Nuclear War, Annie Jacobsen and Disinformation

How nuclear weapons work:

The book, Nuclear War by Annie Jacobson was obviously written with the best disarmament intentions. However, the appearance on podcasts combined with the accessibility of the material may create a perfect opportunity for disinformation.

Disinformation actors may use the potential for nuclear war with Russia or China along with selections from the associated podcasts, to persuade people not to support Ukraine or Taiwan lest we be drawn into a nuclear war scenario.

By knowing this information it may be possible to prevent disinformation agents from using these tactics before it happens.

Special thanks to Cyabra for allowing me to use their software.

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[RyanMcBethProgramming]

How nuclear weapons work:

The book, Nuclear War by Annie Jacobson was obviously written with the best disarmament intentions. However, the appearance on podcasts combined with the accessibility of the material may create a perfect opportunity for disinformation.

Disinformation actors may use the potential for nuclear war with Russia or China along with selections from the associated podcasts, to persuade people not to support Ukraine or Taiwan lest we be drawn into a nuclear war scenario.

By knowing this information it may be possible to prevent disinformation agents from using these tactics before it happens.

Special thanks to Cyabra for allowing me to use their software.

For uncensored video, check out my substack at:

Like my shirts? Get your own at:

Want a personalized greeting:

Watch all of my long form videos:

Twitter:
@ryanmcbeth
Instagram:
@therealryanmcbeth
BlueSky
@ryanmcbeth
Reddit:
/r/ryanmcbeth

Join the conversation:

Want to send me something?
Ryan McBeth Productions LLC
8705 Colesville Rd.
Suite 249
Silver Spring, MD 20910
USA

[yakinthebox]

talking about bombs at the airport: ❌
talking about Nuclear bombs at the airport: ✅

[startupframes]

The more i watch this guy the more i'm convinced that he works for the pentagon

[MartijnBeekhuis]

Talking bombs at the airport. Tip to the hat Sir ;-)

[openmythirdeye]

One person has the power and sole authority with a 6 minute window to decide the world's fate. Whether others are using this as a tool or not doesn't change this chilling fact.

[MrKbtor]

Ryan only needs 1 take with no editing. That's how good he is.

[Car_Uma]

This video is disappointing.
I read the book and I found it fascinating, so I came here to see what I got wrong or how I had been misinformed.

Instead, there is some nonsense criticism about the lack of technical details regarding how a nuclear weapon works or how talking about nuclear war might lead to decreased funds for Ukraine (really, queen?), but absolutely nothing about all the hard facts that she refers to in the book, particularly to the recently declassified information regarding the US missile defense system, which I found particularly mind-boggling.

So I stand by my original assessment: the book is incredibly interesting, insightful, thorough, and absolutely terrifying. A must-read.

[wayausofbounds]

No matter how scary nuclear war is the US can't let nuclear war be a sword of Damocles. The more you push back on the little intimidations the more you prevent the pressure building. Push back on every provocation without pushing anyone into a corner. Give your opponent a series of dilemmas not problems.

[Angarsk]

I have to take it these people never stood up to a bully, they don't know that's the only way to PREVENT the bully from getting worse.

[jasonespinoza]

the fact that she's a journalist who wrote Tom Clancy fan fiction for amazon explains the popularity of her book and the reason I haven't heard of it or her until this video.

[vaughtjr]

i think a lot of people are missing the point of annie jacobsen’s book. the book was not written to explain in detail radiation itself or how nuclear weapons function on an atomic level. the book was also not written to make the case either for or against assistance for Ukraine. the book was written simply to give the average person a window into ONE possible nuclear war scenerio and the catastrophic impact that would have on humanity.

[LouisEdouardJacques]

Thank you Ryan. Preventing misinformation by explaining the way it works is better than calling for censorship.

[kilgoretrout]

Annie Jacobsen is a national treasure. Whatever u think of her new book, all of her other works are mandatory reading. The Pentagon s brain, area 51, first platoon, surprise kill vanish. Don't let this critique turn u off.

[Jcruises_]

I’m glad to see someone dropping real knowledge and not just dubious information.

[NateTrump]

You missed the mark here, Ryan.

Jacobsen is a journalist and does an excellent job staying in her lane, allowing key scientists to fill in the facts along the way.

Be careful to not allow your bias into your analysis — the only “misinformation” in Jacobsen’s discussion of nuclear weapons is that folks aren’t discussing nukes MORE, especially today with Ukraine.

[SuSpicious]

Love the airport chat about Nuclear War. lol

[Michaelzehr]

Fear is an incredibly powerful influence, but almost without fail a person who is trying to scare you is doing you a disservice. Minimum they are trying to take away your opportunity to make a decision, and turn it into a reaction. At worse they're trying to manipulate you.

Also caving into a bully does not reform the bully. It almost certainly makes the situation worse.

[jaygobolos]

Not one thing you said qualifies Jacobsen's book as disinformation.

[mattwhite]

I find it hard to take anyone who thinks large scale nuclear disarmament is realistic seriously. Any nation that has nuclear weapons has a pretty solid guarantee that it wont be invaded. You'd be foolish to give that up.

[marvinhadley]

Interesting analysis obviously slanted towards continuing the forever wars. I believe it is beneficial to remind modern society that we have this legacy material in our midst. I worked in the nuclear field from 1980 to my recent retirement and I didn’t take issue with Annie’s new book understanding that is not a nuclear science publication but a lucid simple explanation of that aforementioned legacy material that remains in our midst. Like everything else, the salt must be applied liberally to any journalistic, non-science publication (and associated media).