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Stephen Schwartz

@atomicanalyst.bsky.social

15K followers 1.1K following 10K posts

Editor/Co-author, “Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of US Nuclear Weapons Since 1940” • Nonresident Senior Fellow, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists • Nuclear weapons expert (history, policy, costs, accidents) and tracker of the nuclear “Football.”

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · Jun 20

In the March 1981 issue of the @bulletinatomic.bsky.social, conflict resolution expert and Harvard Law School professor Roger Fisher described his “quite simple” idea to force US presidents to viscerally confront the lethal consequences of ordering a nuclear attack. books.google.com/books/about/...

An excerpt from Roger Fisher’s March 1981 article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, titled “Preventing Nuclear War”:

“My suggestion was quite simple: Put that needed code number in a little capsule, and then implant that capsule right next to the heart of a volunteer. The volunteer would carry a big, heavy butcher knife as he accompanied the president. If ever the president wanted to fire nuclear weapons, the only way he could do so would be for him, first, with his own hands, to kill one human being. The president says, ‘George, I’m sorry, but tens of millions must die.’ He has to look someone in the eye and realize what death is—what an innocent death is. Blood on the White House carpet. It’s reality brought home.

When I suggested this to friends in the Pentagon, they said, ‘My God, that’s terrible. Having to kill someone would distort the president’s judgment. He might never push the button.’”

White House Military Office Coast Guard aide Lt. Commander Woody Lee carrying the President Emergency Satchel (aka the “Football”) while walking next to President Ronald Reagan (who had recently undergone surgery on his left hand), near the White House, January 10, 1989.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 4h

But his autopen!

Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 6h

WSJ: President Trump believed his Truth Social post demanding prosecutions of James Comey and other political foes was a private message to his attorney general, and "and was surprised to learn it was public."

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

Supercritical (at least some of the time!).

Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

🤣 Well, he was a registered Democrat for most of his life …

Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

Three nuclear experts walk into a bistro ...

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

And then swiftly attacks the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee that selects the winner as radical left lunatics, loudly complains the prize was unfairly stolen from him, and denigrates the character and achievements of whomever is announced as the winner.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

Nope, it's news to me. But as it didn't involve nuclear weapons (and the plutonium was not for nuclear weapons), it's not something I would typically write about. Still, an interesting and revealing look at how lax the rules once were for transporting radioactive materials by commercial airliner.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

I've only followed the debate over the perils of AI in a general way, so this interview last night was tremendously illuminating and truly horrifying—particularly with regard to the extreme concentration of power and economic wealth if the AI lords get their way, and how AI is already going rogue.

Tristan Harris – The Dangers of Unregulated AI on Humanity & the Workforce | The Daily Show

YouTube video by The Daily Show

www.youtube.com

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

Details of "Arctic Frost" were oh-so-conveniently released by Kash Patel and Dan Bongino to Fox News and briefed to selected Senate Republicans yesterday afternoon:

Jack Smith tracked private communications, calls of nearly a dozen GOP senators during J6 probe, FBI says

EXCLUSIVE: Former Special Counsel Jack Smith allegedly was tracking the private communications and phone calls of nearly a dozen Republican Senators as part of his investigation into Jan. 6, Fox News ...

www.foxnews.com

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

This new adaptation of Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler's 1962 novel “will use a ‘faux-cinéma vérité approach’ to ‘reimagine what the world would look like today had the events in the book really happened in 1967, with the total nuclear annihilation of New York and Moscow.’”

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

In February, true crime aficionado Joe Berlinger announced he is remaking “Fail Safe,” combining “high-stakes international drama and classic documentary-style storytelling to reinvent the Cold War political thriller for new audiences.”

‘Paradise Lost’ Director Joe Berlinger to Helm Present-Day Reimagining of Cold War Thriller ‘Fail-Safe’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Emmy-winning director Joe Berlinger is set to adapt Cold War thriller 'Fail-Safe,' imagining the nuclear annihilation of New York and Moscow.

variety.com

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

Although “SAC Command Post” was meant to reassure, it elided significant nuclear safety and command and control problems, including the risks of 24/7 airborne alert, that bomber crews could make autonomous decisions to use nuclear weapons, and the predelegation of presidential nuclear use authority.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

For more about the production of “SAC Command Post” (which, although unclassified, was never publicly released; perhaps Strategic Air Command and the Air Force had second thoughts?), see this interesting and detailed 2010 report from the National Security Archive. nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nukevault/eb...

A screenshot of the linked National Security Archive website report, "The Air Force Versus Hollywood."

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

Meanwhile, SAC and the US Air Force were so concerned the fictional nuclear war scenarios depicted in this film and in “Dr. Strangelove” would undermine public support for nuclear deterrence that they produced their own film insisting there was no cause for any alarm. archive.org/details/AirF...

A color screenshot of the title card for the US Air Force film “SAC Command Post,” rendered in large white capital letters against a white-streaked blue background.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

“Fail Safe” from being made, the settlement called for Columbia Pictures, which was making and distributing “Dr. Strangelove” to acquire “Fail Safe,” which was an independent production. Kubrick then demanded Columbia release “Dr. Strangelove” first, which helped to bury “Fail Safe.”

