The Reason We’re All Still Here podcast

The Reason We’re All Still Here

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.

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.

 

#20

Live Bonus Episode

The United States Library of Congress selected Dr. Strangelove as one of the first 25 film... more

01 Nov 2023

49 MINS

49:11

01 Nov 2023


#19

Signs for the Future

Some questions fall far outside the scope of what governments are designed to answer. How ... more

25 Oct 2023

39 MINS

39:53

25 Oct 2023


#18

An Illegal Floating City

Fishermen dying mysteriously off the coast of Japan. Entire populations of sea animals dis... more

18 Oct 2023

31 MINS

31:53

18 Oct 2023


#17

The Leak from Compound 19

In February 2020, an elite group of biosecurity experts, worried about the threat of pande... more

11 Oct 2023

26 MINS

26:38

11 Oct 2023


#16

Ground Control to Space Junk

There are no international laws against littering in space, which is a shame, because indi... more

04 Oct 2023

28 MINS

28:24

04 Oct 2023


#15

Windmills in a North Korean Cabbage Patch

An arms-control advocate accepts an invitation to the dacha of a hard-partying North Korea... more

27 Sep 2023

35 MINS

35:59

27 Sep 2023


#14

Skinny-Dipping in the USSR

As the Cold War draws to a close, a group of American scientists hatches a plan to board a... more

20 Sep 2023

27 MINS

27:43

20 Sep 2023


#13

You’re Welcome (A Prologue)

If you’re reading this, and you’re not in some sort of irradiated, post-apocalyptic hellsc... more

13 Sep 2023

09 MINS

09:32

13 Sep 2023


#12

Introducing: The Reason We’re All Still Here

With the Iran nuclear deal dead as a doorknob, Jeffrey Lewis set out to make a new podcast... more

22 Aug 2023

02 MINS

02:46

22 Aug 2023


#11

Episode 5: The Worst Case Scenario (Almost)

The Deal tells the story of the Iran nuclear deal: how it came together, how it fell apart... more

17 Jul 2021

23 MINS

23:02

17 Jul 2021


#10

Episode 4: Stuxnet

The Deal tells the story of the Iran nuclear deal: how it came together, how it fell apart... more

23 Jun 2021

17 MINS

17:26

23 Jun 2021


#9

Episode 3: Safeguards

If we held inspections  and action-movie style violence to the same standard, we’d see tha... more

11 Jun 2021

18 MINS

18:15

11 Jun 2021


#8

Episode 2: Nuclear Rx

The Deal tells the story of the Iran nuclear deal: how it came together, how it fell apart... more

23 Mar 2021

14 MINS

14:44

23 Mar 2021


#7

Episode 1: What Is Past Is Prologue

The Deal tells the story of the Iran nuclear deal: how it came together, how it fell apart... more

22 Feb 2021

22 MINS

22:12

22 Feb 2021


#6

Episode 5: The Power to Hurt

It could happen again. Content warning: This episode refers to Islamophobic sentiments in... more

13 Oct 2020

23 MINS

23:09

13 Oct 2020


#5

Episode 4: The Unraveling

In 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes the claim that “Iran lied,” and t... more

29 Sep 2020

23 MINS

23:43

29 Sep 2020


#4

Episode 3: The Scientists

American Secretary of Energy Dr. Ernie Moniz and Dr. Ali Salehi, director of the Atomic En... more

22 Sep 2020

27 MINS

27:19

22 Sep 2020


#3

Episode 2: The Backchannel

An international crisis is a little like a relay race. In 2011, the baton passes into the ... more

15 Sep 2020

23 MINS

23:09

15 Sep 2020


#2

Episode 1: The Revelation

In 2002, Corey Hinderstein, a young research analyst, follows a hunch after a routine pres... more

08 Sep 2020

29 MINS

29:10

08 Sep 2020


#1

The Deal: Coming Soon

The Deal tells the story of the Iran nuclear deal: how it came together, how it fell apart... more

10 Aug 2020

02 MINS

02:20

10 Aug 2020