#192 – Annie Jacobsen on what would happen if North Korea launched a nuclear weapon at the US

#192 – Annie Jacobsen on what would happen if North Korea launched a nuclear weapon at the US

"Ring one: total annihilation; no cellular life remains. Ring two, another three-mile diameter out: everything is ablaze. Ring three, another three or five miles out on every side: third-degree burns among almost everyone. You are talking about people who may have gone down into the secret tunnels beneath Washington, DC, escaped from the Capitol and such: people are now broiling to death; people are dying from carbon monoxide poisoning; people who followed instructions and went into their basement are dying of suffocation. Everywhere there is death, everywhere there is fire.

"That iconic mushroom stem and cap that represents a nuclear blast — when a nuclear weapon has been exploded on a city — that stem and cap is made up of people. What is left over of people and of human civilisation." —Annie Jacobsen

In today’s episode, host Luisa Rodriguez speaks to Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author Annie Jacobsen about her latest book, Nuclear War: A Scenario.

Links to learn more, highlights, and full transcript.

They cover:

  • The most harrowing findings from Annie’s hundreds of hours of interviews with nuclear experts.
  • What happens during the window that the US president would have to decide about nuclear retaliation after hearing news of a possible nuclear attack.
  • The horrific humanitarian impacts on millions of innocent civilians from nuclear strikes.
  • The overlooked dangers of a nuclear-triggered electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack crippling critical infrastructure within seconds.
  • How we’re on the razor’s edge between the logic of nuclear deterrence and catastrophe, and urgently need reforms to move away from hair-trigger alert nuclear postures.
  • And plenty more.

Chapters:

  • Cold open (00:00:00)
  • Luisa’s intro (00:01:03)
  • The interview begins (00:02:28)
  • The first 24 minutes (00:02:59)
  • The Black Book and presidential advisors (00:13:35)
  • False alarms (00:40:43)
  • Russian misperception of US counterattack (00:44:50)
  • A narcissistic madman with a nuclear arsenal (01:00:13)
  • Is escalation inevitable? (01:02:53)
  • Firestorms and rings of annihilation (01:12:56)
  • Nuclear electromagnetic pulses (01:27:34)
  • Continuity of government (01:36:35)
  • Rays of hope (01:41:07)
  • Where we’re headed (01:43:52)
  • Avoiding politics (01:50:34)
  • Luisa’s outro (01:52:29)

Producer and editor: Keiran Harris
Audio engineering team: Ben Cordell, Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong
Additional content editing: Katy Moore and Luisa Rodriguez
Transcriptions: Katy Moore

Avsnitt(323)

#49 - Rachel Glennerster on a year's worth of education for 30c & other development 'best buys'

#49 - Rachel Glennerster on a year's worth of education for 30c & other development 'best buys'

If I told you it's possible to deliver an extra year of ideal primary-level education for under $1, would you believe me? Hopefully not - the claim is absurd on its face. But it may be true nonetheles...

20 Dec 20181h 35min

#48 - Brian Christian on better living through the wisdom of computer science

#48 - Brian Christian on better living through the wisdom of computer science

Please let us know if we've helped you: Fill out our annual impact survey Ever felt that you were so busy you spent all your time paralysed trying to figure out where to start, and couldn't get much ...

22 Nov 20183h 15min

#47 - Catherine Olsson & Daniel Ziegler on the fast path into high-impact ML engineering roles

#47 - Catherine Olsson & Daniel Ziegler on the fast path into high-impact ML engineering roles

After dropping out of a machine learning PhD at Stanford, Daniel Ziegler needed to decide what to do next. He’d always enjoyed building stuff and wanted to shape the development of AI, so he thought a...

2 Nov 20182h 4min

#46 - Hilary Greaves on moral cluelessness & tackling crucial questions in academia

#46 - Hilary Greaves on moral cluelessness & tackling crucial questions in academia

The barista gives you your coffee and change, and you walk away from the busy line. But you suddenly realise she gave you $1 less than she should have. Do you brush your way past the people now waitin...

23 Okt 20182h 49min

#45 - Tyler Cowen's case for maximising econ growth, stabilising civilization & thinking long-term

#45 - Tyler Cowen's case for maximising econ growth, stabilising civilization & thinking long-term

I've probably spent more time reading Tyler Cowen - Professor of Economics at George Mason University - than any other author. Indeed it's his incredibly popular blog Marginal Revolution that prompted...

17 Okt 20182h 30min

#44 - Paul Christiano on how we'll hand the future off to AI, & solving the alignment problem

#44 - Paul Christiano on how we'll hand the future off to AI, & solving the alignment problem

Paul Christiano is one of the smartest people I know. After our first session produced such great material, we decided to do a second recording, resulting in our longest interview so far. While challe...

2 Okt 20183h 51min

#43 - Daniel Ellsberg on the institutional insanity that maintains nuclear doomsday machines

#43 - Daniel Ellsberg on the institutional insanity that maintains nuclear doomsday machines

In Stanley Kubrick’s iconic film Dr. Strangelove, the American president is informed that the Soviet Union has created a secret deterrence system which will automatically wipe out humanity upon detect...

25 Sep 20182h 44min

#42 - Amanda Askell on moral empathy, the value of information & the ethics of infinity

#42 - Amanda Askell on moral empathy, the value of information & the ethics of infinity

Consider two familiar moments at a family reunion. Our host, Uncle Bill, takes pride in his barbecuing skills. But his niece Becky says that she now refuses to eat meat. A groan goes round the table; ...

11 Sep 20182h 46min

Populärt inom Utbildning

historiepodden-se
rss-bara-en-till-om-missbruk-medberoende-2
det-skaver
alska-oss
sektledare
nu-blir-det-historia
rss-viktmedicinpodden
harrisons-dramatiska-historia
not-fanny-anymore
allt-du-velat-veta
johannes-hansen-podcast
roda-vita-rosen
rss-max-tant-med-max-villman
i-vantan-pa-katastrofen
sa-in-i-sjalen
rss-sjalsligt-avkladd
rss-basta-livet
sex-pa-riktigt-med-marika-smith
vi-gar-till-historien
rss-beratta-alltid-det-har