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NukeTalk
by Ploughshares
Nuclear weapons aren't just a national security issue; they are also a human rights issue. Building a safer future requires an examination of past and present nuclear policy. NukeTalk investigates nuclear weapons policy by looking at the human impact of nuclear weapons. And brings the stories of those affected to you. NukeTalk is hosted by Ploughshares.
Episodes
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The Nuclear Movie Club Awards & Conclusion
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...
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The Day After (1983)
Sit back, relax, and brush up on your Reagan-era politics—today on the Nuclear Movie Club, we're talking about Nicholas Meyer's 1983 television movie, The Day After. On this episode, Scott and I discuss if The Day After is defining film of the nuclear film canon, the hopeful yet inconsistent tone...
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Threads (1984)
Sit back, relax, and don't watch this movie after you've eaten—today on the Nuclear Movie Club, we're talking about Mick Jackson's 1984 television movie, Threads. On this episode, Scott and I discuss if Threads is the most "comprehensive" nuclear film, the movie's jarring and unflinching…
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Miracle Mile (1988)
Sit back, relax, and find love at the La Brea Tar Pits for Miracle Mile, a 1988 film written and, after being passed around Hollywood for a decade, also directed by Steve De Jarnatt. In this episode of the Nuclear Movie Club, NukeTalk cohosts Rebecka Green and Scott Strgacich discuss Miracle…
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When the Wind Blows
Sit back, relax, and brew a pot of tea for When the Wind Blows, a 1986 animated film directed by Jimmy Murakami based on the graphic novel by Raymond Briggs. In this episode of the Nuclear Movie Club, NukeTalk producer Rebecka Green and Ploughshares Roger L. Hale Fellow Scott Strgacich discuss…
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Mission Impossible franchise
Sit back, relax, and run like Tom Cruise trying to prevent an evil AI entity from causing nuclear war, for the Mission Impossible franchise. Mission Impossible is an 8-movie run of action films starring Tom Cruise and spanning three decades, concluding with 2025's MI: Final Reckoning, which is…
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Dr. Strangelove
Sit back, relax, and pack snacks for the War Room for Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Stanley Kubrick's 1964 political satire starring Peter Sellers (x3) and George C. Scott. After a brief New Years break, in this episode of the Nuclear Movie Club, NukeTalk...
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On the Beach (1959)
Sit back, relax, and hold your loved ones tight for On the Beach, Stanley Kramer's 1959 apocalyptic drama starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, and Anthony Perkins. In this episode of the Nuclear Movie Club, NukeTalk producer Rebecka Green and Ploughshares Roger L. Hale Fellow Scott...
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Crimson Tide (1995)
Sit back, relax, and choose your second-in-command wisely for Crimson Tide, Tony Scott's 1995 military thriller starring Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman. In this episode of the Nuclear Movie Club, NukeTalk producer Rebecka Green and Ploughshares Roger L. Hale Fellow Scott Strgacich discuss...
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WarGames (1983)
Sit back, relax, and join the Nuclear Movie Club for WarGames, John Badham's 1983 technothriller starring Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy—and perhaps better known as the movie that caused President Ronald Reagan *major anxiety* about U.S. cybersecurity. In this episode, NukeTalk producer…
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A House of Dynamite: An Interview with Screenwriter Noah Oppenheim
For the first episode of NukeTalk's new season, Nuclear Movie Club, we are joined by Noah Oppenheim, screenwriter of A House of Dynamite—a new Netflix film by Kathryn Bigelow—and former president of NBC News. The Nuclear Movie Club will cover 10 defining movies in the nuclear film canon that...
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The Nuclear Ballot: Inauguration Special Report
As we conclude our Nuclear Ballot season, we are wrapping up with an Inauguration Special Report. Our guest is Jon Wolfsthal, Director of Global Risk at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), as we explore what comes next regarding nuclear policy, domestic policy, and foreign policy at…
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The Holiday Episode: Nuclear Winter
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!
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The Nuclear Ballot: Nukes & Votes
What's at stake in this election? With nukes on the line, experts share what's on their minds just days before the election. How could this election reshape US nuclear policy? Find out with insights from Molly Hurley, Allen Hester, and Esther Im as they break down the nuclear issues that could...
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The Nuclear Ballot: Strained Relations
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…
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The Nuclear Ballot: The Fallout Generations
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…
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The Nuclear Ballot: Command & Control
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...
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Atomic Assembly: RECA
The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was created by the federal government to partially compensate Americans who developed certain diseases as a result of being exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons production. Advocates are working to save the program, which is expiring on June 7....
