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, "Public Opinion and Narrowing the Security Gap in 2016," Third Way
• Sisonke Msimang, "The Fall of Africa's Most Hated First Lady," New York Times
• Von Marcus Gatzke and Marlies Uken, "Relax, Germany Is Not Facing a State Crisis," Zeit Online
• Andreas Rinke and Madeline Chambers, "Merkel's CDU agrees to pursue grand coalition in Germany," Reuters
• Marwa Eltagouri, "What we've learned about the North Korean soldier whose daring escape was caught on video," Washington Post
• Erin Cunningham and Louisa Loveluck, "Hezbollah, on the rise in Lebanon, fends off Saudi Arabia," Washington Post
• Thomas L. Friedman, "Saudi Arabia's Arab Spring, at Last," New York Times
• Borzou Daragahi, "Saudi Arabia Has Shaken Up The Middle East - This Is How," BuzzFeed News
• Reuters Staff, "Turkey has completed purchase of Russian missile defense: defense minister," Reuters
• Alex Horton, "The Pentagon struggles to provide accurate numbers for deployed troops," Washington Post
• Luis Martinez, "Thousands more US military service members in Iraq and Syria than believed," ABC News
• Azmat Khan and Anand Gopal, "The Uncounted," New York Times Magazine
• Michael Barbaro, "Targeting ISIS, and Killing Civilians," New York Times, 'The Daily'
• Karoun Demirjian, "Trump's nuclear authority divides senators alarmed by his 'volatile' behavior," Washington Post
• Stewart Baker, Jim Lewis, and Brian Egan, "Interview with Mieke Eoyang and Jamil Jaffer," Steptoe, The Cyberlaw Podcast
• Chris Evangelista, "'Master and Commander' Sequel Still A Possibility, Says Russell Crowe," Slash Film
• Disney-Pixar, "Incredibles 2 Official Teaser Trailer," 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, "Robert Mueller can't save us," The Washington Post
• Benjamin Wittes, "The Lawfare Podcast, Special Edition: A Person of Flynnterest," Lawfare
• Julia Ioffe, "The Secret Correspondence Between Donald Trump Jr. and WikiLeaks," The Atlantic
• James V. Grimaldi, Shane Harris, and Aruna Viswanatha, "Mueller Probes Flynn's Role in Alleged Plan to Deliver Cleric to Turkey," The Wall Street Journal
• Daniel W. Drezner, "Why Donald Trump's foreign policy ambitions will always collapse," The Washington Post
• Zeeshan Aleem, "8 photos that sum up Trump's rollicking Asia tour so far," Vox
• Anne Barnard, "Where's Saad Hariri? Lebanon Wants to Know," The New York Times
• Louisa Loveluck and Suzan Haidamous, "Lebanese prime minister whose resignation shook the region says he will return 'very soon,'" The Washington Post
• The Economist, "Saudi Arabia's unprecedented shake-up," The Economist
• Zack Beauchamp, "The purge in Saudi Arabia, explained," Vox
• Amb. Barbara Stephenson, "Time to Ask Why," American Foreign Service Association
• Charlie Savage, "Will Congress Ever Limit the Forever-Expanding 9/11 War?," The New York Times
• Scott Anderson and Sabrina McCubbin, "Summary: Senate Foreign Relations Committee's AUMF Hearing," Lawfare
• Rag & Bone, Star Wars Collection (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, "What Does Niger Have to Do with the AUMF?" Center for Strategic and International Studies
• Alice Hunt Friend, "Trump wrongly ignores Africa," The Hill
• Greg Jaffe and Karen DeYoung, "Amid Niger ambush chaos, the White House first thought several Americans were missing," Washington Post
• Thomas E. Ricks, "An Old Colonel Looks at General Kelly," Foreign Policy
• Loren DeJonge Schulman, "The Necessity of Questioning the Military," The Atlantic
• David Dollar, "Reading the tea leaves of China's 19th Party Congress," Brookings Institution
• Simon Denyer, "China's leader elevated to the level of Mao in Communist pantheon," Washington Post
• Robert Burns, "Pentagon Chief Says North Korea Engages in 'Outlaw' Behavior," NBC News
• Vikram Singh and Lindsey Ford, "China Is Looking Forward to Trump's Truancy at the East Asia Summit," Foreign Policy
• Daniel Kliman and Zack Cooper, "Washington Has a Bad Case of China ADHD," Foreign Policy
• Mike Duncan, The Storm Before the Storm Tour Dates
• Erik Pedersen, "'The Alienist' Premiere Date & Trailer: Bruhl, Evans, Fanning & TNT Trek Back to 1890s New York," 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, “Iran, Terrorism, and Nonproliferation After the Nuclear Deal,” War on the Rocks
• Angela Dewan, “Why Turkey-US tensions have come to a boil,” CNN
• “Iraq conflict: Peshmerga 'deadline to leave Kirkuk' passes,” BBC
• “Iraqi, Kurd forces in Kirkuk standoff as tensions rise,” Al Jazeera
• Colin Cookman, “Pakistan-Afghanistan Update: Canadian-American Couple Freed After 5 Years Captivity; UN Release Civilian Casualty Update,” Colin Cookman
• Sarah Polley, “The Men You Meet Making Movies,” New York Times
• Ilan Goldenberg and Elizabeth Rosenberg, “If Trump Won't Certify the Iran Deal, He Should Do This Instead,” Foreign Policy
• Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Eric Schmitt, “Niger Attack Lays Bare U.S. Troops Long Wait for Medical Help in Africa,” New York Times
• Phillip Carter, “Questionable Calls," 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, “Violence Breaks Out During Catalan Independence Referendum,” NPR 
• Lauren Theisen, “Barcelona Play In An Empty Stadium After Attempted Independence Vote,” Deadspin
• Julie Smith, “Merkel Will Spend the Next Four Years Battle Forces at Home,” Foreign Policy
• Kevin Sieff, “Why did the U.S. travel ban add counterterrorism partner Chad? No one seems quite sure,” Washington Post
• Helene Cooper, Michael D. Shear and Dionne Searcey. “Chad’s Inclusion in Travel Ban Could Jeopardize American Interests, Officials Say,” New York Times
• Charlie Savage and Eric Schmidt, “Trump poised to drop some limits on drone strikes and commando raids,” New York Times
• Dana Milbank, “Donald Trump's Dog,” Washington Post
• Malcolm Gladwell, "Saigon, 1965” (Episode 2), The Revisionist History Podcast 
• Alyssa Rosenberg, “Ken Burns’s American War,” Washington Post
• Nicole Cliffe, ”Poldark Season-Premiere Recap: Sunrise, Sunset,” Vulture

