Ploughshares Stories
Atomic Alchemy Issue #3: Prepare, For We Are In a Battle Over Building Dreams of a Better Tomorrow
In the penultimate issue of the Atomic Alchemy zine series, Jasmine Owens explores the weaponization of our fear as fuel for nuclear necropolitical status quo, and the power of radical imagination in the struggle for liberation. Atomic Alchemy Zine #3: “Prepare, For We Are In a Battle Over Building Dreams of a Better Tomorrow” Author…
80 Years Later: Honor the Memory, End the Threat
August 6 and 9 respectively mark 80 years since the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing over 200,000 people and unleashing generations of suffering. An estimated 38,000 children died in the attacks, many from the immediate impact of the bombs, others from the long-term health effects of radiation. In a moving testament…
Dr. Emma Belcher at Nobel Laureate Assembly: Communicating Nuclear Risk – VIDEO
On July 16, Ploughshares President Dr. Emma Belcher spoke on a panel alongside W.J. Hennigan of The New York Times and Nobel Laureate Jody Williams, moderated by Outrider Foundation President & CEO Robert K. Elder. The panel was part of the Nobel Laureate Assembly for the Prevention of Nuclear War in Chicago, IL, coinciding with…
New Approaches for the Anti-Nuclear Movement
These are hard times for individuals and organizations seeking to reduce the risk of a nuclear confrontation. The dangers of a nuclear conflict are increasing, but public awareness of the risks we face is at a low ebb. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday clock, an annual expert assessment of the risk of a…
Eighty Years After Trinity: A Legacy of Fallout & Building the Movement Forward
In the early hours of July 16, 1945, the United States detonated the first atomic bomb—known as the Trinity test—in the Jornada del Muerto desert of New Mexico, marking the dawn of the nuclear age, altering the course of history, and unleashing radioactive fallout across unsuspecting communities. Hispanic and Indigenous residents of downwind towns, like…
Historic Expansion of RECA Passes in Reconciliation Bill
In a historic and hard-fought victory for communities harmed by U.S. nuclear weapons testing, waste, and uranium exposure, Congress has passed the largest expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) since its original enactment in 1990. RECA provided compensation to individuals with serious illnesses resulting from radiation exposure from nuclear testing and uranium work.…
El Sol: A Nuclear Fallout-Inspired Video Game to Engage Gen Z in Nuclear Disarmament
Nuclear disarmament is a topic not widely discussed among people my age. I am in my mid twenties, and I am typically met with surprise when I bring up nuclear-related issues with my peers. My particular story as a Tularosa Basin Downwinder is often new information to the average person I talk to in America. …
Iranian Americans Mobilize Against War and Nuclear Catastrophe
Growing up as an Iranian American, the fact that the United States could go to war against Iran always cast a shadow in the background of my life. We had close calls during the Bush era, most famously epitomized in 2007 by the late Senator John McCain chanting to the beat of a popular Beach…
Atomic Alchemy Issue #2: Let It Burn: On Anger, Hope, and The Eternal Flames of Liberation
In the second zine for the Atomic Alchemy series, Jasmine Owens explores the parallels between rage and hope in the pursuit of liberation from injustice. Atomic Alchemy Zine #2: “Let It Burn: On Anger, Hope, and The Eternal Flames of Liberation” Author Jasmine Owens Jasmine Owens is a nuclear weapons abolitionist, writer, educator, organizer, and…
Why What We Don’t Know About Nuclear Weapons Spending Is a Problem
In 2020, ICAN published its first report on global nuclear weapons spending, and we continue to publish this research annually. In our most recent report released Friday, June 13, ICAN estimated that the nine nuclear-armed states spent over $100 billion on their nuclear arsenals in 2024—a new record and an increase of nearly $10 billion…