Sirens: A Bombshell production

In the most ambitious crossover event since that one time on TGIF, Bombshell joins Rational Security for a very special joint episode.  Radha, Erin, Loren, Shane, and Susan take on our hellscape of a government’s evolving policy on family separation; Radha as a Real Life Economist schools us on the not-so-cleansing fire of the latest trade wars, and, of course we go full blast on Space Force. You knew it was coming. It’s real. And it’s spectacular.

Radha, Loren, and Erin invite Alex Bell to preview the Singapore Trump-Kim summit, explaining that while there’s more than staring into one another’s eyes for arms control, chemistry is a good start. When we recorded, the G7 had wrapped but not yet crashed and burned into a playground taunt with Canada, so Radha gives a good lesson on tariffs instead of assessing border skirmishes along the Great Lakes. If you’ve been distracted you may have not noticed the absurd amount of Chinese espionage activity as the OPM hacks bear fruit. The show recommends everyone keep an eye on the Pompeo-Bolton tea leaves and how Pompeo’s embrace of State bureaucracy may be hamstrung.  Erin kicks off a new segment, the Soapbox, on Google’s rejection of military AI work and what that means for future advances in military technologies.  Conflicting Civilian casualty reporting, protests in Jordan, and SOF in Somalia are somehow the lesser included events in the crazy three ring goat rodeo of a week. Credit for this week’s title and general approach to life go to Jeffrey Lewis.   Alexandra Bell and James McKeon,  Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists , The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation R Scott Kemp,  Nature John Lyons, ",” Wall Street Journal Zainab Fattah, ",” Bloomberg Barbara Starr and Ryan Browne, “,” CNN U.S. Africa Command, “,” AFRICOM Shawn Snow, “,” Military Times Aruna Viswanatha, ",” Wall Street Journal Adam Goldman, “,” New York Times Mike Ives, “,” New York Times Ellen Nakashima and Paul Sonne, ",” Washington Post Ian Brown, "?” War on the Rocks Thomas Wright, “,” Atlantic Susan B. Glasser, ",” New Yorker Neil Irwin, “?” New York Times Kai Ryssdal, “,” Marketplace Heather Long, “,” Washington Post Robbie Gramer, , Foreign Policy  , Department of Defense ",’” Amnesty International Helene Cooper, “,” New York Times Sundar Pichai, “,” Google Kate Conger, “,” Gizmodo

This week we ask Emma Ashford to reveal the mysteries of Trump's Middle East policy. Then Loren, Radha, and Erin dive into the recent trade dramas before pondering whether the summit with North Korea is best understood as a Rom-Com or Telenovela. Colombian elections, change of command in Afghanistan, and the toxic culture within ICE round out the conversation before we escape to the wonders of pop-culture.    Emma Ashford and John Glaser, “,” CATO Institute Emma Ashford, “,” Strategy Studies Quarterly Trevor Thrall and Emma Ashford, “,” CATO Institute  Runrig,  “,” Reuters Camila Zuluaga, “,” Washington Post Ana Swanson, “,” New York Times Shawn Donnan, “,” Financial Times Jonathan Landay and Rupam Jain, “,” Reuters Jeremy Diamond, “,” CNN Daniel W. Drezner, “,” Research on Economic Sanctions Kanga Kong, “,” Bloomberg Laura Rosenberger, “,” Washington Post Ilan Goldenberg, “,” Foreign Policy Patrick M. Cronin and Abigail Grace, “,” CNAS Mark Mazzetti, Ronen Bergman, and David D. Kirkpatrick, “,” New York Times Dara Lind, “,” Vox Dara Lind,  (25 May 2018) Lizzie Plaugic, “,” Verge

This week the Bombshell crew does something different. After a crazy few days in the national security world, we break down the good, the bad, and the pop-culture remedies. From Spain to Iran, to Iraq and Lebanon, to Niger and back home to the Haspel hearings and aviation mishaps we ask ourselves: what are we doing here? Also, Arnie Hammer discovered Iran-Contra and we rank order our favorite Chrises.   "," Economist Richard Nephew and Ilan Goldenberg, "," Foreign Policy Colin H. Kahl and Vipin Narang, "." Washington Post , May 7, 2018 Alice Hunt Friend, "," War on the Rocks Paul Szoldra, "," Task & Purpose Mieke Eoyang, "," Atlantic Sophie Gilbert, "," Atlantic Michael Barbaro, "," New York Times

This week on Bombshell, Rebecca Lissner of Penn's Perry World House guest hosts with Radha and Loren to discuss the handshake heard round the world at the DMZ.  The Iran Deal is on the rocks yet again, despite the entreaties of a very affectionate President Macron of France and #squadgoals eye rolls of Chancellor Merkel.  The White House has some personnel wins (Pompeo's confirmation), losses (Dr. Ronny Jackson's trash fire of a VA nomination) and draws (Gina Haspel's confirmation delay).  And the ladies of Bombshell are steadfastly the only people on the planet talking Tina Brown and chick-lit vs. Infinity War.   Diana C. Mutz and Eunji Kim, "," International Organization Jeremy Page, "," Wall Street Journal Anna Fifield, "?" Washington Post Richard Nephew, "," Foreign Policy Carol Morello, "," Washington Post Yasmeen Serhan, "," Atlantic Editorial Board, "," Washington Post Atul Aneja, "," Hindu Amber Phillips, "," Washington Post Joe Gould, "," Defense News Corey Dickstein, "," Stars and Stripes