Erin, Radha, and Loren get the band back together and invite Laura Rosenberger to dish about the launch of the Alliance for Security Democracy (her new project aimed at countering Russian efforts to undermine democratic institutions), her love of the Steelers, and our open invitation to military listeners to help us land on a carrier. Then it's Groundhog Day in Keeping of Foreign Relations, with new antics and new histrionics around North Korea and Iran, and White House mayhem heads to New York for the U.N General Assembly. Finally, we look forward to the NDAA and the Red Sparrow movie.

Episode Reading:

• "Decoupling is Back in Asia," Mira Rapp-Hooper, War on the Rocks
• "Why Kim Jong Un wouldn’t be irrational to use a nuclear bomb first," Vipin Narang, The Washington PostT
• "The ABCs of Deterring North Korea," Josh Rovner, War on the Rocks
• "The Iran Deal is Keeping the Middle East From Going Nuclear," Richard Nephew and Ilan Goldenberg, Foreign Policy
• "The Case Against the Iranian Nuclear Deal is One Big Lie," Stephen Walt, Foreign Policy
• "How Congress can Save the State Department," Dan Benaim, Foreign Policy
• "How Violence in Myanmar Radicalized a New Generation of Rohingya," Hannah Beech, The New York Times
• "Walking the Line Between Covering a Rohingya Refugee Story and Changing It," Hannah Beech, The New York Times
• Red Sparrow trailer
• "Outlander Season Preimere Recap," Nicole Cliffe, Vulture

