Episodes
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In the tradition of British dramas, Erin, Loren, and Radha reunite for a special holiday episode. The ladies flip the script, answering a range of questions from the first ever Manniversary guest Kai Ryssdal. They then return to some of their greatest hits including transition process, civ-mil issues, and personnel policy replete with process details and holiday movie analogies. Stay through the end to hear pop culture recommendations and special appearances from many former guests with answers to their favorite Bombshell questions.
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For their 100th episode, Erin, Loren and Radha discuss new issues, like the escalating conflict at the Ethiopia-Eritrea border, old issues, like HVT targeting of al-Qaeda leadership, and, of course, continuing trade issues with China. They then turn to a discussion of all the White House mayhem (Ok, not all! No one has that kind of time), including lack of legal authority for Department of Homeland Security leadership to make decisions about DACA, the Defense Department “purge,” and the complicated, not-quite-yet-started transition of the Biden administration. The team ties a bow on this episode with a discussion of holiday movies and other pop culture … and that's a wrap!
Links
Cara Anna, “Ethiopia’s Tigray Leader Confirms Firing Missiles at Eritrea,” AP News, November 15, 2020 “Ethiopia Tigray Crisis: Rockets Hit Outskirts of Eritrea Capital,” BBC News, November 15, 2020 “Peter Mwai, “Ethiopia’s Tigray Conflict Sparks Spread of Misinformation,” BBC News, November 11, 2020 David Porter, “Judge: DHS Head Didn’t Have Authority to Suspend DACA,” AP News, November 14, 2020 -
Missing episodes?
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Loren, Erin, and Radha are joined by their most frequent guest (Kori Schake) and a new guest (Katrina Mulligan) to discuss foreign policy issues we'll need to worry about regardless of the election outcome! After a lively discussion, the ladies go over foreign policy issues that have been over-discussed, under-discussed, and the processes that will always be their valentines. They wrap up with pop culture, self-care, and indulgences to help get you through election day and beyond!
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Loren, Radha, and Erin reconvene to explore many of Bombshell's greatest hits - Brexit, troop levels in Afghanistan, and arms control. With a dash of ethnic conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh thrown in for flavor. The ladies then drop a Bombshell of their own: this fair podcast will be wrapping up in 2020. It's the final countdown!
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Erin, Radha and Loren use COVID-19 as a frame to ask what this crazy time has brought to our attention, what it’s distracted is from, what it’s possibly helped, and how it’s shaped our own skills and interests. And shopping.
Links
“Covid-19 and No-Deal Brexit Could Cost UK $174 Billion a Year,” Reuters, October 01, 2020 “No-Deal Brexit Risks Violence in Norhtern Ireland, MPs Warn MI5,” The Guardian, October 05, 2020 Todd Lopez, “Covid-19 Response Sparks Efforts to Strengthen Supply Chain,” US Department of Defense, September 29, 2020 -
This week, Mira Rapp-Hooper and Rebecca Lissner return to the show to discuss American grand strategy, female partnerships, and their fabulous new book, An Open World: How America Can Win the Contest for Twenty-First Century Order. The ladies then revisit the administration’s foreign policy in the Middle East - with notes on the UAE-Israel accord and Iran sanctions drama. Also, Tiktok! Soothing pop-culture ties a bow on it.
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Loren, Radha, and Erin invite Camille Stewart, non-resident fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center, to discuss all the cyber threats and how individual behavior uniquely connects with our ability to mitigate or respond to them. In keeping up foreign relations, we provide short updates on Alexei Navalny, Belarus, and Brexit alongside a brief farewell to Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. We'd like to remind you all that Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq are still a thing, and after all the takes have been shared on Trump's views on service members, we talk about the role of the press in this story.
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Radha, Erin, and Loren host Nina Jancowicz, disinformation fellow at the Wilson Center and author of How to Lose the Information War, to talk about the ongoing protests in Belarus and what we should read into the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. In keeping up foreign relations, the ladies explore the latest U.S. attempt to use the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA or “Iran nuclear deal”) — an agreement the United States ghosted on — to reinstate sanctions on Iran, and in White House mayhem they assess how the recent Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on the 2016 election. Plus, process is our Valentine, but process can be used for evil ends, as we learned about the 2018 process to pursue family separation as an official U.S. policy. Unsurprisingly, we need a lot of pop culture to handle all this news.
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This week Erin and Radha regroup while Loren takes a much-deserved vacation. They do a quick review on COVID-19 with the good (100 days no new cases in New Zealand), the bad (cases in Brazil, India, and the United States continue to grow), and the ugly (long-term economic consequences in the United States, India, and Brazil). They also dig into the recent explosion and protests in Lebanon and then go deep on the recent executive order impacting TikTok and WeChat. After reminding us that Afghanistan is still a thing, they talk about the lack of accurate and comprehensive briefings for POTUS and the mayhem that ensues, including quotes (and misquotes) by Robert O'brien (yes, he's the national security advisor!). To calm us all down, they then talk about pop culture from baseball movies (The Rookie, Bull Durham) to Arthurian legend-ish TV shows (Cursed).
