Stephen
Schwartz
Stephen is a nonresident senior fellow at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and an independent consultant with 35 years of experience analyzing, writing about, and speaking out on nuclear weapons issues at both the grassroots and national levels. He previously served as editor of The Nonproliferation Review, publisher and executive director of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, guest scholar and project director at the Brookings Institution, Washington representative for the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, and legislative director for nuclear campaigns at Greenpeace USA. Stephen is the author of numerous articles and reports, including “Nuclear Security Spending: Assessing Costs, Examining Priorities” (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2009). He is also the editor and co-author of the groundbreaking book Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Since 1940 (Brookings Institution Press, 1998). His passion for nuclear policy was ignited and nourished at the University of California at Santa Cruz, where he earned a BA in sociology with a minor in politics.
I am most excited to work on projects that… make essential nuclear history and weapons policies more readily accessible and understandable in order to influence public and official opinion and drive lasting change.
I am looking for partners that can help me… meet people—including in the television/film/theatrical community—with whom I can collaborate on projects that make the best use of my skillset and expertise.
A moment when I felt most inspired in my work was… when I co-directed a national grassroots coalition and campaign to shine a light on the Department of Energy’s dangerous nuclear weapons factories and, for the first time, successfully block the confirmation of the president’s unacceptable nominee to oversee them.
Innovations in my field that I am most excited to work on… include using television and film to tell compelling, fact-based stories about nuclear weapons and nuclear security issues in ways that entertain, inform, motivate concern, and inspire action.