Remote / Connected: Innovation Fellowship Cohort 3 by N Square

ONNECTED REMOTE

CONNECTED N S Q U A R E I N N O V AT O R S N E T W O R K COHORT 3 PROJEC TS + SUMMIT

2 The Innovation Summit is a celebration of new partners, ideas, and approaches for nuclear threat reduction. It showcases the work of N Square Innovators Network fellows, acting as both the capstone convening for our latest cohort of fellows and a place to share some of the most interesting projects coming out of the larger N Square Network. The Summit is a spirited and unconventional gathering with a serious mission: to provide tangible, meaningful benefit to the nuclear threat community by demonstrating new ideas and fresh approaches to age-old problems in the field.

“The fellows and designers far exceeded our goal of demonstrating that really valuable, exciting collaboration can happen from a distance.” Erika Gregory Managing Director, N SQUARE

nsquareinnovationsummit.org

Launched by five of the largest peace and security funders in the US, N Square is a path-breaking initiative built on the idea that new forms of cross-sector collaboration— combined with the sheer ingenuity of an engaged public—will accelerate the achievement of internationally agreed goals to reduce nuclear dangers. A hands-on alliance among iconoclasts, innovators, funders, and advisors, N Square brings new ideas, new people, and new perspectives to the “wicked problem” posed by nuclear weapons. By fostering partnerships between experts from diverse backgrounds, N Square helps nuclear specialists gain new perspective on problem-solving while introducing new allies to the complexities of the nuclear threat.

Special thanks to the experts who have helped us navigate and understand the issues related to global security.

E D I T E D BY JENNY JOHNSTON B O OK D E S I G N BY B R I A N G . PAY N E AT O N . D E S I G N

REMOTE

CONNECTED

CONTENTS

02 06 20 26 34

INTRODUCTION

T H E I N N O VAT O R S NETWORK

PROCESS + A D A P TAT I O N

T H E I N N O VAT I O N S U M M I T

COHORT 3 FELLOWS

40 62 78 96

CONNECT THE DOTS NEW CLEAR AT O M S P H E R E NRICHED

TELL THE STORY A M E R I C A N D O O M S D AY I T H I N K YO U T H I N K B O M B S H E L LT O E

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT S.C.R.A.M. / MOVIES OF MASS DESTRUCTION COALESCE M O N E Y V. D E AT H

PA S S I N G T H E T O R C H : COHORT 4

INTRODUCTION

In September 2019, we welcomed a third cohort of fellows to the N Square Innovators Network. The Innovators Network (NSIN) attracts nuclear professionals eager to partner with creatives, with experts from other fields, and with one another to gain practice in designing innovative solutions to pressing nuclear risk reduction challenges. “The network is built on the idea that we can get big leaps in innovation when we engage people with diverse experiences and perspectives to work together on prototyping new approaches and solutions,” explained N Square’s DC Hub director (and former NSIN fellow) Sara Kutchesfahani. Like prior cohorts, the Cohort 3 fellows spent roughly nine months learning and practicing the methods of creative, collaborative design, ultimately producing a set of projects that address real-world needs in the nuclear field and are capable of being operationalized. But unlike other cohorts, this one was compelled to complete that work during a global pandemic. COVID-19 hit halfway through Cohort 3’s fellowship, upending the world and everything in it— including all our normal ways of working.

“… we can get big leaps in innovation when we engage people with diverse experiences and perspectives to work together on prototyping new approaches and solutions.”

4 The pandemic forced the NSIN fellows to learn how to work together actively and creatively even when meeting in person was impossible. Staying connected while working remotely was a challenge not just for them but for everyone during this unprecedented time. Working from home—with kids playing at their feet, or roommates in the background, or worry about their families looming large in their minds—they nonetheless worked tirelessly to build, design, and share a terrific set of projects. “These fellows hung in there over a period of about nine months in which the world changed completely,” said Erika Gregory, N Square’s managing director. “Not only did they hang in there, but they brought their wisdom and intelligence and commitment and creativity to bear in ways that are very exciting.”