Links
Abbie Cheeseman, “Protesters in Beirut, Still Reeling from Massive Explosion, Cash with Police,” NBC News, August 09, 2020 Elian Peltier, “How to Help Lebanon After Beirut Explosion,” New York Times, August 05, 2020 Dennis Wagner and George Petras, “Massive Explosion Rocks Beirut: Before and After Images Show Extensive Damage,” USA Today, August 06, 2020 Nick Perry, “New Zealand Marks 100th Day with No New Reported Cases of Coronavirus,” ABC7NY, August 09, 2020 Derek Hawkins, Marisa Iati, and Jacqueline Dupree, “US Coronavirus Infections Surpass 5 Million,” Washington Post, August 09, 2020 “Coronavirus: Brazil Passes 100,000 Deaths as Outbreak Shows No Sign of Easing,” BBC, August 09, 2020 “Record 64,399 New Covid-19 Cases; 861 Deaths in India,” Times of India, August 09, 2020 Elaine Chen, “Drugmakers Race to Build Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Chains,” Wall Street Journal, July 30, 2020 Michael Crescione, “Europe Sees Rise in Covid-19 After Reopening,” Healthline, August 06, 2020 Swati Bhat, “India to Halt 101 Military Imports in Push for Defense Self-Reliance: Minister,” Reuters, August 09, 2020 Ryan Browne and Jamie Crawford, “Esper Says US Troop Levels in Afghanistan to Go Below 5,000 by End of November,” CNN, August 09, 2020 Brad Heath, “Esper: US Will Cut Troop Levels in Afghanistan to Less Than 5,000,” Reuters, August 08, 2020 Jim Sciutto, “Trump Advisers Hesitated to Give Military Options and Warned Adversaries Over Fears He Might Start a War,” CNN, August 06, 2020 Justine Coleman, “Trump Advisers Were Wary of Talking Military Options Over Fears He’d Accidentally Start War,” The Hill, August 06, 2020 Philip Bump, “Trump Actually Doesn’t Appear to Understand How Bad the Pandemic Is,” Washington Post, August 04, 2020 Geoffrey Gertz, “Why is the Trump Administration Banning TikTok and WeChat?” Brookings, August 07, 2020 Robert Chesney, “Banning TikTok and WeChat: Another Primer,” Lawfare, August 07, 2020 Chaim Gartenberg, “Apple’s Chinese Business Could be Devastated by Trump’s WeChat Ban,” The Verge, August 08, 2020 “Trump Targets WeChat and TikTok, in Sharp Escalation with China,” New York Times, August 06, 2020 -
This week the band is back together with Loren, Radha, and Erin once again all in the same time zone. They dive into Mike Pompeo's China speech, global COVID trends, and the world-famous Missile Technology Control Regime. Also, Congress approved the NDAA, and they have lots of thoughts on DHS "troops" engaging protesters in Portland. Stick around for pop-culture dissection of the Guinevere Deception!
Links
“Communist China and the Free World’s Future,” US Department of State, July 23, 2020 Thomas Wright, “Pompeo’s Surreal Speech on China,” Atlantic, July 25, 2020 Richard Haass, “What Mike Pompeo Doesn’t Understand about China, Richard Nixon and U.S. Foreign Policy,” Washington Post, July 25, 2020 “The Missile Technology Control Regime at a Glance,” Arms Control Association, July 2017 Aaron Mehta and Valerie Insinna, “Trump Admin Officially Makes It Easier to Export Military Drones,” Defense One, July 25, 2020 Amanda Macias, “Trump Allows Defense Contractors to Sell More Armed Droned to Foreign Militaries,” CNBC, July 24, 2020 Rachel S. Cohen, “House, Senate Approve Defense Authorization Bills,” Air Force Magazine, July 23, 2020 Connor O’Brien, “Senate Clears Bill Removing Confederate Names from Military Bases, Setting Up Clash with Trump,” Politico, July 23, 2020 Jacob Nagel and Mark Dubowitz, “With a Potential Iran-China Deal, Time for Israel to Reassess its Policy,” Newsweek, July 26, 2020 Philip H. Gordon, “Has Trump Driven China and Iran Together?” War on the Rocks, July 21, 2020 Pablo Gutierrez and Sean Clarke, “Coronavirus World Map: Which Countries Have the Most Covid-19 Cases and Deaths?” Guardian, July 28, 2020 Pablo Gutierrez and Ashley Kirk, “Revealed: Data Shows 10 Countries Risking Coronavirus Second Wave as Lockdown Relaxed,” Guardian, June 25, 2020 “Global Coronavirus Cases Surge, Stinging Even Places That Seemed to Have Control,” New York Times, July 23, 2020 -
With Radha and Erin on the road, Loren invites Ashely Feng of the Center for a New American Security, Kaleigh Thomas of CNAS, Kara Frederick of CNAS, Hijab Shah of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Meghan McGee of Georgetown University for a Bombshell takeover to discuss foreign policy issues with big generational shifts.
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In this episode of Bombshell, the ladies welcome Madelyn Creedon, former deputy administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, to discuss the state of arms control today. The crew also discusses other foreign relations goings on: North Korea won’t call South Korea on their cell phone, late at night, or otherwise; India-China drama continues; and there’s much ado in Venezuela. President Donald Trump is reportedly considering full withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan before November and you may have noticed something’s up in civil-military relations.
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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, 2020India Border
Jeffrey Gettleman and Steven Lee Myers, “China and India at 14,000 Feet Along the Border,” New York Times, May 30, 2020Hong 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, 2019WHO
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, 2020Protests 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, 2020George 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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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 2020Afghanistan
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, 2020Pop Culture
Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On, (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2007) Wolf Hall, PBSSyria
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, 2020OSD
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, 2020Brexit
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, 2020Irish Elections
Rory Carroll, “Ireland General Election: Sinn Féin Surges to 22% in Exit Poll,” Guardian, February 8, 2020Middle East Peace
Peter Beaumont, “Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan: Key Points at a Glance,” Guardian, January 28, 2020Irish 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, 2020Travel 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, 2020Pop Culture
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