This week, the ladies of Bombshell welcome Sarah Margon, Washington Director of Human Rights Watch, to explore a side of the Syria conflict we discuss too little on this show: the human dimension. The ladies wade through three different political maelstroms in Italian elections, President Xi's quest for immortality, and President Putin's land of misfit nukes.  Hairstyles, process, and wrongheaded beliefs about trade deficits explain the White House, and Radha plugs spoken word cookbooks (written by spies).

 

• Economist, "Send in the clowns," Economist
• Laura McGann, "When does Hope Hicks get to be a 'wunderkind' instead of a 'former model'?" Vox
• Sarah Margon, "Giving Up the High Ground," Foreign Affairs
• Marc Freeman, "'M*A*S*H' Finale, 35 Years Later: Untold Stories of One of TV's Most Important Shows," Hollywood Reporter
• Evan Osnos, "Xi Jinping May Be President For Life. What Will Happen to China?" New Yorker
• Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker, and Josh Dawsey, "'Pure madness': Dark days inside the White House as Trump shocks and rages," Washington Post
• William J. Broad and Ainara Tiefenthaler, "Putin Flaunted Five Powerful Weapons. Are They a Threat?" New York Times