introduction At the end of their fellowship, each cohort presents their projects publicly at a capstone event called the Innovation Summit. The Summits are vibrant, in-person events where the power and possibilities of the N Square Innovators Network are on full display. They sometimes have a theme or title that captures something important about a cohort’s work and their time together. This year’s title could not be more fitting: Remote/Connected. The title is, of course, a nod to the fact that so much of this cohort’s work was done at a distance; even the Innovation Summit had to move online. (Read more about the amazing platform that enabled hundreds of Summit participants to feel connected despite being home in their slippers on page 31.) But the title also says something important about the nature of this cohort’s work. Many of the projects that emerged from Cohort 3 are aimed at connecting the nuclear field and its mission to people, communities, and movements to which it is not yet linked—but could be. These projects suggest whole new pathways for broadening engagement in nuclear risk reduction, whether it’s by teaching kids how to build an atom and how to think for themselves about nuclear issues, connecting educators with curricula and mentors, captivating Gen Zers through nuclear-themed memes and campaigns, opening all eyes to nuclear dangers and nuclear truths through powerful storytelling, giving people tools to hear one another on controversial issues, or building links between movements that have never been connected before.

What might the field’s influence look like if these connections get made, and the community of people calling for an end to nuclear threat was broadened and deepened by millions? This cohort’s exciting projects give us a sense of how to make that happen.

THE INNOVATORS NETWORK The field of professionals working to control the threats we face from nuclear weapons is both insular and fragmented. The barriers to entry are high—the issues are complex, the language arcane, and the field has a history of secrecy. All that makes it difficult for newcomers to know how, where, or to whom they can offer expertise. It also discourages democratic discourse about an issue that affects us all.

The Innovators Network reaches outside the sector to build bridges with other fields and to enable those inside the field to work collaboratively across organizations and focus areas, empowering them to work in new ways and to access new ideas that will help achieve national security goals. At the same time, it supports non-experts to explore and shape narratives about nuclear weapons and global security to engage a new generation.

The Network that we have today includes people from fields as diverse as marketing and communications, artificial intelligence, social sciences, and big data. But what unites everybody is a sense of esprit de corps—the belief that by working together and bringing all of our diverse experiences and expertise together to a challenge, we can bust open longstanding problems and explore them in ways that are most effective when we work together versus apart.

KNITTING A NETWORK With each successive cohort of fellows, we are deliberately knitting a professional and social network that encourages participants to challenge conventional wisdom and to reach across the invisible but numerous boundaries that tend to divide us. We’ve watched as our members form deep, long-lasting relationships by working together on real-world challenges, drawing on proven design and innovation models to develop creative, fresh solutions.

the innovators network

Map the issue, stakeholders, existing conditions

Connect and engage stakeholders

KNOW

KNIT

THE NETWORK

TRANSFORM / TRANSITION

If transforming: Refine / redefine network value propositions If transitioning: Distribute reusable assets (including knowledge)

The Lifecycle of Networks

Define and create different entry points to the network, reflecting a range of interests

ORGANIZE THE NETWORK

THE NETWORK

Evaluate network effectiveness

Nurture network stewards

GROW THE NETWORK

Grow and diversify network participation Build enduring trust and connectivity Decentralize network functions Spread, deepen, diversify network strategies

The N Square Innovators Network was designed not to be static but iterative, generative, and driven by impact. With the addition of each cohort of NSIN fellows, the network has become more diverse, with trust and connectivity forming between individuals, organizations, and fields of expertise that were previously disconnected. The cohort process, meanwhile, has become one of the network’s primary systems for ongoing learning and adaptation, introducing fellows to new tools and concepts applicable to their work together and their work apart.

Begin to work together; pilot strategies If needed, establish shared structures and processes (e.g. norms of engagement) Develop systems for ongoing learning and adaptation

DIAGRAM SOURCE: The Monitor Institute, Deloitte Consulting’s Social Impact practice.

The Innovators Network Over Time This illustration shows the radiating connections between ideas coming out of each cohort, as well as the increasing size and scale of the network. The project ideas opportunistically touch on each other, without strictly growing from or following each other, eventually coming together into a more coherent whole.

