Could ‘A House of Dynamite’ spark a public rethink of nuclear risk?

Director Katheryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite” rudely gives Americans one more reason to lose sleep in 2025.

Weeks in, the film has generated strong reactions from those who see nuclear weapons as a critical life insurance policy — the late nuclear-weapons expert Janne Nolan termed such exponents “Guardians of the Arsenal.” The film also has stirred disarmament advocates who fear this monster the world created will come back to kill us all.

Opening an exchange of ideas on how to prevent the “unthinkable” – a nuclear war – is a good thing. And if the film succeeds where most fail and sparks a genuine public rethinking of nuclear risk, it could begin to address the longstanding democracy deficit that relegates nuclear weapons policymaking to a relatively small group of officials who rarely face the voting public. Americans deserve a role – and would be best-served if they take more responsibility – in shaping policy related to potential extinction-level threats, even if their preferred approaches vary widely.

Read more at Just Security