Lloyd Austin's hospitalization and delayed communication about it have spurred much commentary and questions about the role of the secretary of defense in the US nuclear-strike chain of command.
David Priess spoke with Hans Kristensen, Director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, about his path to expertise on nuclear issues, the chain of command for nuclear strike authorization (and recent comments from elected representatives that misunderstand it), alternatives to the current system, fictional scenarios of nuclear launches, what is known about different nuclear states' authorization processes, the "letters of last resort" for UK nuclear submarines, deterrence and human psychology, and more.
Among the works mentioned in this episode:
The TV movie The Day After
The movie WarGames
The movie The Bedford Incident
The music video for "Land of Confusion" by Genesis
The movie Dr. Strangelove
The movie Fail Safe
The movie The Man Who Saved the World
The movie A Few Good Men
"Finger on the Button," paper by Jeffrey G. Lewis and Bruno Tertais, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
The book The Dead Hand by David Hoffman
The movie Crimson Tide
Chatter is a production of Lawfare and Goat Rodeo. This episode was produced and edited by Cara Shillenn of Goat Rodeo. Podcast theme by David Priess, featuring music created using Groovepad.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Justin Sherman on Senator Wyden’s Investigation of Near Intelligence Inc.
The Justices Figure Out that Internet Law Is Hard
How Much Trouble is NATO Really In? with Scott R. Anderson
Rational Security: The “Fast and the Furry-us” Edition
Trump’s Trials and Tribulations: Delays in Florida and D.C.
Lawfare Archive: Alina Polyakova on the Poisoning of Alexei Navalny
Breaking Down the Fireworks in Fulton County
Chatter: President Biden’s Foreign Policy with Alex Ward
Intimidation of State and Local Officeholders with Maya Kornberg
The Authoritarian Playbook in 2025
Joel Braunold on the State of the Gaza Crisis
Lawfare Archive: Christopher Moran on ‘Company Confessions: Secrets, Memoirs, and the CIA’
Rational Security: The “Licking the Cow” Edition
Trump’s Trials and Tribulations: A Wild and Woolly Week
Lawfare Archive: Jim Baker on FISA Errors
Itsiq Benizri on the EU AI Act
Chatter: Life and Death in Ukraine with Journalist Christopher Miller
Jonathan Cedarbaum and Matt Gluck on the NDAA’s Cyber Provisions
Constitutional Law, International Law, and the State
‘God, Guns, and Sedition’ with Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
It’s Complicated
Morning Joe
Today, Explained
The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
The Daily