Has the Risk of Nuclear War Been Normalized?
We talk about the anti-nuclear movement, the normalization of nuclear warfare, and what some experts hope to change about it.
September 15, 2025
55 min
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September 15, 2025
Has the Risk of Nuclear War Been Normalized?
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Has the Risk of Nuclear War Been Normalized?
Summary
Nuclear capabilities have increased dramatically over the past decade and continue to grow, with the U.S. Department of Defense spending $1.5 trillion on nuclear weapons and infrastructure upgrades. But the conversation around nuclear war has only gotten quieter. The anti-nuclear movement of the 1960s-80s was one of the largest protest movements of its time, with a million protesters marching in New York to demand an end to nuclear weapons. Yet the threat is rarely mentioned today. We’ll talk about the anti-nuclear movement, the normalization of nuclear warfare, and what some experts hope to change about that.
Guests:
Rivka Galchen, contributor, The New Yorker; her most recent article in The New Yorker is "Why Don't We Take Nuclear Weapons Seriously?"
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