This week on Bombshell, Radha, Erin, and Loren play natsec madlibs with Amanda Sloat, discussing every possible complexity of US-Syria policy during John Bolton's first week.  The neverending potential for a trade war, protests in the run up to the US embassy in Israel's moving day, and Russian expulsions get a lightning round in Keeping Up Foreign Relations.  And for White House mayhem they stick to the other side of the river, checking in on the disturbing trend of aviation mishaps, the anniversary of combat integration of women, and sending troops to the border. And you should all be watching Killing Eve.   Amanda Sloat, "," Brookings Amanda Sloat, "," Brookings BBC, "," BBC Morning Edition, "," NPR Nancy Marshall-Genzer, Jed Kim, Renata Sago, Marielle Segarra, Danielle Chiriguayo, Jana Kasperkevic, Aaron Schrank, "," Marketplace Alex Capri, "," Forbes Zeeshan Aleem, "," Vox Keith Bradsher, "." New York Times Rushdi Abu Alouf and Noga Tarnopolsky, "," Los Angeles Times Ilan Goldenberg, "," Politico Greg Jaffe, John Hudson, and Philip Rucker, "," Washington Post Katie Rogers and Eileen Sullivan, "," New York Times Tara Copp, "," Military Times Tara Copp, "," Military Times Doug Mataconis, "," Outside the Beltway Elliot Spagat and Luis Alonso Lugo, "," AP , on Twitter "," CNAS  Jen Chaney, "," Vulture

Erin, Radha, and Loren make it back to the Show (where we never handle our own luggage), welcoming back all-star guest Kori Schake to talk NSC turnover, civil-military relations, and everything else that's radical in a tubular kind of way.  We break down Kim Jong-Un's super-secret trip to Beijing and note that when the Saudi Crown Prince showed up for his two week tour of America, not all welcomes were warm. Meanwhile, VA Secretary Shulkin is out (sometimes you win), the president's personal doctor is in (sometimes you lose); and DoD tries to square the circle on the transgender ban (sometimes it rains). We substitute basketball for pop-culture, with predictable consequences. Oh, and when you speak of us, speak well.    Loren DeJonge Schulman, "?" Washington Post Matthew Waxman, "," Lawfare Alex Ward, "," Vox Evan Osnos, "," New Yorker Dan De Luce, Robbie Gramer, "," Foreign Policy Dana Stuster, "?" Lawfare Ryan Hass, "," Brookings "," Al Jazeera Jeffrey Lewis, "," Foreign Policy Phillip Carter, "," Slate Leo Shane III, "," Military Times Philip Rucker, ",'" Washington Post

This week, the ladies of Bombshell welcome Lindsey Ford, from the ‎Asia Society Policy Institute, to chat about this spring's Appointment in Helsinki: the US-North Korea presidential summit. Then, they set an Iran Deal death watch and puzzle through what happens when Red Sparrow meets real life in the nerve-agent poisoning of a Russian double agent in the UK.  White House mayhem continues to say "hold my beer" with the firing of Rex Tillerson and what it means for Trump administration Kremlinology.  Finally, the pop culture world is looking up, with the return of Occupied, the digital release of Last Jedi, and much more.   Karoun Demirjian, "," Washington Post Ankit Panda and Vipin Narang, "," War on the Rocks Ellen Barry, "," New York Times Andrew Jeong, "," Wall Street Journal Heidi Blake, Tom Warren, Richard Holmes, Jason Leopold, Jane Bradley, Alex Campbell, "," BuzzFeed Derek Chollet and Julie Smith, "," Foreign Policy Ilan Goldenberg, "," Foreign Policy Ilan Goldenberg and Elizabeth Rosenberg, "," Foreign Affairs Alex Ward, "?" Vox Ellen Barry, "," New York Times Asia Society Policy Institute event, ""

This week, the ladies of Bombshell welcome Sarah Margon, Washington Director of Human Rights Watch, to explore a side of the Syria conflict we discuss too little on this show: the human dimension. The ladies wade through three different political maelstroms in Italian elections, President Xi’s quest for immortality, and President Putin’s land of misfit nukes.  Hairstyles, process, and wrongheaded beliefs about trade deficits explain the White House, and Radha plugs spoken word cookbooks (written by spies).   Economist, "," Economist Laura McGann, "" Vox Sarah Margon, "," Foreign Affairs Marc Freeman, "," Hollywood Reporter Evan Osnos, "" New Yorker Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker, and Josh Dawsey, "'," Washington Post William J. Broad and Ainara Tiefenthaler, "?" New York Times

This week, the Bombshell ladies welcome Lauren Fish of the Center for a New American Security to talk all things FY19 defense budget, including why this big funding increase may not be all that it seems.  While finding future employment for Navy SEALs on the skeleton track, we talk North Korea’s charm offensive, how we and maybe everyone else have totally lost the plot in Syria, and why the Munich Security Conference was the party everyone wanted to bail on.  We offer everything you wanted to know about security clearances and deployability (and then everything you didn’t know you wanted to know).  And oh yeah, Erin’s seen Red Sparrow.   Center for New American Security, “,” CNAS David Wharton, "'," LA Times Motoko Rich and Choe Sang-Hun, "," New York Times Scott Neuman, "'," NPR Isabel Kershner, Anne Barnard, and Eric Schmitt, "," New York Times J. Dana Stuster, "," Lawfare Aaron Mehta, "," Military Times Eliot A. Cohen, "," The Atlantic Henry Meyer and Patrick Donahue, "," Bloomberg William J. Antholis, "," Politico Tara Copp, "," Military Times Dahlia Lithwick, "." Slate