NukeTalk

As the withdrawal of all US military forces from Afghanistan is completed, Adam Weinstein, research fellow with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft provides a deep dive into the questions of why the US went into Afghanistan in the first place, why did the US stay so long, and why it was so hard to leave? Early Warning features New America essay contest winners, Ishan Sharma and Ronit Langer.

Ploughshares Fund’s Roger L. Hale Fellow Dr. Doreen Horschig discusses her new interactive report urging President Biden to focus his upcoming Nuclear Posture Review on preventing accidental nuclear war. Early Warning guests feature Christopher Jackson, a PhD candidate at the University of California Berkeley, and Maggie Boughman, a data and language intelligence analyst at SOS international Center for intelligence research analysis.

Stephen I. Schwartz, a nonresident senior fellow at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists – and a virtual encyclopedia of all things related to the nuclear football – takes us back to the events of January 6. Schwartz talks about how the situation could have escalated if the “football” had been captured by the rioters. Early Warning features Sam A. Winter-Levy and Alasdair Phillips-Robins. And we answer a listener’s question about companies manufacturing nuclear weapons.

Gregory Kulacki, China project manager at Union of Concerned Scientists and Miyako Kurosaki, research coordinator at the Hiroshima Organization For Global Peace talk about a new report that shows how Japan is not an obstacle to a US No First Use policy.

Early Warning features Allen Hester, legislative representative for nuclear disarmament and Pentagon spending at the Friends Committee on National Legislation and Ryan Mason, a corporate security professional and MSC student in the Security Studies program at Liverpool John Moores University.

And Michelle Dover answers a listener’s question about the oldest nuclear weapons still in use.

Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez, representative for New Mexico’s 3rd District, discusses the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act with guest host Lilly Adams.

On Early Warning, Dina Esfandiary of International Crisis Group joins Michelle Dover to discuss what is driving tensions in the Persian Gulf as negotiations to renew the Iran deal remain on hold. And a listener asks, what are the biggest misconceptions about nuclear weapons?

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 Horschig answers a listener’s question about nuclear shell games.

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 National Security Project.

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 pass the sixth anniversary of the Iran nuclear deal.

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 of the Council for a Livable World on efforts to stop the development of a new sea-launched nuclear cruise missile. 

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 New America on how recent targeted strikes against Iranian-backed militias could affect tensions between US and Iran, and plans to feature winners of New America's recent essay contest on changing US security policy on Press the Button.