Sirens: A Bombshell production

Before going into Election Day, Radha and Loren walk through the possible scenarios of the 2027-28 Congress and how it might utilize oversight power. Plus, federal time in grade rule changes, DOD rules on betting on wars, more tariffs, and China's changes to AI export rules. Plus, happy Halloween!

Rachel Ziemba joins us for a fascinating discussion of energy and geopolitics, stemming from the latest Russia - oil drama. For it's a drill, the US has a new website and chat bot! It's….fine. Plus, Hegseth made another speech, the Bull Market goes fully toddler, and super intelligence. Finally a great chat about the postal service. No really.

Lindsey Laferriere of the Partnership for Public Service joins us to nerd out on the latest research on Americans' views of government, contradictions, mysteries and all. For It's a Drill, we have the not-so-Triumphal Arch, California's efforts to unlock EV trucks, Veterans' Affairs staffing challenges, and of course AI safety. And with lots recent assessments of DOGE, we talk through the receipts, literally, and whether any good came out. Plus, royals gossip.

The remarkable Kate Kuzminski joins us this week discuss the health of the general officer corps in the US military. For It's a Drill, quick hits on the CDC's measles data mess, the ongoing disparity in government pay raises between civilians, law enforcement, and military, Hugging Face once more, and tankers. For Dumpster Fires, another deep dive into the national debt: what does it really mean for policymakers? And for gong show: school reading lists.

In yet another Not On Our Bingo Card of 2026 moment, we welcome Dr. Stephanie Carvin to help us understand our apparently escalating conflict with our close neighbor and ally, Canada (may there be peace in our time?!). For it's a drill, the president is once more making drastic mil-mil relationship change over social media, we're officially forced ranking feds, Deputy Secretary Feinberg wants better pricing transparency on defense contracts, and did you know that the war in Ukraine still continues? And for dumpster fires, we use the 1 year anniversary of the National Guard deployment in DC do look at apparent...

We're lucky enough to have three incredible guests this week joining us from the Roosevelt Network's community of undergraduate students and early-career professionals: Yazmina Holness, Mya Love, and Sahiti Kulkarni, who joined Loren from the Roosevelt Library to talk about their views on reimagining government. For It's a drill, we get into what's up with DoD not attending Aspen, the turnover of political appointees, the Fauci hearings, and the latest frontier AI model shenanigans. And in dumpster fires we use the opportunity of a new director of national intelligence to ask, more than two decades later, what's the point of...

Have you ever found yourself in a cave and thought, this would be a great place to store the retirement records of the largest workforce in the country? The government did - but maybe not anymore! That and engagement surveys, DODs testosterone tests, and China export controls feature in It's A Drill. For Dumpster Fires, we get super nerdy in increased use of Other Transaction Authority in Pentagon AI buys. Finally, we have so many thoughts about the Odyssey! Except we haven't seen it.

Sirens is overjoyed to come back from Summer break to bring on Dr. Amanda Sloat for a fantastic-if-depressing discussion on the stress points of the U.S.-Europe relationship (with the inevitable rom-com comparisons). We have a litany of crazy to walk through in It's a Drill, from the ongoing destustruction of DOT&E, the politicization of FEMA funds, the still somehow happening minimization of TBI in the military, and the weird little Claude Fable break the government went on. Dumpster Fires is a complex chat on military families and economic insecurity - and how that's both hard to measure...

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.

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.

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.

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!

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 Gong Show - Artemis!

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.

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...

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...

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 tropes. Finally we...

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.

Sirens welcomes the tremendous Dr. Mara Karlin as a guest to first determine which current buzzwords we'd ban but more importantly to assess this moment of US and allied relationships: what allies should be planning, how US chaos shakes up more than just NATO meetings, and signals to watch. For dumpster fires, we talk through what's new and what's unfortunate de ja vu as the Trump Administration pressures the Iranian regime amid increasingly violent protest crackdowns, as well as what the transition at the GAO means for oversight (yes, we do the sexy topics!). Finally: what delights and baffles you...