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

Kubrick and George actually sued Burdick and Wheeler, their publisher, and the company that acquired the rights to the book, in an effort to stop production of “Fail Safe.” The suit was settled out of court, and although Kubrick couldn't stop ... books.google.com/books?id=oU8...

A photograph of the first page of an article in the March 8, 1963, edition of LIFE magazine titled “Everybody Blows Up!" about the making of “Dr. Strangelove” and “Fail Safe,” featuring a large black and white photograph of Sterling Hayden and Peter Sellers as General Jack D. Ripper and Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, respectively, in “Dr. Strangelove.”

The continuation of the “Everybody Blows Up!” article in LIFE, with photographs of Stanley Kubrick, Max Youngstein, Eugene Burdick, and Harvey Wheeler.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

Before deciding to make a comedy, Kubrick originally tried to adapt the 1958 novel “Red Alert” by Peter George (writing under the pseudonym Peter Bryant and originally titled “Two Minutes to Doom”). “Fail Safe” is an adaptation of the 1962 novel of the same name by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler.

A photograph of the cover of the Ace paperback edition of “Red Alert,” featuring the title in large red capital letters (above which is the line, “A novel of the first two hours of World War III”). Below the title is an illustration of two nuclear bombers streaking across a bright blue sky with stylized clouds.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

FUN FILM FACT: If Stanley Kubrick had gotten his way, “Fail Safe”—which opened in theaters a little more than eight months after his similarly-themed film “Dr. Strangelove” did—would never have been made, let alone released.

A color photograph of director Stanley Kubrick looking directly at a photographer while sitting next to a large camera in front of the "Big Board" on the War Room set of "Dr. Strangelove."

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

Here is the trailer for that remake:

Fail Safe (2000) - Trailer

YouTube video by TinselHollywoodTown

www.youtube.com

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

On April 9, 2000, CBS broadcast a live black-and-white remake of “Fail Safe” starring George Clooney, Richard Dreyfuss, Brian Dennehy, Harvey Keitel, Hank Azaria, Noah Wyle, Don Cheadle, Sam Elliott, James Cromwell, Norman Lloyd, and others. Although impressive, it did not improve on the original.

A black and white publicity photograph of the princpial cast of the CBS 2000 live remake of “Fail Safe.”

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

Don’t miss a 30-year-old Dom DeLuise in his small but important second film role as Sergeant Collins:

FAIL-SAFE - Dom DeLuise

YouTube video by le0pard13

www.youtube.com

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

Here is the original trailer for the film:

Fail Safe (1964)

YouTube video by TweeterFlix

www.youtube.com

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

Professor Groeteschele is a coldly calculating civilian adviser who urges the president, the secretary of defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to take advantage of a technical glitch to force the Soviet Union to surrender and thereby eliminate the communist threat to the United States and NATO.

Fail-Safe (1964) -- (Movie Clip) This Is Our Chance!

Knapp (Russell Collins), Colonel Cascio (Fritz Weaver) et al at missile command as the accidental American nuclear attack proceeds, Secretary Swenson (William Hansen) presiding in the war room, hawkis...

www.tcm.com

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

Today in 1964, “Fail Safe” opened in theaters in New York City.

“Don’t you see, sir, this our chance. We never would have made the first move deliberately, but Group 6 has made it for us, by accident. We must take advantage of it—history demands it!”

— Prof. Groeteschele (Walter Matthau)

An original one-sheet poster for “Fail Safe,” featuring the tag line, “The screen zeroes in on the most suspenseful adventure drama of our age!” Three quarters of the poster is an illustration with a red background, on top of which are multiple nuclear bombers flying left to right, as well as something that looks like a stylized destroyed skyscraper in the foreground. At the bottom are black and white photographs of many of the actors in the film in various scenes.

A full page advertisement in the October 7, 1964, edition New York Daily News for the film:

“Today Fail Safe Explodes on the Screen!”

The “T” in “Today” forms an arrow that points down to the bottom of the page. It overlaps a copy of the cover of the book on which the film is based, with the cover image shattering as if hit by something very powerful. At the bottom of the page is a listing inside a box of the various theaters where the film was showing, with a prominent note inside a smaller box above the top right corner: “No one seated during the last 10 minutes of feature!"

A black and white screenshot from the film of three men looking at a large display inside Strategic Air Command headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, showing the position of six US nuclear-armed bombers about to penetrate Soviet airspace.

A black and white screenshot from the film showing a conference room in the Pentagon. Multiple men in military uniforms, others in coats and ties, sit around both sides of a V-shaped table (with more men standing behind them) looking toward the camera with concern at an off-camera screen.

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 2d

What was on Donald Trump’s mind seven years ago tonight, one month before the 2018 midterm elections?

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Also, project and foreshadow much?

This tweet did not age well—just like Trump.

A tweet from Donald J. Trump, October 6, 2018, at 8:21 PM:

“You don’t hand matches to an arsonist and you don’t give power to an angry left-wing mob. Democrats have become too EXTREME and TOO DANGEROUS to govern. Republicans believe in the rule of law - not the rule of the mob. VOTE REPUBLICAN!”

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 2d

And yet there are still reality-challenged conspiracy-mongers who insist certain footage of the effects of US aboveground nuclear tests is fake because no camera or film could possibly withstand the force of the explosion.