This week, Bombshell bids farewell to summer with our final distributed ops episode, closing out what has been a nice, quiet August (ha. ha). Afghanistan is, as usual, still a thing, but this time President Trump - or his teleprompter - actually gave us some thoughts on the matter. We lament waking up to a nuclear test in North Korea and the latest chapters in the Kenyan election and China-India border disputes, and drill down on how everything became about readiness and readiness became about everything: the Seventh Fleet, the Army, DACA, you name it. Finally, we give our take on John Kelly's efforts at discipline in the West Wing and the continuing parade of White House departures, as well as views on Back to School reading and "book dates" with your partner.

Readings:

• "Why India did not Win the Standoff with China," M. Taylor Fravel, War on the Rocks
• "Welcome to the H-Bomb Club, North Korea," Ankit Panda and Vipin Narang, War on the Rocks
• "Xi says BRICS nations should stand up against protectionism," Lousie Watt, AP
• "Deadly Navy accidents in the Pacific raise questions over a force stretched too thin," Alex Horton and Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Washington Post
• "How the U.S. Navy's Fleet has been on a collision course for years," by David Larter, Defense News
• "U.S. Army Unprepared to Deal with Russia in Europe," Wesley Morgan, Politico
• "Analysis: Could Trump’s Transgender Military Ban Actually Become Policy?" Julie Moreau, NBC News

Back to School Reading:

• A Life in Secrets: Vera Atkins and the Missing Agents of WWII, by Sarah Helm
• The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made, by Walter Isaacson
• The Federalist Papers
• The Undoing Project, Michael Lewis
• A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles
• In Light of What we Know, Zia Haider Rahman
• The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic, Mike Duncan
• The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher, Debby Applegate

The Alice Network, Kate Quinn

This week the Bombshell crew preps for the eclipse from opposite corners of the world to ask why we haven't all perished in the Fire and the Fury (alternate title for our next romance novel). Along with North Korea we talk India-China donnybrooks, military 'options' in Venezuela, and are somehow not overwhelmed by all the mayhem emanating from the White House. We go once more with feeling in Afghanistan, ask what Bannon's departure will mean for foreign policy, and debate the Chiefs subtweets on Charlottesville. Loren heads off to Porto, Radha chases the totality, and Erin enjoys the second order effects of good cocktails.

Reading:

• Robert Windrem and Corky Siemaszko, ”North Korea Crisis: How Events Have Unfolded Under Trump,” NBC
• Robert Kelly, “Attacking North Korea Would Be a War of Choice,” National Interest
• Robert A. Manning and James Przystup, “Stop the South China Sea Charade,” Foreign Policy
• Nicola Smith, “India-China border brawl: Superpowers throw stones at each other as tensions heighten,” The Telegraph
• Ben Westcott, “Indian video mocks Xi Jinping after Chinese state media posts 'racist' clip,” CNN
• Declan Walsh, Raphael Minder, Eric Schmitt and Rukmini Callimachi, “Spain, a Leader in Foiling Attacks, Falls Victim to One Anyway,” New York Times
• Dan Deluce, “Inside Trumps' Tortured Search for a Winning Afghanistan Strategy,” Foreign Policy
• Andrew Exum, “Why the Military Chiefs are Condemning White Supremacy,” The Atlantic
• Terrence McCoy, “The road to hate: For six young men, Charlottesville is only the beginning,” The Washington Post
• Alan Sepinwall, “‘Halt And Catch Fire’ Takes Another Leap In Its Final Season Premiere,” Uproxx

This week on Bombshell, we each dial in from parts-unknown to compare our drinking habits to the Queen of England. We also discuss new North Korean sanctions, whether anyone sent flowers to the new Pakistani Prime Minister, and what on earth is happening in Venezuela. White House mayhem is dialed to eleven and we dissect leaks, tweets, and the new sheriff in town. Finally Loren and Radha confess their love of spoilers because they’re obviously insane control freaks.

