Ploughshares Stories

Amazon’s Fallout returns December 16, dropping us back into a world shaped entirely by nuclear catastrophe. The series may be darkly funny and wildly stylized, but at its core, it’s about something very real: what happens when nuclear weapons are used, what survives—and what doesn’t. Whether you’re new to the show or returning for Season…

In the final issue of the Atomic Alchemy zine series, Jasmine Owens explores the explores the “infinite possibilities of nuclear weapons abolition” and fostering courage in the face of discrimination and violence. Atomic Alchemy Zine #4:“Freedom is the Horizon:” On the Infinite Possibilities of Nuclear Weapons Abolition Author Jasmine Owens Jasmine Owens is a nuclear…

Last week, on October 29, President Donald Trump announced via a late night post on his social media site Truth Social that the U.S. would “start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis [with other nations].” The post caused alarm among advocates and policymakers as experts quickly weighed in to read the tea leaves…

On October 24, 2025, Kathryn Bigelow’s new film, A House of Dynamite, releases on Netflix. The premiere follows a limited run in theaters, which rallied the nuclear threat reduction together to engage in the somewhat lost—but not totally forsaken—art of watching movies in community. I first watched A House of Dynamite at a sold-out theater…

What happens when we go to war with ourselves? We fight our brothers and our cousins and our mothers, our children, our friends, colleagues and mentors. What happens when we start to tear at the seams, breaking apart the bonds of trust and objective truth? We tear open all that is dear to us, and…

This interview was conducted by Taylor Barnes for Inkstick Media—a Ploughshares grantee.    A few years ago, I came across what folks in Utah call “the MX battle,” and ever since, I can’t unsee it. The reason I keep coming back to it is not just because it’s a rare success story in the peace…

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…

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…