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Atomic Assembly: Savannah River Site, South Carolina
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...
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Atomic Assembly: Oak Ridge, Tennessee
It was the uranium enriched at the Y-12 plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee that was used in Little Boy, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in August of 1945. Today, every single weapon in the US' nuclear arsenal, all 5,000, has parts that were built or maintained at Y-12. Guests include Tanya…
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Atomic Assembly: Amarillo, Texas
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...
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Atomic Assembly: Rocky Flats, Colorado
In 1989, a team of FBI agents raided and shut down the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant after nearly 3 years of investigation into its environmental and waste practices. It was the first-ever raid of one government agency by another. Featured guests include Kristen Iversen (Author of Full Body...
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Atomic Assembly: Hanford, Washington
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...
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The Holiday Episode: Nuclear Weapons and Human Rights
The holiday season here! So is Human Rights Day. Listen to this special holiday episode about the intersections between justice, human rights, and nuclear weapons. Guests include Mary Dickson (Downwinder and Activist) and Lilly Adams (Union of Concerned Scientists).
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In Conversation with Charles Oppenheimer
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…
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Pop Culture in the Atomic Age
In the years between Oppenheimer the man and Oppenheimer the movie, nuclear weapons have carved out a lasting place for themselves in popular culture. These depictions are not just plot points—they're opportunities to educate and call for action. Guests include Alex Wellerstein (Nuclear Weapons...
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Nagasaki: On the Other Side of Grief
It was only three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima that another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. In the years since, those impacted have been able to transform grief into a lasting legacy through their stories and art. Guests include Dr. Masao Tomonaga (Nagasaki Hibakusha and former...
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Hiroshima: The Story that Almost Wasn't
The Bomb. The Aftermath. The Cover-up. And everything after. Guests include Dr. Yuki Miyamoto (DePaul University and second generation Hiroshima Hibakusha) and Lesley M.M. Blume (journalist, historian, and author of Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed it to the World).
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The Trinity Test: Sunny With a 100% Chance of Radiation
The US dropped the first atomic bomb on itself. And then they called it the Trinity Test. Guests include Tina Cordova (Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium), Mary Martinez White (Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium), and Dr. Joseph Shonka (Senior health physicist and nuclear engineer).
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Fact, Fiction, Film
Does Oppenheimer have a post-credit scene? Yes, and you're living it. Hosts Angela Kellett and Jacqueline Hsing review Christopher Nolan's film Oppenheimer and discuss what's fact, what's fiction, and what's missing from the narrative.
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The Shadow of Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is officially out, so it's time to travel back to 1945 and examine who was left behind in the pursuit of a false sense of security. This story starts with one man: J. Robert Oppenheimer. But the people affected total in the millions. And the fallout of that…
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How Many People Have to Die From Nuclear Weapons Until We Get It?
This week, Tina Cordova, co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinder Consortium and sixth-generation native New Mexican, has the microphone in the final episode of this season. In this conversation with Ploughshares Fund President Emma Belcher, Tina Cordova discusses the financial damage that…
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History Repeating Itself: Hanford Downwinders and Fukushima Daiichi Downwinders (Part Two)
Continue hearing the story of Hanford and Fukushima Daiichi downwinders with Trisha Thompson Pritikin and Dr. Yuki Miyamoto. In part two of this conversation, they discuss the generational health effects passed down from radiation exposure and the litigation process the Fukushima Daiichi...
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History Repeating Itself: Hanford Downwinders and Fukushima Daiichi Downwinders (Part One)
This week, Trisha Thompson Pritikin and Dr. Yuki Miyamoto have the microphone. In part one of this conversation, they discuss the parallels between the Hanford and the Fukushima Daiichi downwinders, and how radioactive iodine can impact the body. Trisha Thompson Pritikin is a Hanford Downwinder…
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Turning Words Into Action
This week, Jasmine Owens from the Physicians for Social Responsibility has the microphone. In past episodes, we've discussed how nuclear frontline communities are often indigenous or comprised mainly of people of color. Jasmine Owens goes beyond these conversations to answer the overarching...
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Nuclear Weapons are the Ultimate Colonizers
This week, Mari Faines from Global Zero and Haleema Saadia, Lecturer at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML), have the microphone. It's not often discussed how racism intersects with our security priorities and how more often than not they are set at the expense of people of color....
