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Sirens: A Bombshell production

Release Date: 10/08/2019

Gwyneth Paltrow, AI Week, Defense Innovation show art Gwyneth Paltrow, AI Week, Defense Innovation

Sirens: A Bombshell production

Gywneth Paltrow, typo right? Nope.  Nope not at all.  Check out our it's a drill segment where we again name drop Pope Leon, plus Schedule P/C, the Reflecting Pool refurbishment from hell, the proposed update to federal grantmaking, and the queen of Goop interviewing the founder of Anduril.  Plus, we read all the recent federal AI policies so you don't have to, and welcome DCODE CEO Meagan Metzger to chat defense innovation and what makes it (not) work.     

info_outline New Jersey, Just War, Crisis Engineering show art New Jersey, Just War, Crisis Engineering

Sirens: A Bombshell production

Marina Nitze joins us to discuss their new book, Crisis Engineering, and how real change can come to government even in the worst moments. For Its a Drill, apparently the attack on science continues with the threat to defund the National Academy of Sciences, and the shocking response by ICE when Senator Andy Kim visited at detention facility. In Dumpster Fires we ask whether congressional war powers are well and truly dead, with some help from the Pope.  Plus our angsty (and cringey) teenage vacation stories as we get ready to head into summer.

info_outline FISA, Ukraine, and Reconciliation show art FISA, Ukraine, and Reconciliation

Sirens: A Bombshell production

Molly Reynolds joins us to talk through all the mysteries and magic of reconciliation, and if the appropriations works will ever be the same. We don’t even get to the China trip because we have FISA 702 renewal, hantavirus, Germany troops rotations and new leadership in Hungary (plus zebras). There’s interesting things afoot in Russia-Ukraine despite or because of endless Trump shenanigans. And as always Devil Wears Prada.     

info_outline Fired Navy Secretary, Fired NSB, and UAVs show art Fired Navy Secretary, Fired NSB, and UAVs

Sirens: A Bombshell production

CSET's Lauren Kahn joins us this week to discuss trends in drone deployment and whether or how they are changing the character of warfare. For the rest of the episode, well, it's a whole lot of "you're fired!"  The Navy Secretary was fired (for battleships? for no battleships? for principle?). Several members of Congress under ethics investigation resigned ahead of other sanctions. And in yet more trends in the Trump administration threatening independent public science, the entire National Science Board was fired, by a short little email.  All that, plus DC proms!  ...

info_outline Avignon, AI Risk, Federal Workforce Futures show art Avignon, AI Risk, Federal Workforce Futures

Sirens: A Bombshell production

Radha and Loren welcome Margaret Mullins (Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator) to discuss her new report proposal new models for organizing federal hiring and talent maangement (it's extremely cool, trust us).  We have just way too much fun in it's a drill between Iranian Lego meme wars, the Pentagon's threats to the Pope, the FY27 budget, and the extreme drama that is our tech overlords.  For Dumpster Fires, we consider just what Anthropic actually meant when they said their latest AI model is simply too scary and what response we can expect from the Trump administration.  And for...

info_outline Brent, Science Funding, State and the Soldier. show art Brent, Science Funding, State and the Soldier.

Sirens: A Bombshell production

Radha and Loren welcome the glorious Dr. Kori Schake to the podcast for a discussion of her new book, The State and the Soldier:A History of Civil-Military Relations in the United States; hurray!  As we hopefully welcome spring, we grapple with chaotic management of military promotions, the globally economy, and the Iran war in It's a Drill. And for Dumpster Fires, we wade into the political crisis + administrative burden burden + totally out of sync funding system that is federal science grantmaking, just for fun.  Also: Devil Wears Prada 2, anyone?  That's All.  

info_outline SAVE Act, VOA, and the Deficit show art SAVE Act, VOA, and the Deficit

Sirens: A Bombshell production

Radha and Loren are so excited to welcome the Co-Director of the Yale Budget Lab, Martha Gimbel, to explore her team's work and her fantastic recent testimony exploring how the the national debt and tariffs show up in the lived experience of Americans. For It's a Drill, we note that the SAVE Act doesn't really save anyone, except maybe people who want to be saved from women's votes, and give you the long extended analogy of how the dynamics Straits of Hormuz is actually the movie He's Just Not That Into You. For Dumpster Fires, we use the recent court ruling on reinstating...

info_outline Endangerment, DOD AI, Iran show art Endangerment, DOD AI, Iran

Sirens: A Bombshell production

Radha and Loren are so excited to welcome special guest Dana Stroul to help us understand this war, er, special military operation in Iran, but first we wade through cocktail party gossip on the end of the endangerment finding, forced ranking for civil servants, and like a lot of things going on in the western hemisphere. If you’ve ever wanted to know about the systems challenges of security clearances, our discussion on NBIS and its woes are for you; plus, of course we couldn’t avoid getting into the messiness of the DOD-Anthropic situationship. Plus: do you have an Irish soda bread...

info_outline Primes, Schedule P/C, and AI Sentiment show art Primes, Schedule P/C, and AI Sentiment

Sirens: A Bombshell production

Radha and Loren are very excited about a range of important things, starting with Radha's purse, which is the same as the newly supermajoritied Japanese PM (yes, that's a word, we  made it one). Also in the cocktail circuit we have DHS shutdown and a new administration intervention on defense primes. We welcome (ok not really) schedule policy / career (schedule F) back to Dumpster Fires with a deep explainer on what this new policy means for civil servants and the American people, and then explore Munich Security Conference: Rubio, AOC, the weird civilizational dialgoue and the tired...

info_outline The Fed, Ed Accreditation, and DHS show art The Fed, Ed Accreditation, and DHS

Sirens: A Bombshell production

Loren and Radha reminisce about wintry memories and Benedict Cumberbatch before a cocktail parties worth of gossip on Fed rates, tariffs, and appropriations politics. In dumpster fires, they explore the strange ways the federal government shapes higher education, including event moves to change accreditation. And we’re delighted to welcome CNAS’s Carrie Cordero to discuss what we SHOULD expect of federal law enforcement and how to think about reforms to DHS, near and long term.     

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More Episodes

Bombshell takes a step back to offer some context to the whirlwind of Ukraine and related investigations: what’s with Ukraine’s political trajectory, why is it a magnet for crises involving external actors these days, and how is it being impacted by today’s scandals?  In Trump’s trade negotiations with China, how have elections become intertwined with those discussions? Turning to the White House, President Trump has had multiple crises emerge from calls with foreign leaders - how does his process shape those results. The NSC staff is wrapped up with today’s whistleblower investigation - who are they, and how can their role be politicized? In reacting to these events, President Trump’s language has taken an authoritarian tinge—what does political science tell us about his actions? And lastly, the president has suggested violence may erupt if he’s pushed out of office - how should we think about the military’s role in such scenarios?

 

Links

Ukraine

Impeachment legal Counsel Advice

  • Radha Iyengar, Tweet, October 2, 2019

Trump Leader Calls

Authoritarianism