Episode Reading:

• "Divers work to recover U.S. military aircraft off Australia after crash that presumably killed 3 Marines," by Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Brian Murphy, The Washington Post.
• "A Tweet is a Direct Order", by Phil Carter, Slate.
• "Venezuela's Ousted Attorney General Retreats on a Motorbike," Nicholas Casey, The New York Times.
• "Trump Says U.S. 'Losing' Afghan War in Tense Meeting with Generals," Carol Lee and Courtney Kube, NBC News.
• The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic, by Michael Duncan (PublicAffairs, 2017).

Susan Hennessey of Lawfare and Rational Security fame joins Radha and Erin to wade through recertifying the Iran deal, social media shenanigans in the Persian Gulf, and whither the new Russia sanctions. Also on tap: all the leaks! and how we forgot about our $1 billion in foreign loans. Radha swoons over a baby hippo and Erin begs Loren to return so we can talk about Jon and Sansa.

Reading:

• Peter Baker, “Trump Recertifies Iran Nuclear Deal, But Only Reluctantly,” The New York Times.
• Monika Nalepa, “The attack on Poland’s judicial independence goes deeper than you may think. Here are 5 things to know,” The Monkey Cage.
• M. Taylor Fravel, “Danger at Dolam,” The Indian Express.
• Barkha Dutt, “Could a war break out between India and China — again?” The Washington Post.
• Mark Champion and Marek Strzelecki, “When Trump Goes Abroad, Radical Change Follows in His Footsteps,” Bloomberg.
• Jana Winter, Robbie Gramer, and Dan De Luce, “Trump Assigns White House Team to Target Iran Nuclear Deal, Sidelining State Department,” Foreign Policy.
• Robert Windrem and William Arkin, “Who Planted the Fake News at Center of Qatar Crisis?” NBC News.
• Karen DeYoung and Ellen Nakashima, “UAE orchestrated hacking of Qatari government sites, sparking regional upheaval, according to U.S. intelligence officials,” The Washington Post.
• “While Fighting the Odds, Fiona the Hippo Becomes a Social Media Star,” NPR.

Special guest Amy Shafer joins us for the full show and highlights her fabulous research on the civil-military divide in America (and dishes on the Air Force Tops in Blue). Then we celebrate the liberation of Mosul, walk through the North Korean missile test, and wonder what exactly happened at the G20 meetings. Also on the table: Whither our Afghan strategy? And Erin gets giddy over space marines. Stick around for our “Game of Thrones” preview!*

*By which we mean fan-girl shouts of joy and anticipation.

Reading:

• Generations of War, Amy Shafer, CNAS
• “The ISIS Killers,” Mike Giglio, Buzzfeed 
• “Mosul: What the Decade's Largest Battle Says About the Future of War,” Defense One Staff, Defense One 
• “These Mindblowing Photos Reveal the Horror of the Islamic State War,” Liz Sly, The Washington Post 
• “ISIS: A catastrophe for Sunnis,” Liz Sly, The Washington Post
• “Inside the Collapse of the Iraqi Army’s 2nd Division,” Yasir Abbas and Dan Trombly, War on the Rocks
• “Scared About North Korea? You Aren't Scared Enough,” Toby Harshaw, Bloomberg
•  “North Korea’s ICBM: A New Missile and a New Era,” Ankit Panda and Vipin Narang, War on the Rocks
• “Looking For Details On Syria Ceasefire? Don’t Ask US Military,” Nancy Youssef, Buzzfeed 
• “A proposed new military branch would send US troops to guard the galaxy,” CNN
• “My Top Ten Favorite Space Marines,” A Space Blog Odyssey

A special LIVE episode from the CNAS annual conference. We pour some French 75s and talk to Karen Attiah and Jia Lynn Yang from The Washington Post about national security in a time of distraction. Then we dive into the Modi visit, late night Syria shots, and Defense Department recruiting and personnel issues. We wrap up with questions from the audience and a blast from the past: how not to dress like an Army colonel.

