Open-source intelligence (OSINT) and satellite imagery have changed the way civil organizations understand and evaluate nuclear arsenals and delivery systems — and the way governments interact with a changing balance of transparency and secrecy

Nuclear Inheritance Part 2: Ukraine and the Bomb

Aug 25th, 2022 32m 52s

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought us closer to nuclear escalation than ever in a post Cold War world. One major question hangs overhead: what if Ukraine had kept its nuclear arsenal after the USSR’s dissolution? Host Geoff Wilson spea

Nuclear Inheritance Part 1: Kazakhstan and Nuclear Testing

Jul 21st, 2022 32m 57s

What happens when a new country is born with nuclear weapons already within its borders? What happens when the legacy of nuclear testing takes place almost entirely within communities of color? And how do the answers to these questions get knit

The Future of Battlefield Nuclear Weapons

May 19th, 2022 32m 46s

Battlefield nuclear weapons — also called tactical or nonstrategic nuclear weapons — are a continuing topic of conversation in the halls of Congress and inside the Pentagon following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But what are they, are they nec

Rethinking Security in the Post-9/11 World

Sep 10th, 2021 31m 29s

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, a day that changed the trajectory of world history in ways that we are still coming to terms with. In this special episode of Nukes of Hazard, host Geoff Wilson talks to the Ce

China's Nuclear Buildup and the Case for Dialogue

Aug 18th, 2021 38m 46s

There is a rising clamor among top U.S. policymakers pushing for more military spending to confront China. Recent discoveries of new nuclear missile silos being built in China have only added fuel to the fire. But will China’s actions really ch

Footballs, Biscuits and America's Nuclear Monarchy

Jan 15th, 2021 40m 20s

Inauguration Day means it's almost time for the nuclear football to shift from one president to another. But how does that work, exactly? And in a country built on a system of checks and balances, why does the President of the United States hav

2020 Mailbag Special Episode

Dec 21st, 2020 38m 44s

You asked, we answered! In our annual year-end mailbag podcast episode, host Geoff Wilson and Senior Policy Director Alexandra Bell take on listener-submitted questions, covering topics such as the future of nuclear policy under a Biden adminis

The President and the Nuclear Button

Sep 25th, 2020 33m 50s

With the 2020 presidential election looming large, it’s a good time to take a look at the absolute power the President of the United States has over U.S. nuclear weapons. Policy Analyst and Host Geoff Wilson sat down with Dr. Alex Wellerstein,

75 Years Later: the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima

Aug 5th, 2020 45m 52s

August 6 marks the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, followed three days later by the bombing of Nagasaki, on August 9th. In this special episode, Nukes of Hazard host Geoff Wilson narrates a selection from John Hersey’s Hiro

Survivor of 1988 Chemical Weapons Attack Shares His Story

Jul 20th, 2020 32m 44s

Mariwan Hama was 8 years old when he was a victim of a chemical weapons attack. It was 1988, during the closing days of the Iran-Iraq War, and the Iraqi military gassed ethnic Kurdish civilians in their own country with a lethal cocktail of mus

Down the Rabbit Hole: Planning for Nuclear War

Mar 2nd, 2020 34m 24s

Since the beginning of the nuclear age, there have been hundreds of serious and well-drilled plans about how the United States would use nuclear weapons in war, with the express purpose of winning. But when a military plan calls for the use of

2019 Mailbag Special Episode

Dec 20th, 2019 23m 24s

For our last episode of the year, experts at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation answered listener-submitted questions on topics like how nuclear weapons are made, the situation in the Middle East, the prospects of reaching nuclea

Women in Nuclear Security

Sep 3rd, 2019 21m 28s

Women have been involved with U.S. nuclear weapons policy since before there were even nuclear weapons. Yet, women are still fighting hard for their place and their voice in this community. On this special episode of Nukes of Hazard, guest host

The Human Cost of the Hiroshima Bombing

Aug 6th, 2019 31m 35s

Kathleen Burkinshaw's mother was 12 years old when she survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Now 74 years later, the author of "The Last Cherry Blossom" shares her mother's story and explains how remembering the human cost of nuclear weapon

Why Don’t Americans Talk About Their Nukes Anymore?

Jul 26th, 2019 23m 37s

Many Americans believe the “nuclear issue” was solved when the Cold War ended. Yet, there are still 14,000 nuclear weapons around the world today in the arsenals of nine countries. The United States alone currently maintains an arsenal of more

Will the Real Godzilla Please Stand Up

Jun 7th, 2019 27m 16s

Almost everyone has heard of Godzilla, even if they’ve never seen a Godzilla movie. What most people don’t know is the famous monster’s connection to nuclear weapons. Sixty-five years and 35 movies after its 1954 debut, Godzilla is still a main

Bonus Episode: Ankit Panda on India's Anti-Satellite Test

Apr 18th, 2019 18m 46s

At the end of March, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India had successfully shot down one of its own satellites with an anti-satellite weapon. We spoke with Ankit Panda to break down the test and what it means for broader sec

Star Wars: The Phantom Interceptor

Apr 3rd, 2019 33m 22s

At the launch of his Administration's Missile Defense Review, President Trump declared that his goal is to intercept enemy missiles "anywhere, anytime, anyplace." In the nuclear world, that sounded a lot like President Reagan's nearly 40-year-o

Trumping Reagan's Nuclear Legacy

Dec 20th, 2018 29m 56s

President Trump has announced that the United States will withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a landmark agreement negotiated by President Ronald Reagan in 1987. This episode dives into the consequences of the deci

50 Years Later

Aug 10th, 2018 18m 27s

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy feared that 25 countries could possess nuclear weapons by the 1970's. Today, nine countries have them. Many experts attribute this to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), an agreement that turns 50 this year. W

The Art of Violating the Deal

May 11th, 2018 22m 15s

President Trump announced he would withdraw from and openly violate U.S. commitments under the Iran Deal. We speak with nuclear expert Joe Cirincione and Iran expert Barbara Slavin about the impacts of this catastrophic decision.Music: www.be

Trump's New Nukes

Feb 2nd, 2018 26m 2s

The Trump Administration has just released its Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), a document that calls for new nuclear capabilities and shatters a decades-old bipartisan consensus that reduced the role of nuclear weapons in American national securi

The Nuclear Triad

Dec 21st, 2017 24m 30s

"The Nuclear Triad" defines the three strategic delivery systems in the U.S. nuclear arsenal: land-based missiles, submarine-based missiles, and weapons delivered via heavy bombers. As the United States is set to spend over $1 trillion sustaini

Decertifying Without Cause

Oct 16th, 2017 18m 37s

Citing no substantive evidence, President Trump announced that he would not certify the Iran nuclear agreement, setting up a 60-day window for Congress to potentially re-impose nuclear-related sanctions against Iran. This episode dives into why