Press the Button

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A new episode of Press the Button is available every Tuesday.

An engaging podcast on nuclear policy and national security, Press the Button is co-hosted by defense experts Joe Cirincione and Michelle Dover of Ploughshares Fund, a global security foundation. This weekly podcast features top officials and experts discussing the latest developments on Iran, North Korea, nuclear weapons, military budgets and foreign policy. Press the Button offers diverse views on one of the most important issues of our time: preventing nuclear war.

Read articles about episodes of Press the Button and subscribe today!

  • All Good Things

    All Good Things

    In a special episode of Press The Button, we announce the planned retirement of Ploughshares Fund president Joe Cirincione. “I'm going to step down as the president of Ploughshares Fund effective July 1st,” Cirincione told co-host Michelle Dover. “It's been a great thirteen years...

    February 3, 2020 - By Zack Brown
  • 100 Seconds to Midnight

    100 Seconds to Midnight

    “We are in a stage of total denial,” said Mary Robinson, the first female president of Ireland. “The Clock has moved nearer than ever - nearer than at the height of the Cold War.” Mary Robinson and Ban Ki-moon, former secretary-general of the United Nations, joined Press the Button...

    January 27, 2020 - By Zack Brown
  • Breaking Down Breakout

    Breaking Down Breakout

    “I’m concerned about the future of the nuclear deal,” said Kelsey Davenport, “but I’m not alarmed at this point.” Kelsey Davenport is the director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association and an expert on Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. She sat down with Ploughshares Fund...

    January 17, 2020 - By Zack Brown
  • Discussing the Iran Crisis

    Discussing the Iran Crisis

    Today on Early Warning, we are focusing on two questions. What do we know about the escalation we saw last week between the United States and Iran and what should we be doing about it now? Here to answer these questions are Kate Kizer, policy director at Win Without War, and Tom Collina, policy...

    January 15, 2020 - By Ploughshares Fund
  • The One Reason to Have Nukes

    The One Reason to Have Nukes

    Ivo Daalder knows one step the United States can take on its march towards a nuclear-free world. It’s stunningly simple: “You need to decide what you want for deterrence.” Daalder is the president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a former ambassador to NATO under President Barack...

    January 13, 2020 - By Zack Brown
  • War Is Not A Spectator Sport

    War Is Not A Spectator Sport

    “We can start with, quite simply, it’s really, really bad.” Stephen Miles, the executive director of Win Without War, sat down with Michelle Dover and Joe Cirincione for a rundown of the crisis with Iran following the US killing of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani. “I’ve been working on these issues...

    January 6, 2020 - By Zack Brown
  • Can the NPT Survive?

    Can the NPT Survive?

    The Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons is the bedrock of the nuclear security regime. At fifty years old, is it showing its age? “I think right now the treaty’s facing some real challenges,” Ambassador Susan Burk explained. “Part of that is that there has traditionally and...

    December 20, 2019 - By Zack Brown
  • Madam Secretary

    Madam Secretary

    “I do believe in American leadership,” former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told us. “But there’s nothing about the word ‘indispensable’ that says ‘alone.’ It just means we need to be engaged.” Secretary Albright sat down with Ploughshares Fund President Joe Cirincione to talk about...

    December 16, 2019 - By Zack Brown
  • Hollywood and the Bomb

    Hollywood and the Bomb

    “Audiences are not as dumb as you think they are,” said Kate Folb. “I’m sure everybody listening knows about some show you’ve watched or a movie you’ve watched where something was inaccurate and you are immediately taken out of the story.” “You immediately go, ‘Eh, that’s not true,” Folb...

    December 9, 2019 - By Zack Brown
  • Tough Lessons: Advice for the Next President

    Tough Lessons: Advice for the Next President

    Arms control expert Jeffrey Lewis had a stark suggestion on how much money the next president should take out of the nuclear modernization budget, currently set at roughly $2 trillion over the next three decades. “Every little bit,” he said. “Zero it.” “And everyone says, ‘Oh my God, people will...

    December 2, 2019 - By Zack Brown