How do you solve a problem like Qatar? This week over Pimms Cups, we talk with Mara Karlin about all the Middle East dramas (and why she loves the SAIS cult). We lament the State Dept budget and UK politics, pay tribute to the USS Fitzgerald, and wonder if we’ll ever have a strategy in Afghanistan or Syria. Finally, American Gods, the Manic Pixie Dream S2 of Band of Brothers, and Fidget Spinners.

Reading:

• "Afghanistan Stabilization Program: A Summary of Research and Key Outcome Trends," by Radha Iyengar and Jake Shapiro, Empirical Studies of Conflict
• "UK election result: What does it mean for Brexit?" by Katya Alder, BBC
• "What is the Good Friday Agreement and why does it matter now?" by Adam Becket, Business Insider
• "Trump's Cuba Policy Will Fail," by Ben Rhodes, The Atlantic
• "How Could This Happen? The Fitzgerald, the U.S. Navy, and Collisions at Sea," by Bryan McGrath, War on the Rocks

This week we go it alone to focus on your questions! We force Radha and Loren to actually define their true loves of process and staffing, all while drinking delicious white sangria. Plus, what’s a wonk? Then we dig into the president’s whirlwind trip, upcoming U.K. elections and Erin and Radha's obsession with measurement error, how to make decisions on major international agreements after a Frenchman shakes your hand too hard, and whether the world is really as zero-sum as reality TV.

Reading:

• The Role and Purpose of the National Security Advisor, Steve Hadley, Texas A&M
• What Did Trump Accomplish on His First Foreign Trip?, Eliot Cohen, The Atlantic
• The U.K. Snap Election Is Riskier Than It Seems, Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight
• Are the UK Polls Skewed, Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight
• Trump abdicates US leadership on climate change, Ernie Moniz, The Boston Globe
• Paris decision underscores the visceral expression of Trump’s worldview, Dan Balz, The Washington Post
• Trump Hands the Chinese a Gift: The Chance for Global Leadership, David Sanger and Jane Perlez, The New York Times
• America First Doesn’t Mean America Alone, HR McMaster & Gary Cohn, The Wall Street Journal
• The most extraordinary op-ed of 2017, Dan Drezner, The Washington Post
  Trump administration moves to return Russian compounds in Maryland and New York, Karen DeYoung and Adam Entous, The Washington Post
• Justin Trudeau Met Emmanuel Macron, Making Bromantic Dreams Come True,  Jerry Portwood, Rolling Stone 
• I Took A Military Vet to Brad Pitt's Bad Anti-War Movie. He liked itGreg Jaffe, The Washington Post
• Oh Thank God, ‘Wonder Woman’ Is Good, Rebecca Pahle, Pajiba

This week we trek out to the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis for a geek field trip of epic proportions (three words: Jack Ryan's couch). We drink some rum and Claude Berube's scotch, and ring up former Under Secretary of the Navy Janine Davidson to talk about service secretaries, readiness, and why there is no Santa Claus. Then we dive into the Iranian elections, Syrian proxy war(s), our many desires for special counsels and other investigations, good skin care, and the defense budget. Finally, a short tour of the best of Navy pop culture. Sink their bones to Davy Jones, hooray!

Episode Reading

• U.S. Naval Academy Museum
• Janine Davidson, Emerson Brooking, and Benjamin J. Fernandes, Mending the Unequal Dialogue, Council on Foreign Relations
• Ben Hubbard and Thomas Erdbrink, “In Saudi Arabia, Trump Reaches Out to Sunni Nations at Iran’s Expense,” New York Times
• Joshua Keating, “What’s at Stake in Friday’s Iranian Election,” Slate
• Jane Chong, Quinta Jurecic, Susan Hennessey, Matthew Kahn, and Benjamin Wittes, “Initial Reactions on the Appointment of Robert Mueller As Special Counsel,” Lawfare
• Ryan Lizza, “Why Sally Yates Stood Up to Trump,” The New Yorker
• Todd Harrison, “What to Expect in the FY 2018 Defense Budget,” CSIS
• Aaron Mehta and Joe Gould, “Trump budget to cut Foreign Military Financing, with loan option looming,” Military Times
• Dorian Merina, “When Active-Duty Service Members Struggle To Feed Their Families,” National Public Radio

