Episode 11: On nuclear war

Wear is the Love, Episode #11

Eleven episodes in, we have our first guest on Wear is the Love. Rev. Dr. Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, a dear friend and priest and nuclear abolitionist who is kind enough to talk to us about one of the most distressing things in the news right now: nuclear war. As an activist, Tyler has a lot of experience working towards the US’s reduction of nuclear arms, but he also knows how to talk about this subject in an accessible way. We hope you learn something new.

Episode notes:

New START Treaty

Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons

The World is Note Ours to Save (Tyler’s book)

The Top 5 for your week:

1. “Barbershop Confrontations, Profane Signs and Despair: Pro-Biden and Alone in Rural America” (Politico)

   Because I have said that the state of our politics is a reflection of the state of our souls, and this story on the experiences of rural Democrats is a searing account of how that plays out. (n.b. there is profanity in this article)

2. “Volunteer Hackers Converge on Ukraine Conflict With No One in Charge” (NYT)

   Because we should anticipate the increasing role of cyber warfare in ‘traditional’ war, and what the future of policymaking decisions look like when volunteers and vigilantes can affect the outcomes of a war without much input or control from government.

3. “Does My Son Know You?” (The Ringer)

   Because this is a gorgeous essay from Jonathan Tjarks, a man who is slowly dying from terminal cancer, and how he hopes his son will experience meaningful community from his adult friends even after Jonathan is gone.

4. “Ilya Kaminsky on Ukrainian, Russian, and the Language of War” (Literary Hub)

   Because language has been used as a power move - a wedge issue - in Ukraine since it became independent, and one poet, Ilya Kaminsky, asks “what happens to language in wartime?”

5. “The war in Ukraine doesn’t need your ‘likes’” (Washington Post)

   Because Christine Emba incisively critiques how “there is a growing tendency to view international conflicts either purely in terms of realpolitik — strategies and interests, bloodless and devoid of moral valence — or as an extension of fandom.”