A podcast about humanity’s most terrible weapon, and the stories of those who have shaped its history.

We created a weapon that could end humanity — but can we control it?
Scattered around the world, under the control of opposing nations, exists some fifteen thousand nuclear weapons. The most powerful destructive force ever created, these weapons have the capacity to devastate the entire planet several times over. When former Secretary of Defense William Perry declared he believed that the danger of a nuclear catastrophe was greater today than any time in history, his granddaughter, Lisa Perry, set out to discover why. Featuring the personal stories of presidents, cabinet members, congressmen, nuclear physicists, atomic bomb survivors, military officials, and activists, At The Brink is a primer for every world citizen to learn how we can step back from the brink.
Host: Lisa Perry @LisaAtTheBrink
Featuring: Dr. William J. Perry, 19th U.S. Secretary of Defense @SecDef19
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HOSTS

Lisa Perry
The Host
Lisa Perry believes her generation would become as active in this issue as in global warming or other social justice issues if they're merely made aware that a nuclear threat is not hypothetical, but real. "It should be something we talk about, that we get to decide on because it affects all of us," she says.

Dr. William J. Perry
The Visionary
In a remarkable career that has spanned academia, industry, entrepreneurship, government, and diplomacy, Bill Perry has dealt firsthand with the changing nuclear threat, most notably as Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton. His 2015 memoir, My Journey at the Nuclear Brink, is a personal account of his lifelong effort to reduce nuclear dangers. He founded the William J. Perry Project to educate the public on these dangers. In 2020 Perry co-authored along with Tom Collina THE BUTTON: The New Nuclear Arms Race and Presidential Power from Truman to Trump. He is the Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor (emeritus) at Stanford University. He is a husband, father of five, grandfather of eight, and a great-grandfather of four (soon to be five!). He continues to travel the world in pursuit of his goal to eliminate the danger of nuclear weapons.