Sirens: A Bombshell production

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

Erin, Radha, and Loren mull over 2019, muse about 2020, and debate Rise of the Skywalker. We will be with you again.

This week Radha and Erin lead a special live episode from the NatSec Girl Squad Conference. They are joined by Dana Stroul, Kim Kagan, and Mara Karlin who all recently participated in the Congressionally mandated Syria Study Group. Listen in as the ladies discuss Syria policy, study group process, and answer audience questions! Links "Syria Study Group Final Report," USIP, September 24, 2019 Nat Sec Girl Squad

This week Radha, Erin, and Loren reunite to drink eggnog (or not!) and talk about events in London, from interrupting violent attacks with narwhal tusks to interrupting NATO ministerials with middle school-esque drama. The ladies then turn to protests in the Middle East, predictions on China trade deals, and Hong Kong legislation. Rounding it out is a lively discussion of all the mayhem that ensued when Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer (not that Richard Spencer) resigned. After that, the ladies have a much-needed pop culture discussion on all the holiday movies they're looking forward to watching. Links London Terrorist Attack Catherine Kim, "London Bridge Stabbing Attack: What We Know," Vox, December 1, 2019 Peter Bergen, "London Terrorist Attack Brings Home a Chilling Reality," CNN, November 30, 2019 Iran Hannah Brown, "Why Economic Hardships Finally Sparked Iranian Protests," Vox, December 2, 2019 Farnaz Fassihi and Rick Gladstone, "Iran Strengthens Response to Protests," New York Times, November 26, 2019 China/Hong Kong Yen Nee Lee, "US Law Backing Hong Kong Protests Could End Up Hurting Everyone: the US, China, and Hong Kong," CNBC, November 28, 2019 Gina Heeb, "In Latest Sign of Trade-War Pain, the Trump Administration Announces Tariff Relief for Dozens of Chinese Products," Markets Insider, November 29, 2019 Michael Bociurkiw, "Trump's Risky Move on Hong Kong," CNN, November 29, 2019 Keith Bradsher, Javier C. Hernandez, and Alexandra Stevenson, "China Condemns US Over Hong Kong: That Won't Stop Trade Talks," New York Times, November 28, 2019 NATO "Funding NATO," North Atlantic Treaty Organization, June 27, 2018 Steven Erlanger, "NATO Offers a Budget Bonbon as Summit Nears," New York Times, November 28, 2019

This week Loren, Erin, and Radha are joined by the peerless Mira Rapp-Hooper. Taking a break from stalking her perfect oat milk, Mira walks the ladies through alliances and shifting demands with Japan and Korea. The ladies do a whirlwind review of Hong Kong, Bolivia, auto tariffs, and pardons. After 5 words (plus margin of error) on impeachment stories of note, Erin and Radha (yup Radha) discuss the new Star Wars series where to Loren's dismay Radha declares her love of Star Wars puppets (especially those teddy bears). Links Mira Rapp-Hooper, Shields of the Republic: The Triumph and Peril of America's Alliances, (Harvard University Press, 2020) Asia Simon Denyer and Min Joo Kim, "In South Korea, Military Cost Dispute and Trump's Moves in Syria Fuel Doubts Over US Commitment," Washington Post, November 4, 2019 Phil Stewart and Joyce Lee, "Pentagon's Esper Says it is Crucial South Korea Pays More for US Troops," Reuters, November 15, 209=19 Maggie Shum, "Hong Kong's District Council Elections Take Place on Nov. 24 Or Not," Washington Post, November 14, 2019 Anna Kam, Casey Quackenbush, and Ryan Ho Kilpatrick, "Day of Rage Plunges Hong Kong Into Turmoil After Police Shoot Protester," Washington Post, November 11, 2019 Bolivia "Bolivia Crisis: What's Next After Evo Morales' Resignation?" BBC, November 13, 2019 Natasha Bennett, "Bolivian Protesters Unseated a President. So Why Are They Still in the Streets?" Washington Post, November 15, 2019 Santiago Anria and Jennifer Cyr, "Is Bolivia's Democracy in Danger? Here's What's Behind the Disputed Presidential Election," Washington Post, October 30, 2019 Trade Ben White and Doug Palmer, "Trump Expected to Delay Auto Tariff Decision for 6 More Months," Politico, November 11, 2019 David Shepardson, "Automakers Around World Await Trump Tariff Decision," Reuters, November 15, 2019 Camila Domonoske and Avie Schneider, "Trump Delays Auto Tariffs for 6 Months," NPR, May 17, 2019 Reuters, "Trump Expected to Delay European Auto Tariff Decision: EU Officials," New York Times, November 11, 2019 Pardons Dave Philipps, "Trump's Pardons for Servicemen Raise Fears That Law of War Are History," New York Times, November 16, 2019