NukeTalk

Ray Acheson discusses their book, Banning the Bomb, Smashing the Patriarchy , with guest host Alex Hall. On Early Warning: Matt Korda from Federation Of American Scientists provides context on recent satellite imagery findings of a second nuclear silo field in China; and Princeton Ph. D. student Ryan Dukeman shares new ideas about the politics of data and artificial intelligence. And Dr. Doreen Ho...

Former Governor of California Jerry Brown and current executive chair of Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists talks with Tom Collina about a problem that he believes is as important as it under-discussed: nuclear weapons. On Early Warning: Michelle Dover discusses this week's nuclear news with Mary Kaszynski, director of government relations at VoteVets, and Adom Cooper, security fellow at Truman Nat...

Alicia Sanders-Zakre, policy and research coordinator with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons discusses a report she co-authored revealing how much money the nine nuclear states spent on nuclear weapons last year. Early Warning features Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council. He speaks with Michelle Dover about the state of negotiations as we pas...

Dr. Jeffrey Lewis of Middlebury Institute of International Studies and Decker Eveleth, senior at Reed College in Portland, join Press the Button to discuss how Eveleth's research led to the discovery that China is building more than 100 new missile silos in its western desert, raising questions about a possible expansion of Beijing's nuclear capabilities. Early Warning features Monica Montgomery o...

Lynn Rusten, Vice President of the Global Nuclear Policy Program at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), joins Press the Button for a discussion on what the United States and Russia should do to reduce nuclear risks following the recent summit between President Joe Biden and President Vladimir Putin, and how China factors into future arms control efforts. Early Warning features Dr. Alex Stark of N...

Shalonda Spencer and Maher Akremi of Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security & Conflict Transformation (WCAPS) join Press the Button to discuss the Organizations in Solidarity initiative at WCAPS, and the fight for racial justice and equity in the peace and security field. Early Warning features Ali Vaez of International Crisis Group on the election of Ebrahim Raisi as the next president of Iran,...

Rose Gottemoeller, former Deputy Secretary General of NATO, joins Press the Button, describes her experience negotiating the New START Treaty during the Obama administration, and what the recent summit between President Joe Biden and President Vladimir Putin means for the future of arms control. Gottemoeller's new book, Negotiating the New START Treaty , is available now. Early Warning features co...

Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, infectious diseases physician and Founding Director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy and Research (CEID) at Boston University, joins Press the Button for a conversation on how national security decisions must take the issues of health and human security into account, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Early Warning features Assal Rad of Nationa...

Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico and current member of The Elders, joins Press the Button for an exclusive interview on The Elders' efforts to reduce and eliminate nuclear threats, and why the nuclear issue is so important 75 years after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Early Warning features Sharon Weiner of American University on the Biden administration's decision to propose f...

Academy Award-winning director Bryan Fogel discusses his latest film The Dissident , a documentary chronicling the life and work of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian journalist who was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, by agents of the Saudi government. Fogel speaks with Ploughshares Fund board member and actor Farshad Farahat on the making of and reaction to the film. Early Warn...

Alex Wellerstein, historian of science at the Stevens Institute of Technology, joins Press the Button for a discussion on the history of secrecy behind US development of nuclear weapons, and how that secrecy has impacted discussion on nuclear weapons today. Early Warning features Suhad Babaa of Just Vision and Mairav Zonszein of International Crisis Group on the recent ceasefire between Israel and...

Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) joins Press the Button for a conversation on the wasteful spending on US nuclear weapons programs, restricting first use of nuclear weapons, the legacy of US nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands, the importance of diplomacy, and why Congress must reassert its authority to declare war. Early Warning features Laicie Heeley of Inkstick Media and our Roger L. Hale fellow Do...

