CAPTAIN KIRK DEFECTS TO KLINGONS: Well, almost. Ninety-year-old actor William Shatner has a new show on the RT network (formerly known as “Russia Today.”) Russian State TV watcher Julia Davis says that that the first episode was titled “The Truth Behind Why We Lie,” which, she quite accurately points out, is spot on for a show on RT.
“THIS OUTER SPACE MAY NOT BE BIG ENOUGH FOR THE TWO OF US” No, we’re not talking about Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos – but the US and Russia. Slate reports that Russia is threatening to leave the International Space Station (ISS). The rub may be American sanctions placed on Russia which has raised the ire of the Russian space agency Roscosmos. The Russians are also considering establishing a joint lunar base with the Chinese – and China has recently launched its own manned space station. Still, Moscow makes a lot of money running their No-Air BNB – so threats to pull out may just be bluster.
SORRY STATE: ForeignPolicy.com recently reported that new research indicates that nearly one in three of the State Department’s diplomats and professional support staff are actively looking for a new line of work. A study conducted by a group of students from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government – and released by the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown involved a survey of nearly 3,000 State Department employees. The folks behind the survey didn’t sugar coat it – titling their report: “The Crisis in the State Department: We are Losing Our Best and Need to Ask Why.” The survey took place after the election but before the inauguration – so it is unclear whether things have gotten any better over the past six months after the department’s leadership lost its “swagger.”
SAILOR SURVEY SAYS: Speaking of sorry surveys – a handful of Republican lawmakers commissioned a retired Navy admiral and Marine general to examine morale and readiness in the surface fleet. The result was about as positive as the aforementioned State Department poll. The seagoing survey supposedly found that “the Navy’s surface warfare community is weighed with a culture that values administrative chores over training to fight, ship commanders that are micromanaged and an aversion to risk.” According to the report, 94% of those questioned said recent operational failures (collisions at sea, ship fires etc.) were the result of Navy culture and leadership problems. We noticed that the nautical gripe list resulted from polling and discussions with only 77 sailors. That seems like an awfully small sample size from which you could mine any sweeping judgments.
HASPEL HIRE: The law firm King & Spalding recently announced that they have added former CIA Director Gina Haspel to their DC-based national security team. According to their announcement Haspel will “advise clients on international risk management, national security issues and other matters. Reuters says the firm had previously hired former DNI Dan Coats and former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
BOOKIN’ There always seems to be news about forthcoming books that touch on national security matters. This week, we have two to tell you about – one novel and one non-fiction. The novel, which will be published by Random House at some unspecified future date is called by Rav Grewal-Kok. It is said to be a “literary spy novel” (as opposed to those illiterate ones, we guess) about a Punjabi American lawyer at a mysterious new federal intelligence agency who tried to keep his career, marriage, and morality intact in the waning months of the George W. Bush presidency and the first year of Barack Obama’s. We wish this fictional lawyer success. The non-fiction title is Leadership is Overrated, to be written by business executive Kyle Buckett and former Navy SEAL team leader Chris Mefford. They reportedly argue that success in any organization comes down to taking care of your people by building better teams. That kinda sounds like “leadership” to us, but who are we to argue with a former SEAL? The book is due from Harper One in August 2023…so the authors have plenty of time to figure that out.
POCKET LITTER: Bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
HONK IF YOU’RE NOT MAKING A 9/11 DOCUMENTARY: In case you missed it, this September 11th will mark the 20th anniversary of …well, 9/11. The Cipher Brief is aware of a half dozen media outfits working on documentaries to explore that day of infamy. One of the first to publicize their plans (a bit) is an Apple TV+ and BBC joint venture that says it will go “Inside the President’s War Room” of 9/11. Actor Jeff Daniels, who the producers would like you to remember from the drama “The Looming Tower” (and would like you to forget from “Dumb and Dumber”) will narrate. The documentarians say the show will offer “the definitive timeline as to exactly what happened to President George W. Bush over the course of 12 hours in what had to be the longest day of his presidency.” We didn’t know that what happened to “43” was in question – but we may have to watch the show to find out. The program will include “nearly 200 never-before-published” photos of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and new interviews with: Condoleezza Rice (then-national security adviser), Colin Powell (then-secretary of state), Andy Card (then-chief of staff), Dan Bartlett (then-director of communications), Rear Adm. Deborah Loewer (then-head of the Situation Room), Josh Bolten (then-deputy chief of staff), Ari Fleischer (then-press secretary), Karl Rove (then-senior adviser to the president), Mary Matalin (then-adviser to Cheney), Karen Hughes (then-special adviser to the president), Michael Morell (then-CIA briefer), Ted Olson (then-solicitor general), Col. Mark Tillman (then-Air Force One pilot), and David Wilkinson and Tony Zotto (then-Secret Service.)
HONK IF YOU DON’T HAVE A PODCAST: Podcasts are proliferating. It seems everybody and their sibling has one (or more.) How anyone can measure which ones are popular and which ones are not, is a mystery. But we spotted a story in Mediaite listing the “Top 50 Podcasts in America This Week.” To be honest, we had never heard of about 48 of them. We did notice that #21 was “Conspiracy Theories: CIA Edition.” The teaser for the weekly podcast cautions that it includes discussion of “murder, drug abuse, suicide and child abuse that some people might find offensive.” We were offended so we stopped listening right there. The good news for the conspiracy theory podcasters is that they beat out entries like “Chuckle Sandwich,” and “Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! A Greek and Roman Mythology Podcast.” They did come in behind a podcast called “Rotten Mango” – which, apparently, listeners found more appetizing.
DON’T HONK IF YOU WANT TO SHARE SOMETHING WITH DEAD DROP READERS: Instead, put it in an email and send it to TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com