This week on Bombshell, we say nothing about Jim Comey! We recorded Monday and who could have guessed we'd be here today? Instead, we discuss recent casualties in Afghanistan and Somalia, check in on Venezuela and the French elections, and talk about the many ways one does and does not talk to friendly dictators. We also do our part to keep Costco margaritas in business. And then, in honor of Mother’s Day, we talk to our moms. You should too (your moms, not ours).

Episode Reading:

• "Elite troops are being worked too hard and spread too thin, military commander warns," Vera Bergengruen, The Miami Herald 
• "Navy SEAL Who Died in Somalia Was Alongside, Not Behind, Local Forces," Helene Cooper, The New York Times
• Revolutions Podcast, by Mike Duncan
• "Facebook purges thousands of fake profiles ahead of UK election," Nick Summers, Endgadget 
• "Trump’s praise for authoritarians vs. his platitudes for allies," Aaron Blake, The Washington Post
• "Venezuela’s leader wants to replace the National Assembly with one beholden to him," Francisco Toro, WaPo
• "Mérida Escalates," Francisco Toro, Caracas Chronicles
• "Tillerson calls for balancing US security interests, values," by Josh Lederman and Matthew Lee, AP 
• "Tillerson Seeking 9% Cut to U.S. State Department Workforce, Sources Say," Nick Wadhams, Bloomberg
• "The End of Hypocrisy," Henry Farrell and Martha Finnemore, Foreign Affairs
• "This State Department Employee Survey Is Straight Out Of 'Office Space,'" John Hudson, Buzzfeed
• "Sci-Fi Writer William Gibson Reimagines the World After the 2016 Election," Alexandra Alter, The New York Times

Events:

• YPFP, Conquering the Foreign Policy Establishment (16 May)
• CSIS, Command Climate: The State of U.S. Civil-Military Relations (23 May)
• CNAS, Annual Conference (28 June)

This week on "Bombshell," we dissect Trump’s first 100 days: whither America First, Axis of Adults (or just the big kids table?), budget shenanigans, and delegating all the things. But first, Mira Rapp-Hooper joins us to walk through the state of play on the Korean Peninsula (and reveals where you can get literal bombshells made into knives). And then Loren and Erin confess why all we want in life is Mara Jade back in the Star Wars canon.

Want to meet the Bombshell crew in person? Click here!

• “North Korea risk too high for military option,” Robert Litwak, USA Today
• “Could Playing Chicken with North Korea Really Pay Off?,” Jon Wolfstahl, Foreign Policy
• “Confusion, chaos after Taliban breach Afghan base in deadly attack,” Abdul Matin, Reuters
• “Keeping Up Civ-Mil Relations,” Mara Karlin and Loren Schulman, War on the Rocks 
• “Persistence of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker
• “Trump Has Pivoted to Scoring Easy Wins,” Jonah Goldberg, National Review
• “Trump Foreign Policy at 100 Days: The Downside of Unpredictability,” Olivier Knox, Yahoo News
• “US Foreign Policy and the Trump Administration's Axis of Adults,” by Dan Drezner, The Washington Post
• “The End of Foreign Aid As We Know It,”  Bryant Harris, et al, Foreign Policy
• “Mattis tells Hill Trump budget won't fully rebuild military,” Jeremy Herb, CNN

This week on Bombshell we take a long look at Syria with special guest Melissa Dalton: what happened, what questions to ask, what hot takes to avoid, and where to go from here. And then we drink a lot. Also on the table: Devin Nunes and the Great Unmasking, reading tea-leaves in the National Security Council staff and membership, Jared Kushner's Wes Anderson adventure, how one dresses to go to war, and a few of our favorite spy novels.

