NukeTalk

Sit back, relax, and say adieu! Today on the Nuclear Movie Club, we're wrapping this baby up. Scott and I conclude NukeTalk's Nuclear Movie Club season with some big picture musings on the season as a whole, the future of the nuclear movie canon, and we end with a rapid fire Nuclear Movie Club Awards segment. Now, NukeTalk is going on hiatus! Follow Ploughshares on Instagram and X @plough_shares to be the first in the know about what's next for the podcast. Until next time. NukeTalk is edited by Ryan Kuhfeld.

In our 2024 holiday episode, we're joined by Jamie Kwong, a Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to explore the fascinating connection between climate change and nuclear weapons. Grab your favorite holiday drink and listen in!

This election isn't just about votes—it's about who controls the world's most powerful weapons. In this season of NukeTalk, we will explore The Nuclear Ballot: How the U.S. Election Shapes Nuclear Policy. We bring you insights from top nuclear weapons experts on how this election can shape nuclear weapons policy in the future as stakes rise in this election cycle. In this episode, we'll explore the intricate web of strategic relationships shaped by the upcoming US election, focusing on the US relationships with China, Russia, and NATO. As candidates navigate [or blatantly ignore] nuclear weapons and global security, their language may influence these relationships. In a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape, we'll explore how election outcomes could impact power dynamics, provoke reactions from adversaries, and ultimately reshape alliances. Featured Guests: Dr. Tong Zhao, senior fellow at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Kimberly St. Julian Varnon, a doctoral candidate in Soviet history at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Marion Messmer, senior research fellow in the International Security program at Chatham House.

There's more to this election cycle than who wins and who loses. It's also about who controls one of the world's largest nuclear arsenals. In this season of NukeTalk, we will explore The Nuclear Ballot: How the U.S. Election Shapes Nuclear Policy. We'll provide expert insights into how this election can affect nuclear weapons policy. As we explore the President's exclusive authority to launch nuclear weapons to the strategic decisions outlined in the Nuclear Posture Review, we unravel the complexities that shape national and global security. Additionally, we will examine the media's coverage of nuclear weapons during an election year. Featured Guests: Kathleen Kingsbury, opinion editor at The New York Times, W.J. Hennigan, writer for The New York Times' "At the Brink" series, Dr. David Kearn, Associate Professor of Government and Politics at St. John's University, and Visiting Scholar at Harvard Kennedy School's Project on Managing the Atom, and Mackenzie Knight, Senior Research Associate at the Federation of American Scientists.

The US government poured $8 billion dollars down the drain when politics and poor planning left its efforts to dispose of Cold War-era plutonium at the Savannah River Site a failure. Now, it wants to produce plutonium pits at the site. Guests include Tom Clements (Savannah River Site Watch) and Taylor Barnes (Field Reporter for Inkstick Media).

The Pantex Plant sits just 17 miles northeast of Amarillo, Texas. It's the only remaining assembly and disassembly plant for nuclear weapons in the United States. Guests include Barbara Kent (downwinder and advocate), Kaysie Kent (downwinder and advocate), and Lucie Genay (author of Under the Cap of Invisibility: The Pantex Nuclear Weapons Plant and the Texas Panhandle).

Over 80 years ago, Hanford was miles and miles of open farmland. Now, it's known as the most contaminated site in the Western Hemisphere. This episode features Steve Olson, author of the book Apocalypse Factory: Plutonium and the Making of the Atomic Age, and Britany Lindley, staff attorney at Hanford Challenge.

We're not quite done with Oppenheimer yet! In this bonus episode, Ploughshares Fund President Dr. Emma Belcher sits down with Charles Oppenheimer, grandson of J. Robert Oppenheimer. The two discuss how growing up in New Mexico, the site of the Trinity Test, and being an Oppenheimer shaped his views on nuclear weapons. They also discussed how the film helped organize and raise awareness of those working on nuclear elimination, as well as bringing nuclear issues back into the public eye.