political memory. They start off with the Coronavirus crisis before returning to an old-standby, Brexit. They also provide some color commentary on the recent Irish elections. And how could they forget the new Middle East Peace Plan! That's before they get to impeachment, NSC firings, and White House Mayhem. Stick around and hear them gush about Little Women. Links Coronavirus "Deaths in China Surpass Toll From SARS," New York Times, February 9, 2020 Colleen Shalby, "Why Did the Government Mandate a Coronavirus Quarantine?" Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2020 Brexit Dharshini David, "Brexit Divorce: Five Key Things the UK Must Navigate," BBC, February 9, 2020 "Brexit: All You Need to Know About the UK Leaving the EU," BBC, January 27, 2020 Irish Elections Rory Carroll, "Ireland General Election: Sinn Féin Surges to 22% in Exit Poll," Guardian, February 8, 2020 Middle East Peace Peter Beaumont, "Trump's Middle East Peace Plan: Key Points at a Glance," Guardian, January 28, 2020 Irish Election Riley Beggin, "Irish Election Yields a Three-Way Near Tie and a Sinn Féin Surge," Vox, February 9, 2020 "Sinn Féin is the Most Popular Party Among All Age Groups up to 65," Journal, February 09, 2020 Travel Ban "Trump Travel Ban, Part II," Wall Street Journal, February 07, 2020 "Trump Administration Adds Six Countries to Travel Ban," New York Times, January 31, 2020 Pop Culture Marlon and Jake Read Dead People, Podcast

Erin, Radha and Loren welcome three special guests for their annual "manniversary" episode: Hayes Brown from Buzzfeed, Tommy Vietor of Pod Save the World, and Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe join them to talk about communicating national security in this crazy world.

This week Bombshell welcomes Suzanne Maloney of Brookings to chat all things Iran. And because we love our listeners so much, we extended the discussion for the whole show to consider legality, effectiveness, process, and what happens next. Also, Megxit. Duh. Links Jonathan Marcus, "Qasem Soleimani: Why Kill Him Now and What Happens Next?" BBC, January 3, 2020 Agnes Callamard, "The Targeted Killing of General Soleimani: Its Lawfulness and Why It Matters," Just Security, January 8, 2020 Loveday Morris, "US Leaders Rally Behind Tattered Iran Deal, Ignoring Trump's Call to Ditch It," Washington Post, January 10, 2020 Brian Naylor, "Trump Administration Announces More Economic Sanctions Against Iran," NPR, January 10, 2020 Rick Noack, Armand Emamdjomeh, and Joe Fox, "How U.S. Sanctions Are Paralyzing the Iranian Economy," Washington Post, January 10, 2020 Ian Talley and Isabel Coles, "US Warns Iraq It Risks Losing Access to Key Bank Account if. Troops Told to Leave," Wall Street Journal, January 11, 2020 Robert Jervis, "On the Current Confrontation with Iran," War on the Rocks, January 9, 2020 Suzanne Maloney, "The Lull in Hostilities Between Iran and the U.S. Is Just Escalation in Disguise," Politico, January 11, 2020