Happy 2026 to all friends of Sirens! Loren, Radha, and Erin are truly astonished at the pace of news in their mid-winters nap and gab for an extended drill to cover new Hatch Act procedures, protests in Iran, the thwarted terrorist attack on NYE, the drastic decrease in financial crime fines in 2026, and Netanyahu's visit (also, Andy and Anderson's NYE, of course). While Venezuela could be an entire episode series unto itself, we augment with another dumpster fire: what exactly the daycare funding fraud allegations mean in Minnesota and how they may impact the entire theory of change of federalism. For...

Yes - it's a mouthful of acronyms! And yes, it's hard to focus on anything besides the new national security strategy, but Sirens manages to open with our favorite holiday reads, merry and bright and dark and twisty. For dumpster fires, we explore the tragic shooting of two WV National Guardsmen through the lens of the evacuation of several thousand Afghans in 2021 and the complex and often limited support system they met in the US. Also, we reluctantly return to counter drug strikes in the Caribbean and exactly what we should expect of the military when it comes to unlawful...

Were you left wanting more economist talk after last week's Sirens? Joint Loren and Radha for the full, uncut interview with the Optimist Economy's Kathryn Edwards helps us navigate where we are (or not) on the highway to recession and what the government should be doing about it.

Everyone's negotiating these days, with the Ukraine deal, recent AI deals, and the near final Schedule F (er Schedule Policy/Career) closing up (or not) as the year wraps up and the holiday party circuit in DC kicks off. In dumpster fires, we take a good hard look at the recent MBS visit to DC and just whose strategy this strategic partnership is operating under, as well as tying threads across recent news in the James Comey, Jeffrey Epstein, and Mark Kelly investigations. Optimist Economy's Kathryn Edwards helps us navigate where we are (or not) on the highway to recession...

Are you equal parts terrified and fascinated by recent mentions of restarting nuclear testing? The ladies of bombshell are here to help! Join us for the full-length interview with PONI Director Heather Williams as we discuss nuclear testing and nuclear weapons, how it relates to the international world order.

Sirens starts with favorite bake-off challenges and runs the cocktail circuit with the latest Supreme Court validation that tariffs are taxes, what the latest elections mean (or don't, apparently), and the trend of general officer removals. We dig into the sexiest dumpster fires: acquisition reform and where the death of direct file fits in the flow of tax reform in US history. PONI Director Heather Williams joined for a delightfully disturbing warning signs on nuclear testing and getting nuclear weapons into public consciousness. And finally, importantly: when is too early to put up Christmas decorations?

Breaking Defense reporter and longtime Pentagon press corps member Valerie Insinna details the work of the media in DOD, what the department owes Americans in terms of transparency, and the implications of Hegseth's new press guidelines.

Now that the Louvre jewel thieves have been caught, Sirens asks, what museum would you plan a heist for? On the cocktail circuit, we're chatting Tomahawks, no, sanctions yes on Russia-Ukraine, the new Japanese PM, and Trump's Asia trip. In Dumpster Fires, there's thousands unleashed across the US as the shutdown continues; plus, there is some strange strange stuff going on in Southcom. In warning signs, Breaking Defense reporter Valerie Insinna joins us for a discussion of what makes the Pentagon press corps unique amid Hegseth's recent actions against the media. Finally, what inflatable protest creature are you?

If you're wondering what happens when as the foundations of separtion of power shift in real time, then this mini-episode is for you! Join the ladies of Bombshell for the fasinating, full length interview with Laura Dickinson of GWU Law School. We get an expert view on recent Supreme Court rulings, what executive power really means, and where we go from here.

Admit it; do you set google alerts for yourself, your partner's doppleganger, or pedandtic civ-mil terms? Sirens debates and drills through shutdown RIFs, the emerging hostage deal, and tariffs + hemlines predictions. In Dumpster Fires, we ask, IS there a new phase in Russian combat operations or are we just paying attention (with more or less the same question on recent increase in cyber attacks). In Warning Signs, GWU Law Professor Laura Dickinson joins for a fascinating discussion on separation of powers. Then help us remember our favorite Diane Keaton moments as we reminsce on a truly amazing career.

