NucleCast

Sam (Robert) Wilson is a senior policy analyst for the Center for Space Policy and Strategy at The Aerospace Corporation. In this role, he is responsible for leading work on the nexus of commercial and national security space, comparative space, and missile issues. His work has appeared or been covered in The Washington Post, The Financial Times, Politico, SpaceNews, Breaking Defense, Kyodo News,...

Welcome to a special episode of NucleCast! Not only is Dr. Adam Lowther the host of NucleCast, he is Director of Strategic Deterrence Programs at the National Strategic Research Institute at the University of Nebraska, U.S. Strategic Command's University Affiliated Research Center. Prior to joining NSRI, Dr. Lowther served as the first director of the department of multi-domain operations (MDO) at...

Dr. Robert J. Peters is the former Chief within the Strategic Integration Directorate of the Strategic Trends and Effects Department (STED) at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. STED’s mission is to generate timely, credible, and actionable insights into threats within the counter-WMD and counter-emerging threat mission space and to assess the effectiveness of Agency efforts to support the Joint...

Scott Sudduth is a founding partner of Washington Navigators, a strategic consulting firm focused on federal and international issues affecting higher education, innovation and competitiveness, and nuclear national security. He spent 30 years as a member of the senior management teams at four of the nation’s premier comprehensive research universities: the University of California System, the Univ...

CEO & Founder of the Small Business Consulting Corporation (SBCC). SBCC helps the military find and connect with innovative companies in order to help transition their best technologies for the nation’s most critical defense missions. Goodfellow is a 30-year Air Force Veteran who, in his last active-duty military job, served as the Director of Strategic Plans, Programs and Requirements at Air...

Dr. Michaela Dodge is a Research Scholar at the National Institute for Public Policy. Prior to joining the National Institute, Dr. Dodge worked at The Heritage Foundation from 2010-2019. She left Heritage to serve as Senator Jon Kyl’s Senior Defense Policy Advisor between October to December 2018. Her last position at Heritage was a Research Fellow for Missile Defense and Nuclear Deterrence. Dr. D...

David Beering is the owner of Intelligent Designs LLC, a small business based in West Lafayette, IN at the Purdue University Research Park. The firm focuses on Engineering, Design, Integration & Testing, and Implementation of complex communications systems utilizing satellites and high-speed wireless connections. During his career, Beering has held leading roles in more than 85 projects workin...

Bruce Klingner specializes in Korean and Japanese affairs as the senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at The Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center. Klingner has testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He is a frequent commentator in U.S. and foreign media. His articles and...

Colonel Keith J. Butler is the Commander of Detachment 5, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. He is the Operational Commander of all B-2 Spirit and T-38 Talon aircraft assigned to the world’s only stealth bomber base and is responsible for the combat readiness of $45B in Air Force assets and 400+ Airmen. Former F-16 and F-117 pilot. Col. Butler served i...

The sixteenth episode of NucleCast features Dr. Rob Soofer, a Senior Associate (non-resident) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies (CSS), teaching courses in nuclear strategy, missile defense, and arms control. He serves as a consultant for the Sandia and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. R...

Dr. John R. Harvey is a physicist with over 40 years of experience working nuclear weapons and national security issues, first at LLNL, then at Stanford’s Center for International Security and Arms Control and in senior positions in the Departments of Defense (twice) and Energy. From 2009-2013, he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defen...

Dr. Brent Park is a physicist and a former government official; appointed to a position at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) – by the President and in just 6 weeks confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on March 22, 2018. Brent develops policy and technology solutions to real world challenges by leading and coordinating R&D program-developmen...

Episode 13 of NucleCast features the Honorable William C. Ostendorff! Bill Ostendorff has a distinguished career as an engineer, legal counsel, policy advisor, and naval officer. He currently serves as a nuclear industry adviser for several companies. In addition, he co-chairs a National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine Committee on Risk Analysis for Nuclear War and Nuclear Terror. H...

Episode twelve of NucleCast features an interview with Jim Howe. Jim Howe has extensive experience in nuclear energy, national and homeland security, policymaking, and communications. He has spent the last 12 years working in the nuclear industry, where he was deeply involved in the deployment of state-of-the-art uranium enrichment technology. Jim has worked with a number of advanced reactor devel...

Episode eleven of NucleCast has a very special interview with Brigadier General Stacy Jo Huser, the Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator for Military Application, National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. Where she assists the Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs to maintain the safety, security, and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockp...

Episode ten of NucleCast features Curtis McGiffin. Curtis is currently a Visiting Professor with the Department of Defense and Strategic Studies at Missouri State University where he teaches graduate and doctorate courses on deterrence and grand strategy. Previously, he was the Associate Dean of the School of Strategic Force Studies at the Air Force Institute of Technology, where he led a robust p...

Episode nine of the series features the Honorable David J. Trachtenberg is Vice President of the National Institute for Public Policy, a nonprofit research center in Fairfax, Virginia. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 17, 2017 as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and served in this capacity until his retirement from government service in July 2019. Until January 2018, he a...

Episode 8 of the NucleCast series features Patty-Jane Geller. Patty-Jane Geller is the Senior Policy Analyst for Nuclear Deterrence and Missile Defense at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense, where she conducts research, writes, and engages audiences on a variety of issues related to strategic forces.

Episode seven of NucleCast featuring Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota! Kevin Cramer was elected to the United States Senate on November 6, 2018 after serving three terms as North Dakota’s At-Large Member of the United States House of Representatives. He serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee and offers Senate perspectives on strategic nuclear modernization and deterrence.

The sixth episode of NucleCast stars David Cherington and Jeff Crater, co-founders and managing directors of the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance (ANWA) Deterrence Center. ANWA Deterrence Center raises awareness and educates about the modernization of the U.S. strategic nuclear deterrent. ANWA Deterrence Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Episode five of NucleCast features Dr. Brad Roberts, who has served as director of the Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory since 2015. From 2009 to 2013, he was deputy assistant secretary of defense for Nuclear and Missile Defense Policy. In this role, he served as policy director of the Obama administration’s Nuclear Posture Review and Ballistic Missile D...

The fourth episode of NucleCast features Dr. Stephen J. Cimbala, a Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Penn State Brandywine. He is the author of numerous works in the fields of national security studies, nuclear deterrence and arms control, and other topics. An award-winning Penn State teacher, Dr. Cimbala recently co-authored U.S. National Security (Sixth Edition) with John Allen Wil...

Episode three of the NucleCast series features Dr. Mark Schneider, a Senior Analyst with the National Institute for Public Policy. Before his retirement from the Department of Defense Senior Executive Service, Dr. Schneider served in a number of senior positions within the Office of Secretary of Defense for Policy including Principal Director for Forces Policy, Principal Director for Strategic Def...

The Second Episode of NucleCast: Dr. Lisa J. Porter and Dr. Michael D. Griffin are the Co-Founders and Co-Presidents of LogiQ, Inc., a company providing high end management, scientific, and technical consulting services. Adam asks important questions about hypersonics, what are they, how are they used and why are they so important.

The first official episode of NucleCast! Adam interviews Peter Huessy who is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, where he focuses on nuclear deterrence and modernization, arms control, and defense policy. Mr. Huessy has spent the past four decades laying out the requirements for nuclear deterrence and modernization, arms control, and defense policy, as well as the companion efforts on missile def...