Joby Warrick, award-winning author and national security correspondent for the Washington Post, joins Press the Button to discuss efforts to dismantle Syrian chemical weapons and hold the Syrian government accountable for its use of chemical weapons on the battlefield. Warrick is the author of Red Line: The Unraveling of Syria and America's Race to Destroy the Most Dangerous Arsenal in the World....

Dr. David Kang, director of the Korean Studies Institute and Maria Crutcher Professor of International Relations at University of Southern California, joins Press the Button for a discussion on how the Biden administration should approach North Korea in the wake of decades of failed policy from previous administrations and how hawkish views on China in the US government have led to increased viole...

Elizabeth Becker, journalist, author and former war correspondent for the Washington Post in Cambodia, joins Press the Button to discuss how three women journalists covering the Vietnam War changed the way the news media reports on war. Becker is the author of You Don't Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War . Early Warning features Allen Hester of Physicians for Social Responsibili...

Kelsey Davenport of the Arms Control Association joins Press the Button to discuss Iran's plans to enrich uranium up to 60% following an attack on its Natanz nuclear facility, and what that means for efforts to save the Iran nuclear agreement. Early Warning features Adam Weinstein of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft on the implications of President Biden's decision to withdraw US tr...

Suzanne DiMaggio, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, joins Press the Button to discuss the recent talks between the United States and Iran, and what needs to happen for the Biden administration to keep diplomacy alive. Early Warning features Emma Claire Foley of Global Zero and our senior program officer/nuclear field coordinator John Carl Baker on efforts to cancel f...

Skye Fitzgerald, director of the Oscar-nominated documentary Hunger Ward, speaks with Ploughshares Fund board member and actor Farshad Farahat on how the ongoing war in Yemen has caused a mass famine, labeled by the United Nations as "the worst humanitarian crisis in the world." Early Warning features Mary Kaszynski of VoteVets and Kate Kizer of Win Without War on what to expect from the planned t...

Matt Korda, research associate at the Federation of American Scientists, joins Press the Button to examine the flawed thinking behind the proposed Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program, a new nuclear missile force set to replace the United States' arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Early Warning features Donna Farvard of the National Iranian American Council discussing the lack of...

Cynthia Lazaroff, award-winning documentary filmmaker and founder of NuclearWakeUpCall. Earth, joins Press the Button to discuss her experiences in Hawaii during the 2018 Hawaii false missile alert, and how the incident underscores the need to ultimately eliminate nuclear weapons. Early Warning features Mary Kaszynski of VoteVets and Gayatri Patel of CARE on the lack of progress made toward reente...

The 100th episode of Press the Button features a special interview with Ploughshares Fund president Emma Belcher and Joe Cirincione, distinguished fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and former Ploughshares Fund president. They discuss the history behind the podcast and the challenges ahead for the nuclear field. Early Warning features Dr. Alex Stark of New America and Aria G...

Michael Brenes, Associate Director of the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy and Lecturer in History at Yale University, joins Press the Button for a look at why the United States has such a large military budget compared to other countries, why there is overwhelming bipartisan support for massive military spending, and why the US relies on defense spending for jobs and growth. Early Warning...

Philip Taubman, consulting professor at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation and Ploughshares Fund board member, joins Press the Button to remember the late George Shultz, former Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and a prominent advocate for nuclear arms control. Early Warning features Kelsey Davenport of the Arms Control Association on a temporary...

Lisbeth Gronlund, research affiliate with the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT, joins Press the Button to discuss why it's so dangerous that the US president has the sole authority to order the use of nuclear weapons, and how to avoid future situations where unhinged presidents have their finger on the button. Early Warning features our program officer/nuclear field coordinator...

A special episode of Press the Button features an exclusive interview with the filmmakers behind Nasrin , a documentary film about Iranian political prisoner Nasrin Sotoudeh. A prominent human rights lawyer and activist, Sotoudeh was arrested in June 2018 for representing women who were protesting Iran's mandatory hijab law, and she was sentenced to 38 years in prison, plus 148 lashes. An Amnesty...