As if 2024 couldn’t get any stranger, tensions in the Middle East have escalated after the United States sent one of its nuclear submarines to the Mediterranean to signal to Iran that it had better think twice about attacking Israel. That submarine, the Ohio-class USS Georgia, is equipped with non-nuclear cruise missiles.

But 14 of our 18 Ohio-class submarines are equipped with nuclear missiles – each submarine has in its belly the nuclear equivalent of all the bombs dropped in World War II. Multiply that by 14 and let your imagination run wild.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops have entered Russian territory and Putin is outraged by the invasion. How far can Ukraine go before Putin uses his tactical nuclear weapons in response?

In this solo episode, Michael Shermer discusses the threat of nuclear annihilation and explores the evolutionary origins of our moral emotions and the logic of deterrence based on game theory.

The focus of the analysis is the need to reduce nuclear stockpiles and overcome the taboo surrounding the use and possession of nuclear weapons.

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