The Skeptics Society & Skeptic magazine

Michael Shermer discusses escalating tensions in the Middle East, highlighting the U.S. deployment of the USS Georgia submarine as a deterrent to Iran. He also addresses Ukraine’s incursion into Russia and the potential nuclear response from Putin. Shermer explores nuclear annihilation, deterrence theory, and evolutionary origins of moral emotions, emphasizing the need to reduce nuclear stockpiles and stigmatize nuclear weapon ownership.

Shermer and Jacobsen discuss: why we have a nuclear triad • competition among military forces • increasing budgets for more weapons • types and quantities of nuclear weapons • why humans engage in aggression, violence, and war • The Prisoner’s dilemma, Hobbesian trap, Security Dilemma, the “other guy” problem • Balance of Terror, Mutual Assured Destruction, Logic of Deterrence • close calls • surviving a nuclear explosion • what happens in a nuclear bomb explosion • consequences of a nuclear…

In episode 155 of The Michael Shermer Show, Dr. Shermer speaks with Martin Sherwin, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, about his new book Gambling with Armageddon, the definitive history of the Cuban Missile Crisis and its potential for nuclear holocaust, in a wider historical narrative of the Cold War — how such a crisis arose, and why at the very last possible moment it didn‘t happen.

In episode 155 of The Michael Shermer Show, Dr. Shermer speaks with Martin Sherwin, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, about his new book Gambling with Armageddon, the definitive history of the Cuban Missile Crisis and its potential for nuclear holocaust, in a wider historical narrative of the Cold War — how such a crisis arose, and why at the very last possible moment it didn‘t happen.

In SPAS-005, the researchers asked, “Do attitudes about language differ by political party affiliation?” PLUS: On the 75th anniversary of nuclear weapons, Dr. Michael Shermer presents a moral case for their use in ending WWII and the deterrence of Great Power wars since, and a call to eventually eliminate them.

On the 75th anniversary of nuclear weapons, Dr. Michael Shermer presents a moral case for their use in ending WWII and the deterrence of Great Power wars since, and a call to eventually eliminate them.

The Bomb is Fred Kaplan’s definitive history of American policy on nuclear war — and Presidents’ actions in nuclear crises — from Truman to Trump. Kaplan takes us into the White House Situation Room, the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s “Tank” in the Pentagon, and the vast chambers of Strategic Command to bring us the untold stories — based on exclusive interviews and previously classified documents — of how America’s presidents and generals have thought about, threatened, broached, and just barely…

In Science Salon # 107 Michael Shermer speaks with Fred Kaplan about his book The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Sacred History of Nuclear War. PLUS, find out who believes in conspiracies and why, and read real conspiracy theories (and conspiracies with no theories) in the latest issue of Skeptic magazine, available now in print and digital formats.

In Science Salon # 80, Michael Shermer speaks with Bryan Walsh about his brand new book End Times in which he provides a stunning panoramic view of the most catastrophic threats to the human race.

In Science Salon # 80, Michael Shermer speaks with Bryan Walsh about his brand new book End Times in which he provides a stunning panoramic view of the most catastrophic threats to the human race.