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 results on the so-called crime emergy, how it impacts readiness and perception of the guard, and big picture how we should think about future judicial review and oversight of such deployments. Plus, Dolly.

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 the ODNI?

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.