Mackenzie Cater and Jack Brosnan of the Nuclear Threat Initiative share insights on a new survey that the Gender Champions in Nuclear Policy project conducted about the impacts of COVID-19 on the nuclear policy field. On Early Warning: Zia Mian, physicist and co-director of Princeton University's Program on Science and Global Security, helps us understand the complicated legacy of the late Abdul Qadeer Khan, who is regarded as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb. Final Warning: Press the Button Live is on Thursday, October 21.

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Tested by Crisis

Join us for Press the Button LIVE: Nuclear Policy in the Biden Administration and Beyond. Thursday, October 21, 11am-1pm PT / 1-3pm CT / 2-4pm ET – LIVE ON ZOOM. Featured speakers include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Chairman Adam Smith of the House Armed Services Committee; Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA-17). Ploughshares Fund President Emma Belcher featured interview with Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer. On Early Warning with Tom Collina: Lilly Adams, Ben Rhodes, Dr. Jane Vaynman, Jon Wolfsthal. “Out of the Silo,” with Michelle Dover include panelists Joan Rohlfing and Dr. Katlyn Turner. Register at ploughshares.org  

Join Press the Button LIVE: Thursday October 21!

London-based Sahil Shah, a policy fellow at the European Leadership Network, discusses with Michelle Dover all things nuclear coming from a transatlantic perspective. They cover the recent US-Russian dialogue, what that means for the New START Treaty and the prospects for the JCPOA and Europe's role in those discussions. On Early Warning: Sina Toossi of the National Iranian American Council discusses with Tom Collina how Iranians have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and how the Biden administration can help with a pledge to vaccinate people in Iran and around the world.

Strategic Stability

Shannon Bugos at the Arms Control Association is co-author of a new report called “The Allure and Risks of Hypersonic Weapons.” She goes in depth with Michelle Dover on the state of development for hypersonic missiles around the world and what we can do to reduce these threats. On Early Warning: Colleen Moore of Women Cross DMZ discusses North Korea’s recent missile tests, prospects for US-North Korean talks and what the renewed travel ban means for families.

Hyping Hypersonics

Andrew Bacevich, President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, discusses the chain of command on the nuclear launch procedure during the end of the Trump administration. On Early Warning: Dr. Jeffrey Lewis at the Middlebury institute of International Studies shares his take on the recent ouster of Leonor Tomero as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Missile Defense Policy at the Pentagon.

Strengthening our Nuclear Guardrails

Sarah Streyder, executive director of the Secure Families Initiative, joins Tom Collina to talk about the post-September 11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the effects on veterans and military families. On Early Warning, Dr. Emma Belcher offers her in-depth analysis on the new defense deal between the US, UK, and Australia that provides Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.

The Burden of Endless War

Barbara Slavin of the Atlantic Council talks with Tom Collina about the global war on terror. Slavin shares a perspective on the opportunity costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and its impact on US policies and relationships with Iran and North Korea. On Early Warning, Alex Hall speaks with Zubaida Akbar, an Afghan human rights advocate and expert. They discuss the effects of the past 20 years of war on Afghan civilians and the impression the US and its allies left on the country and its people. Also: Press the Button goes live on October 21!

The War on Terrorism

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.

20 Years of War

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.

Biden’s Nuclear Policy

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.

Securing the Nuclear Football

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.

Japan’s Nuclear Principles

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?

Clouds of Radiation

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.  

Behind the Ban Treaty

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.

Nuclear Wake Up Call

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.

Follow the Money

An engaging podcast on nuclear policy and national security, Press the Button is co-hosted by defense experts Joe Cirincione and Michelle Dover of Ploughshares Fund, a global security foundation. This weekly podcast features top officials and experts discussing the latest developments on Iran, North Korea, nuclear weapons, military budgets and foreign policy. Press the Button offers diverse views on one of the most important issues of our time: preventing nuclear war. Have a question about nuclear issues that you’d like to hear answered on the podcast? Email us at pressthebutton@ploughshares.org.

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