Sirens: A Bombshell production

This week the ladies of Bombshell return to regularly scheduled programming, re-introducing ourselves with our new Bombshell questions including everyone's favorite bars and least favorite books. Next we turn to our old friends Afghanistan and North Korea (wondering if we'll ever get a public debate on either), before wonking out to the Nuclear Posture Review and State of the Union address. Also, if you PT three times per day but don't log it in Strava does it even count, bro? Finally, a dazzling potpourri of pop-culture - even Radha weighs in.   Don't forget to send all your process valentines!     David D. Kirkpatrick, “,” New York Times Max Fisher, “?,” New York Times Mia Bloom,   Thomas Gibbons-Neff, “,” New York Times Steve Inskeep, “,” NPR Anna Fifield, “.,” Washington Post Victor Cha, “,” Washington Post David Nakamura,  James Acton, “,” War on the Rocks Patrick Tucker, “,” Defense One Patrick Tucker, “,” Defense One

On our first anniversary we couldn’t help but wonder: What's it like to be a man in national security? Kai Ryssdal, Frank Gavin, and Benjamin Wittes join us to discuss.

Bombshell returns from a long winter's nap for its first 2018 episode and first test run of a brand new set of Bombshell questions! Christy Abizaid joins us to talk Pakistan and the joys of Austin, TX, and we talk protests in Iran and what happens when South Korea hears that hotline bling.  Yet another White House shuffle could be in the works, and we eagerly anticipate the arrival of a new defense strategy.  Finally, hyperspace ramming and Nazi uncles get the attention you'd expect from us in pop culture.  Bonus: expect news about a Bombshell anniversary party soon!   After we recorded, we learned that one of the first friends of the pod, Shawn Brimley, passed away. Shawn will be remembered as a brilliant scholar and great friend and colleague, but he was first and foremost a wonderful husband and dad. You can .   Episode Reading: BBC News, “?," BBC News “,” NPR Jared Keller, “,” Task & Purpose Susan B. Glasser, “?,” Politico Stephen Tankel, “,” CNAS Uri Friedman, “,” Atlantic Suzanne Maloney, “,” Brookings Samuel Ramani, “,” Diplomat C. Christine Fair, “,” Foreign Policy Jonah Shepp, “,” New York Magazine Max Fisher and Amanda Taub, “,” The New York Times

Loren, Radha, and Erin traveled to Maxwell AFB for a special live year in review episode at the Air Command and Staff College. Come for their thoughts on the biggest national security stories of the year and stay for an extended Q&A with ACSC students (starting around 39:00). Plus, bonus Star Wars commentary.

This week Susanna Blume joins to tell us how the sausage is made on Capitol Hill - the defense budget, continuing resolutions, and other congressional hijinks. And Radha returns from maternity leave! Then we wade through the president's Jerusalem announcement and recent Brexit breakthroughs, before dissecting the new National Security Strategy. And of course we discuss Season 2 of "The Crown" - and our new gift guide!   Episode Reading: Susanna V. Blume and Lauren Fish, “,” CNAS Susanna V. Blume and Lauren Fish, “,” CNAS Max Fisher, “,” New York Times Ishaan Tharoor, “,” Washington Post Tony Connelly, “,” RTE BBC, “,” BBC Alex Hunt and Brian Wheeler, “,” BBC Kate Brannen, "," The Atlantic Salman Ahmed and Alexander Bick, “?,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Ilan Goldenberg, “,” Slate Kori Schake, “,” Atlantic Mira Rapp-Hooper, “,” Atlantic

This week on Bombshell we talk with Mieke Eoyang about, well, basically everything. We take a rapid fire tour of political dramas in Zimbabwe, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon. Stop for a bit to bask in the crazy sunshine of Turkish plots and then return to the United States just to ask: Exactly how many troops do we have overseas? Then just for kicks, we debate what a lawful order for a nuclear first strike would look like. We wrap up with Mieke's Twitter conversation with John Cusack and Erin's dream for a Master and Commander sequel.   Episode Reading Ben Freeman and Mieke Eoyang, "," Third Way Sisonke Msimang, "," New York Times Von Marcus Gatzke and Marlies Uken, "," Zeit Online Andreas Rinke and Madeline Chambers, ," Reuters Marwa Eltagouri, "," Washington Post Erin Cunningham and Louisa Loveluck, "," Washington Post Thomas L. Friedman, "," New York Times Borzou Daragahi, "," BuzzFeed News Reuters Staff, "," Reuters Alex Horton, "," Washington Post Luis Martinez, "," ABC News Azmat Khan and Anand Gopal, "," New York Times Magazine Michael Barbaro, "," New York Times, 'The Daily' Karoun Demirjian, "," Washington Post Stewart Baker, Jim Lewis, and Brian Egan, "," Steptoe, The Cyberlaw Podcast Chris Evangelista, "'," Slash Film Disney-Pixar, "," Disney-Pixar

