Carl Robichaud is the first person I go to on the topic of nuclear weapons. He has been working as a grantmaker and analyst of nuclear weapons policy for close to two decades. He co-leads nuclear security grantmaking at Longview Philanthropy, where I used to work as a media consultant. Prior to Longview, Carl led nuclear grantmaking for the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

We recently saw Oppenheimer together and decided to have a discussion about the film, the real history, and nuclear weapons more broadly.

This episode is being released on the 78th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. The Nagasaki bombing happened just three days later, after the Japanese emperor had already secretly decided to surrender. As we discuss, the fact that nuclear weapons have not been used in war in the nearly eight decades since should be seen as a remarkable achievement, or a sign of extreme luck.

We have a spoiler-filled discussion of the new film Oppenheimer and the real history until 31:12, in case you’d like to skip ahead.

We discuss:

Alternatives to bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The controversial development of the hydrogen bomb
Oppenheimer's retrospective feelings about the bomb
Health effects of nuclear tests
Why the world isn't totally full of nukes
Whether ICBMs can be justified while nuclear subs exist
Why the US won't commit to no first use
How arms control agreements help get out of traps
Ukraine and the possible breaking of the nuclear taboo
Would we all die
Near misses
Whether there's always a “guy in the chair”
What we should do
Aspiring for a world free of nuclear weapons
Calls to action
The decline of activist and philanthropic interest in nuclear weapons

Links:

34 - Carl Robichaud on Oppenheimer and Dealing with Nukes