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Holding the Government Accountable for its Nuclear Legacy
This episode, Lilly Adams, senior outreach coordinator at the Union of Concerned Scientists and co-founder of Nuclear Voices has the microphone. Lilly Adams is one of the many advocates who are bringing voices impacted by nuclear weapons to light and pushing for legislation to address these…
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Marshall Islands: A Fourth of the Nation in Arkansas
This week, Benetick Kabua Maddison, Executive Director of Marshallese Educational Initiative, has the microphone. More than 15,000 Marshallese live in northwest Arkansas — the largest community of Marshallese people outside the Marshall Islands. Benetick Kabua Maddison discusses how the United...
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Under the Clouds of Radiation
On this week's episode, Mary Dickson, a radiation-exposed person harmed by nuclear testing, has the microphone. She discusses the lack of visibility that many downwinders face, the physical and mental toll caused by having to continuously advocate for oneself and others, and why the fight for...
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Climate Change isn't a Distant Threat for the Marshall Islands
This week, the microphone is passed to Selina Leem, climate change activist and Marshall Islands native. From 1946-1958, the US detonated 67 atomic bombs on the Marshall Islands, resulting in disastrous health, environmental, and cultural consequences that the Marshallese people are still…
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Taking Back the Narrative
This season on Press the Button, we're handing the microphone to members of communities impacted by nuclear weapons so they can share their stories and their experiences the way they want to tell it. This episode features Shampa Biswas, Professor of Politics at Whitman College and a 2022...
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Episode 200: Ukraine Special Report
February marked the one-year anniversary of Russia's brutal and unjust invasion of Ukraine. In this special report, Tom Collina sits down with Rose Gottemoeller, former Deputy Secretary General of NATO, to talk about the New START Treaty and Russia's move to suspend the treaty. Alex Hall also…
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China Spy Balloon is (Mostly) Hot Air
In early February, the world watched as a Chinese "spy balloon" floated across the United States, sparking a furor that led President Biden to postpone a high-level US visit to Beijing. This week, Tom Collina talks with Sahil Shah, senior fellow and program manager at the Council on Strategic...
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The Legacy of Beatrice Fihn
After nine years as Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Beatrice Fihn is stepping down. She talks with Ploughshares President Emma Belcher to reflect on her time leading the organization, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and her…
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90 Seconds to Midnight
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists' have set this year's clock at 90 seconds to midnight — the closest to midnight it has ever been. Why is the clock so close to midnight and how do we come back from the brink? To answer these questions, Tom Collina talks with Dr. Rachel Bronson, President and CEO...
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Two Years of Biden's Foreign Policy
We're now halfway through the Biden Administration's first term, so it's time to take stock of the Administration's national security and nuclear policies. Tom Collina sits down with Matt Duss, former foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders and visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment...
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Russia's Long Game in the War
As the war in Ukraine spills from 2022 into 2023, Tom Collina sits down with Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon, PhD student from the University of Pennsylvania, to discuss ongoing developments. She talks about what's happening in the war in Ukraine right now, what we could expect in the coming year, and...
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North Korea's Nuclear New Year
To start off the new year, Tom Collina sits down with Ankit Panda, Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the author of Kim Jong Un and the Bomb: Survival and Deterrence in North Korea. He discusses Kim's plans to increase the...
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2022 Year in Review
…and that's a wrap! Join co-hosts Tom Collina and Lauren Billet as they cover their favorite interviews and stories from the past year. And as an end of the year treat, enjoy a highlight reel that takes you through some of the biggest stories quote by quote.
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Debating Deterrence
Since invading Ukraine, Russian President Vladmir Putin has relied on nuclear threats to deter Western intervention and signal his commitment to this war. Ploughshares Fund President Dr. Emma Belcher talks with Dr. Heather Williams, director of the Project on Nuclear Issues and a senior fellow in...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Nuclear weapons aren't just a national security issue; they are also a human rights issue. Building a safer future requires an examination of past and present nuclear policy. NukeTalk investigates nuclear weapons policy by looking at the human impact of nuclear weapons. And brings the stories of those affected to you. NukeTalk is hosted by Ploughshares.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does NukeTalk have?
NukeTalk currently has 150 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is NukeTalk about?
Nuclear weapons aren't just a national security issue; they are also a human rights issue. Building a safer future requires an examination of past and present nuclear policy. NukeTalk investigates nuclear weapons policy by looking at the human impact of nuclear weapons. And brings the stories of...
How often does NukeTalk release new episodes?
NukeTalk publishes regularly with 150 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to NukeTalk?
You can listen to NukeTalk on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts NukeTalk?
NukeTalk is created and hosted by Ploughshares.
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