Eric Schlosser: Uncovering nuclear weapons history from the ground up

In this interview, author and investigative journalist Eric Schlosser talks with the Bulletin about his recently published book Command and Control. He explains why he decided to tell the history of America’s nuclear arsenal “from the bottom up,” largely through interviews with ordinary people who were tasked with developing and safely deploying nuclear weapons. Schlosser describes some of the safety issues that have plagued the nuclear weapons program, and he expresses frustration that many government documents exposing these very issues—some dating as far back as the Cold War—have not yet been made public. He recommends increased spending on training and maintenance of aging nuclear weapons, but says that the main purpose of his book is not to push a particular policy but rather to encourage public debate about nuclear weapons and to raise questions about their current military purpose.