N A R R AT I V E BUILDING

African-American Leadership Against Nuclear Weapons Reactor LEARNING & HUMAN FA C T O R S

MONITORING

E X PA N D I N G

Datayo: Open source platform to monitor threats to humanity

NuCorps: Cross-sector teams tackle nuclear security challenges

Explain It Like I’m Five: Shared language to support collaboration between experts and unconventional partners

PLOUGHSHARES FUND

Three projects that guard against disinformation and misleading narratives about nuclear weapons

COHORT

V E R I F I C AT I O N

Highly Nriched: Teach, inspire, and engage

Advancing Nuclear Digital Advocacy and Crisis Response

COHORT

PERSONAL PA R T I C I PAT I O N

VISIBILITY

The Atomic Comic Roadblock

ARTS & SCIENCES

Midnight

Atomicon

Juliet-04

I Need a New Start

Getting Bombed With ...

Amnesia Atomica

Atomic Bonds

Two approaches to artistic work with lasting impact

Atomic Sublime

Three approaches to engage, enrage, and entertain our way to a nuclear weaponsfree world

From the Bomb to Burke County Five projects that shift attitudes about nuclear weapons

NEW VENTURE FUND

the innovators network Each cohort creates a scaffold of sorts for the next. While we have varied the focus from cohort to cohort, new fellows have the opportunity to learn from, integrate, or refine previous ideas. With Cohorts 3 and 4, our focus has shifted to more systemic opportunities for innovation as we look at ways to foster enduring change.

POLICY 2028

POLICY 2024

NNSA

IAEA

SANDIA

COHORT

CONNECT THE DOTS

New Clear Atomsphere

Weaving in strategic foresight and audacious project work, a new advisory forum, and expanding the funder collaborative

TOOLS H2045

CONSOLIDATION

COHORT

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT

S.C.R.A.M. / Movies of Mass Destruction Coalesce Money V. Death

TELL THE STORY

American Doomsday I Think You Think

C O N S O L I D AT I O N

8-YEAR PLAN

NETWORK GROWTH & DIVERSIFICATION

COHORT

EXPANDING How might we engage new people, facilitate new partnerships, and enable the development, integration, and adoption of new ideas and approaches related to nuclear threat reduction? E N G A G E M E N T, PA R T N E R S H I P, I N N O VAT I O N

REPORTING / MONITORING / WARNING How might we identify, track, and understand developments that pose a threat to humanity? O P E N S O U R C E S O L U T I O N S , I N N O VAT I O N

the innovators network

VERIFICATION How might we better articulate the problems and opportunities in the nuclear verification space so that people without expertise understand the issues and feel empowered to contribute? C O M M U N I C AT I O N , P U B L I C E N G A G E M E N T

VISIBILITY How might we use cultural pressure and social influence to spark innovation and create policy changes that reduce or eliminate nuclear danger? C O M M U N I C AT I O N , I N F L U E N C E

COHORT

LEARNING + HUMAN FACTORS How do we connect educators and individuals interested in learning about nuclear threats to active experiences, simulations, and other unique resources related to the topic? C O M M U N I C AT I O N , P L AT F O R M S , I N T E R S E C T I O N A L I T Y

ART, SCIENCE & NUCLEAR THREAT How might we foster the development of artistic work with lasting impact on this issue? A R T, C U LT U R E , E N G A G E M E N T, S T O R Y T E L L I N G

the innovators network

CREATING PERSONAL PARTICIPATION How might we shift attitudes about weapons from being essential for safety to being detrimental to survival? C O M M U N I C AT I O N , E N G A G E M E N T

NARRATIVE BUILDING,

SENSEMAKING + DISINFORMATION How might we guard against susceptibility to various forms of disinformation and misleading narratives? C O M M U N I C AT I O N , S T O R Y T E L L I N G , E N G A G E M E N T

COHORT

CONNECT THE DOTS How might we create new platforms that educate and engage new audiences on the topic of our nuclear reality? P L AT F O R M S , E N G A G E M E N T, PA R T N E R S H I P

TELL THE STORY How might sharing nuclear stories through multiple lenses and mediums create new knowledge and understanding? C O M M U N I C AT I O N , S T O R Y T E L L I N G , E N G A G E M E N T

the innovators network

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT How might exploring new forms of action around nuclear and other intersectional issues unlock opportunities to bolster engagement? E N G A G E M E N T, PA R T N E R S H I P, I N T E R S E C T I O N A L I T Y

PROCESS + ADAPTATION

THE DESIGN PROCESS

During their fellowship, NSIN fellows work in small teams to tackle big problems— through and by design. It’s a form of professional development new to the field. Fellows gain practice in working together in ways they wouldn’t with people they might not otherwise, while coming to understand and apply the principles of creative process. Together, they prototype new approaches that add something to the nuclear risk reduction space that’s needed but does not yet exist.

