World on Edge: Are We Trapped in a Global Nuclear Arms Race? episode artwork

EPISODE · May 21, 2026 · 52 MIN

World on Edge: Are We Trapped in a Global Nuclear Arms Race?

from The Paikin Podcast · host Epicentre Media

MIT’s Vipin Narang joins Janice Stein to discuss the global nuclear arms race, how the United States “now faces a Category 5 hurricane of nuclear threats,” why China wants to become a nuclear powerhouse, how Russia and Putin plausibly threatened the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, and why this was the closest we came to nuclear war since the height of the Cuban missile crisis. They then discuss the Iran War, how it makes us “way worse off now,” the bar for the deployment of American nuclear weapons, whether more countries such as Saudi Arabia or South Korea want a nuclear weapon now, if Canada should get a nuke, and if the rationale of mutual assured destruction (MAD) is still in play today. Support us: patreon.com/thepaikinpodcast Follow The Paikin Podcast: YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/@ThePaikinPodcastSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/1OhwznCIUEA11lZGcNIM4h?si=b5d73bc7c3a041b7X: x.com/ThePaikinPodINSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thepaikinpodcastBLUESKY: bsky.app/profile/thepaikinpodcast.bsky.social Email us at: [email protected] 

MIT’s Vipin Narang joins Janice Stein to discuss the global nuclear arms race, how the United States “now faces a Category 5 hurricane of nuclear threats,” why China wants to become a nuclear powerhouse, how Russia and Putin plausibly threatened the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, and why this was the closest we came to nuclear war since the height of the Cuban missile crisis. They then discuss the Iran War, how it makes us “way worse off now,” the bar for the deployment of American nuclear weapons, whether more countries such as Saudi Arabia or South Korea want a nuclear weapon now, if Canada should get a nuke, and if the rationale of mutual assured destruction (MAD) is still in play today.

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World on Edge: Are We Trapped in a Global Nuclear Arms Race?

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This episode was published on May 21, 2026.

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MIT’s Vipin Narang joins Janice Stein to discuss the global nuclear arms race, how the United States “now faces a Category 5 hurricane of nuclear threats,” why China wants to become a nuclear powerhouse, how Russia and Putin plausibly threatened the...

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