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.

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Chatter: Nuclear Launch Authority in Myth and Reality, with Hans Kristensen

The Lawfare Podcast

Chatter: Nuclear Launch Authority in Myth and Reality, with Hans Kristensen