On this mini-episode, we talk with Erin Sikorsky about her new book "Climate Change on the Battlefield." Listen in as we discuss how climate change affects military operations and military readiness, which countries are doing things right, and how the US could address systemic risks differently.

Sirens (should Sirens just be a book pod?) starts with the best question: if you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be? On the cocktail party circuit, we had to discuss the Great Gathering of Gobsmacked GOFOs, plus how the US gave up AI norms at UNGA and changes to social security. Amid Dumpster Fires aplenty, we dig into chaotic reforms to H1B visa and the consequences to the economy and national security, as well as the nuclear change to senate nominations process. In Warning Signs, we welcome former US Chief...

Americans want a government that is agile, responsive, and able to deliver basic services while also solving complex challenges like climate change. Yet the climate community tends to over-focus on questions of climate policy design rather than questions of climate policy implementation — resulting in ambitious efforts like the Inflation Reduction Act that held great promise on paper but ran into roadblocks in the real world. In this live taping, host Loren DeJonge Schulman is joined by special guests Carol Browner, former U.S. EPA Administrator, Jordan Diamond, Executive Director of the Environmental Law Institute, and Nancy Metayer Bowen, Vice Mayor of...

On the Sirens cocktail circuit this week is (no surprise) renaming the Department of Defense, the deporting US industrial strategy (Korean workers), and two-steps-back, one-step forward White House announcements on AI skills while cutting education funds. Among the week's dumpster fires: does the US even have an appropriations process anymore? and, how to talk about what we're seeing in political violence? Finally, events in in Venezuela and Qatar raise questions on if the law of war is just law of personalist performances. Also: Katabasis!

Sirens starts the school year bright eyed in It's a Drill, highlighting new Deputy Secretary of Defense powers in requirements, the new Chief Design Officer at the White House, and whether those trade taxes are legal. In Dumpster Fires, we explore the redistricting arms race set off by Texas and how it fits into the evolution of democracy in the US, along with how it feels to own 10% of Intel (any takers for a share of State Capitalism?). In Warning Signs, we are delighted (horrified) to welcome Dr. Lindsay Cohn to dig into when and how state governors resist federal...

Sirens gives you a mini-episode close to our hearts: what are the do's and, very importantly, don'ts of running a great hiring process as a hiring manager. There's horror stories, yes, but also great advice for new leaders and old hands.

Sirens returns with an action packed episode. Loren, Erin, and Radha cover China's foray into green tech (plus grantmaking politcization and Pentagon reorganizations) in it's a drill. Closer to home, the ladies discuss how DC is (not) welcoming national guardsmen from a variety of states and talk the history and context of DC Home Rule, plus what is up with the new report from the Department of Energy on climate change. In warning signs, Dr. Elizabeth Saunders joins to share in the bafflement over the blitz of Russia, Ukraine and everyone else summits this week. The ladies close out with...

In this mini-episode, join Radha and Erin's full interview with amazing guest and expert Emily Bensen on all things tariffs (aka trade taxes). They talk through the theory of the case for setting these tariffs, review the successful and not-so-successful negotiations, and look at where the economy and the American people likely to see the impact of these tariffs in the weeks and months ahead

There's just too much going on in our sixty second It's a Drill exercise, but Radha, Erin, and Loren manage to highlight Taiwan dithering, NIH funding shenanigans, and small set of AI Action Plan details. In bigger, can't miss Dumpster Fires, they dive into what drove the shift in public reactions to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and what it may mean, as well as what happens when a president fires the BLS commissioner on jobs day. Radha and Erin welcome our second guest, Emily Benson, for a long Warning Signs exploration of our favorite repeat topic, trade taxes, and...

The ladies bring you a mini-episode answering a question you never thought to ask: what makes for a good political appointee? They discuss why we have political appointees, how they can be useful (or not), and how they can work with career personnell. Listen to hear the good, the bad, and the not so ugly.

In this mini-episode of Sirens, Radha and Loren continue the conversation with (first! special!) guest Cristin Dorgelo, former senior advisor at the Office of Management and budget, detailing the longer tail of of impacts the American people and the federal workforce can anticipate from the current chaos of RIFs, and how this might be a chance to reimagine the federal talent management process.