This week on Bombshell, Quinta Jurecic of Lawfare (and Washington Post!) fame joins us to break down the Mueller investigation, AUMF debate, and whether Mike Flynn is really a character from a Coen Brothers' movie. We also discuss the president's trip to Asia and do our best to understand the drama in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, which is all happening without the benefit of a functioning State Department. Quinta confesses her love of James Comey's Twitter account, while Erin and Loren do their best cosplay courtesy of Rag and Bone. Episode Reading: Quinta Jurecic, "," The Washington Post Benjamin Wittes, "," Lawfare Julia Ioffe, "," The Atlantic James V. Grimaldi, Shane Harris, and Aruna Viswanatha, "," The Wall Street Journal Daniel W. Drezner, "," The Washington Post Zeeshan Aleem, "," Vox Anne Barnard, "," The New York Times Louisa Loveluck and Suzan Haidamous, ",'" The Washington Post The Economist, "," The Economist Zack Beauchamp, "," Vox Amb. Barbara Stephenson, "," American Foreign Service Association Charlie Savage, "?," The New York Times Scott Anderson and Sabrina McCubbin, "," Lawfare Rag & Bone,  (December 1, 2017)

This week on Bombshell, Alice Hunt Friend joins us to talk all things Africa and civ-mil. We dive into U.S. operations in Niger and the Kenyan elections reboot. Shinzo Abe and Xi Jinping get new mandates while preparing for the president’s big trip to Asia, along with the rest of us. And we all wait for the fallout from the Mueller indictments. Episode Reading: Alice Hunt Friend, "?" Center for Strategic and International Studies Alice Hunt Friend, "," The Hill Greg Jaffe and Karen DeYoung, "," Washington Post Thomas E. Ricks, "," Foreign Policy Loren DeJonge Schulman, "," The Atlantic David Dollar, "," Brookings Institution Simon Denyer, "," Washington Post Robert Burns, "," NBC News Vikram Singh and Lindsey Ford, "," Foreign Policy Daniel Kliman and Zack Cooper, "," Foreign Policy Mike Duncan, The Storm Before the Storm  Erik Pedersen, "'," Deadline

This week on Bombshell, special guest Elizabeth Rosenberg explains the art of unmaking the Iran deal and the consequences of the Trump administration's Iran 'strategy.' Foreign relations are keeping us busy with a tinderbox in Kirkuk at the worst possible time, and a new lens on the Pentagon's under-scrutinized advise and assist efforts in Africa that resulted in four soldier's killed in an ambush this month. Mattis and the White House are sending mixed signals on transparency and democratic accountability on the Hill and in the press (what else is new?). Erin, Radha, and Loren are as usual looking out for budget deals, new and potentially harmful MAVNI guidelines, and Trump appointees. And yeah. Us too.   Episode Reading:  Radha Iyengar and Rebecca Friedman Lissner, “,” War on the Rocks Angela Dewan, “,” CNN “,” BBC “,” Al Jazeera Colin Cookman, “,” Colin Cookman Sarah Polley, “,” New York Times Ilan Goldenberg and Elizabeth Rosenberg, “,” Foreign Policy Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Eric Schmitt, “,” New York Times Phillip Carter, “," Slate

This week, the Bombshell squad goes shoulder to shoulder into the fray of referenda for the Iraqi Kurds and the Catalans in Spain, alongside a recap of the German general election.  Like many women have before us, we ask "Why Chad?" and explore the merits of the new Trump travel ban. We wonder if it was painful for Secretary Tillerson to get cut off at the knees over North Korea, and contemplate the interagency fun of  the Puerto Rico relief efforts.  Finally, we spend some quality time pondering the existential crises brought on by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's Vietnam documentary on PBS - and also our love of Ross Poldark.   Episode Reading: Lauren Frayer, “,” NPR  Lauren Theisen, “,” Deadspin Julie Smith, “,” Foreign Policy Kevin Sieff, “,” Washington Post Helene Cooper, Michael D. Shear and Dionne Searcey. “,” New York Times Charlie Savage and Eric Schmidt, “,” New York Times Dana Milbank, “,” Washington Post Malcolm Gladwell, , The Revisionist History Podcast  Alyssa Rosenberg, “,” Washington Post Nicole Cliffe, ”,” Vulture