Culture and Nuclear Weapons

If we change our cultural conceptions of nuclear weapons, we can make the world safer from nuclear threats.

The dangers of nuclear weapons are rarely communicated in a way that is compelling and accessible, despite the fact that these risks affect us all. At Ploughshares Fund, we are exploring the power of media, technology, and popular culture to change perceptions and attitudes. Learn more about our Cultural Change Initiative here.

Latest News, Analysis and Explorations of Culture and Nuclear Weapons

  • ‘the bomb’ Will Debut On Netflix Worldwide On August 1st

    Following triumphant screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival, the Berlin Film Festival, and at the Glastonbury Festival, the bomb — funded in part by Ploughshares Fund — makes its Netflix worldwide debut on August 1st....

    July 27, 2017 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

    The July 7 adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by 122 nations at the United Nations in New York was an historic event. For the first time since the introduction of the atomic bomb in 1945, nuclear weapons — like biological and chemical weapons — are now banned by a...

    July 10, 2017 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • VIDEO: Barbara Hall, creator of Madam Secretary

    On June 5, Barbara Hall, creator of the acclaimed television series, Madam Secretary, spoke at our Chain Reaction 2017 event featuring Secretary of State John Kerry. She spoke about the show's relationship with real world events, and told a remarkable story about a real "Madam Secretary...

    July 10, 2017 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • Interview: Dr. Vincent Intondi

    At Ploughshares Fund, we support emergent expert voices as a way of injecting fresh ideas into nuclear arms control and educating the public about nuclear weapons. As part of that commitment, we have created an interview series in which up-and-coming researchers, particularly in the humanities...

    April 28, 2017 - By Anonymous
  • March for Science against nuclear threats

    Climate change and nuclear weapons are the two greatest human-made threats to all living things on our planet. This is not an opinion. It is science, pure and simple. But now, just 3 months into Donald Trump's presidency, evidence-based policies and actions that keep the planet and...

    April 21, 2017 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • Women for America, for the World (1986)

    To mark Women's HIstory Month we've excavated "Women - for America, for the World" (1986). This 30 minute documentary film features 22 prominent American women from all walks of life discussing what motivates their activism seeking the end of the Cold War-era nuclear arms race. In the film,...

    March 3, 2017 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • Culture, North Korea and Nuclear Impasse

    At Ploughshares Fund, we support emergent expert voices as a way of injecting fresh ideas into nuclear security and educating the public about nuclear weapons. As part of that commitment, we are beginning a new interview series in which up-and-coming researchers, particularly in the humanities...

    February 3, 2017 - By Anonymous
  • The Future of the Command and Control of Our Nuclear Weapons

    Right now the world faces two existential threats: climate change and nuclear weapons. While climate change gets a great deal of attention in the press, the grave danger posed by nuclear weapons is too often forgotten. And yet former Secretary of Defense Bill Perry argues that the risk of a...

    November 9, 2016 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • US, Iran Religious Leaders: Nuclear Weapons ‘Immoral’

    Back in March 2014, a delegation of US bishops made a historic visit to Qom, Iran and held a meeting with Iranian religious leaders. On November 17, an audience at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC will have the chance to hear firsthand what they discussed in Qom,...

    November 3, 2016 - By Will Lowry
  • Beyond Clinton or Trump: Nuclear Weapons and Democracy

    In November, US citizens will head to the ballot box to elect a new president - yet among the American populace, the necessity of elections is increasingly up for debate. Data from the World Values Survey...

    September 27, 2016 - By Anonymous