The Reason We’re All Still Here

By: Jeffrey Lewis
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  • Summary

  • Far too often, governments behave like toddlers. They’re fickle. They don’t like to share. And good luck getting them to pay attention to any problem that isn’t directly in front of them. They like to push each other to the brink, and often do. But when they don’t, it’s usually because other people enter the proverbial room. Private citizens who step up and play peacemaker when their governments won’t or can’t. People who strive for collaboration and understanding, and sometimes end up finding it in unlikely places. Those people and the work they do, they’re the reason we’re all still here. This season, we’ll hear from scientists, analysts, and idealists who have gone to crazy lengths just for a shot at making peace and building understanding From smoke-filled rooms in North Korea to secret labs in the Soviet Union… to the lawless seas, and even to the depths of outer space (or, at least, the conference rooms where they talk about the depths of outer space). This podcast tells the stories about the people holding us back from the brink. Hosted by ​​Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, a professor and scholar at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies on the Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies faculty. Previously, he served as Director of the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative at the New America Foundation and Executive Director of the Managing the Atom Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. He is the founder of ArmsControlWonk.com, a leading resource on disarmament, arms control and nonproliferation issues. Produced by Gilded Audio and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
    © 2020 Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
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Political Science
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Episodes
  • Live Bonus Episode

    Live Bonus Episode
    Nov 1 2023

    The United States Library of Congress selected Dr. Strangelove as one of the first 25 films in the National Film Registry. As we approach the 60th anniversary of Dr. Strangelove (in Jan 2024), our live podcast panel takes a critical look at the dark comedy and reveals how the satire is uncomfortably realistic, even to this day. Using dialogue from the film as prompts, our panel explains to listeners its historical references and draws parallels to today’s international diplomatic landscape.
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    49 mins
  • Signs for the Future

    Signs for the Future
    Oct 25 2023

    Some questions fall far outside the scope of what governments are designed to answer. How will we explain ourselves to extraterrestrials? What can we say to warn humans 10,000 years in the future about the nuclear waste we’re leaving behind? Assuming we develop the proper technology, would it be beneficial to breed glowing cats?

    Two decades after NASA shot a message to aliens into deep space, one of its authors joined an eclectic group of experts and went down a similar rabbit hole regarding nuclear waste. The result was one of the most outlandish, mind-bending, and heartfelt reports ever commissioned by the US government.

    This episode features artist Jon Lomberg, former NRDC lawyer Dan Reicher, and futurist Ted Gordon.
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    40 mins
  • An Illegal Floating City

    An Illegal Floating City
    Oct 18 2023

    Fishermen dying mysteriously off the coast of Japan. Entire populations of sea animals disappearing. Despite decades of work by the international community, the high seas remain law enforcement’s biggest blind spot, and the site of environmental crimes whose effects reach around the world. But some people are attempting to stop these crimes: We follow the investigations of two private-citizen sleuths, one using satellites to expose massive but previously untraceable illegal fleets, another using spycraft to infiltrate a criminal network of poachers and smugglers operating on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

    This episode features Sara Mitchell, professor of political science at the University of Iowa; as well as Jaeyoon Park of Global Fishing Watch and Andrea Crosta, founder and Executive Director of Earth League International.
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    32 mins

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