Readings:

• Jane Perlez, After Xi Leaves, Chinese Media Assail Strike on Syria  (NYT)
• Declan Walsh, Attacks Shows ISIS’ New Plan: Divide Egypt by Killing Christians (NYT)
• Ryan Lizza, on the House Russia investigation (New Yorker)
• Michael Crowley, Susan Rice Becomes the Target of Conservative Attacks(Politico)
• Susan Hennessey and April Doss, What Intelligence Officials Really Mean when the Talk About Unmasking(Lawfare)
• Susan Hennessey and Ben Wittes, It's Time for a Select Committee On Russia (Also, We Told You So) (Lawfare)
• Michael Hanna and Sam Heller, Journey into the Unknown (WOTR)
• Carl Prine, Why didn’t Trump drop bombs (San Diego Union-Trib)
• CSIS report, Deterring Iran After the Nuclear Deal
• Adam Weinstein, Jared Goes to Iraq (Task and Purpose)

This week on "Bombshell," Kelly Magsamen joins us to talk about Sec Tillerson’s Asia visit, the upcoming Trump-Xi soiree, and North Korean chicanery. We also discuss splitting the check with NATO, attacks on civil servants, whether the Defense Department deserves a bonus (and how to spend it), and why we love Christine Fox. We also answer questions from the audience and reveal our favorite bourbon bars in DC.

Readings

• "Did Rex Tillerson Misspeak?" by Laura Rosenerger 
• "The Rebalance is Dead! Long Live the Rebalance!" by Mira Rapp-Hooper, Harry Kreja, and Hannah Suh
• "Rex Tillerson's approach to North Korea," by Jeff Lewis
• "Healthcare + Iran Deal," by Ilan Goldenberg
• "What's a NATO Ally Worth?" by Richard Fontaine
• "Is NATO Obsolete? Trump Not Only One Asking," by Molly O'Toole
• "Federal Staffers Panicked by Conservative Media Attacks," by Nahal Toosi and Andrew Restuccia
• "Trump's Bigger Military Won't Necessarily Make US Stronger, Safer," by Todd Harrison
• White House docs on DoD supplemental budget

Note: Please excuse some minor, intermittent cell phone interference in this episode. That's on us and it won't happen again!

This week Radha, Loren, and Erin drink hot toddies and reluctantly dig into the newest Marine Corps scandal. They also explore growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and Europe with a brief "missiles: big, medium, and small" explainer; debate the wisdom of loosening counter-terrorism policies while gutting American soft power (aka, Is it always a good time to kill bad guys?); and exorcise the bogeyman of the deep state. Stick around for pop culture digestif.

Readings:

Marine Scandal as reported byTask and Purpose in 2014

Paul Szoldra on the Marine scandal in Business Insider

NYT on Chinese response to South Korea

Hayes Brown on Turkey and the Netherlands in Buzzfeed (see also Michael Crowley)

Loren Schulman on the Deep State in Politico (see also David Remnick)

Erin Simpson and Max Fisher on Trump’s use of force

On Get Out and Slavery

On How Buffy Transformed TV

This week, Loren, Radha, and Erin discuss the North Korean assassination (beware the perfume lady) and take questions from listeners (what is inter-service rivalry anyway?). Kori Schake joins to dissect the defense budget, H.R. McMaster's challenges at the National Security Council, Thucydides, and why she hates Moneyball.

Join us for another round of "Keeping up Foreign Relations" and "White House mayhem." We tackle the Yemen raid, North Korea, Afghanistan, NatSec staffing, and the hiring freeze. Special guest Julie Smith weighs in on Russian intrigue and the future of NATO. Stick around for our latest pop-culture diversions.

This week on Bombshell, we walk through the first week of the Trump administration. Sit down and listen to Radha Iyengar Plumb, Loren Dejonge Schulman, and Erin Simpson discuss America First, cabinet confirmations, Chelsea Manning, Wall of Stars + Hall of Heroes, re-organization of the National Security Council, and the immigration order. Stick around for our favorite podcasts and thoughts on Sherlock.