21 DISCOVER

CLARITY + E F F I C AC Y

Ideas flow, and teams form around the ones that draw them. Once teams form, what do their collective skills and interests suggest about what specific problem they might tackle and how they might approach it? DEFINE

I T E R AT I O N + I M P L E M E N TAT I O N

Teams get granular about exactly what problem they are hoping to solve. Who is their audience, what are they trying to achieve, and what are their guiding principles? As their idea narrows, they interview real audiences to discover their needs, using that discovery to hone their idea and articulate the value proposition of their concept. DESIGN

R E L E VA N C Y

Teams take their top idea(s) into a prototyping phase. What does the concept look like? What are its elements? What is its mood? What might it look like in real life? Teams get creative, pushing their idea from abstract to concrete. DELIVER

I N N O VAT I O N

Teams stress-test their prototype by presenting it to key stakeholders, often repeatedly, then translate that feedback into further refinements. Finally, teams deliver their prototype to a broad audience one final time.

C O H O R T 3 A D A P TAT I O N : SPECIFICS DESIGN SPRINTS PROJECT What are the goal(s) for this project? Why do you think your specific approach (summer camp, children's book, film series program etc) is the best medium to achieve your goals?

IMPACTFUL

ACHIEVABLE

All cohorts gain practice in design and What impact are you hoping to have? AUDIENCE prototyping asWhat part of their fellowship. is your measure for success? Who is this for really? But this process continues evolve. WithWhat would draw your audience Are there assumptions you haveto that will drive this project that need to be tested? to your project? each cohort, we build on what we’ve learned Is the specific audience for young people ultimately parents? and continue to push the envelope on method How can topic be communicated to young people while respecting their intelligence and form. In any design process, there is aand not succumbing to superficiality? What is the background/interest of a balance between process and outcome. For young person who might be interested in topic? Cohort 3, that balance shifted toward process, What does a person need to know? What does a young person need to know? that people don't want to be with more emphasis on process mastery. (understand experts) YOU

What are ways in which you - on a personal level - try to engage/inform people on the subject of nukes? How do they usually respond?

What was the spark that got it started? Was there a point at which your thoughts about nuclear weapons shifted?

PROCESS

What are your interests outside the field of nuclear?

Sprint Process and Timeline Can you find /point out parallels or links between those? between your work and your personality or values? What led to you first engaging with nukes? Why was that significant?

WEEK 6

UNIQUE

What part of yourself does your work reveal?

WEEK 2 WEEK 1 Project Brief

Audience

systems map, understand audience needs & persona maps

Do you have any contacts outside the field who may help with concept? WEEK

WEEK 5 4

IdentifyWEEK most adjacent fields 3 topics or Prototyping that might be more relatable to people.

Rapid Inquiry: Audience discussion guide & interviews

considered observations and insights, ideation, prototype development

Rapid Inquiry: Prototype testing with key stakeholders, feedback analysis and reﬁnement of prototype

Offering/ Business Plan

ﬁnal presentation of your reﬁned idea

Process + Adaptation PRECEDENT PRECEDENT

What Whatmade madethem themsuccessful? successful? What Whatcould’ve could’vebeen beendone donebetter? better? What Whatwere weremissed missedopportunities? opportunities? What Whatwas waslacking? lacking? Do Dothey theystill stillwork workas asoriginally originallyintended? intended?

IsIsthere thereaarepository repositoryof ofnuke nukeknowledge? knowledge? How Howcan caninformation informationabout aboutnuclear nuclearissue issue be beaccessed accessedcurrently? currently? Who Whomight mightbenefit benefitfrom fromsuch suchaaresource? resource? What Whatresources resourceswould wouldthey theyneed needto tobe be most mostuseful/most useful/mostengaging? engaging? How Howwould wouldyou youavoid avoidcontent-redundancy? content-redundancy?

How How does does your your idea idea differ differ from from any any precedent? precedent?

Why process mastery? While projects are important, we believe it is even more important that the fellows gain as much practice as possible in applying creative processes and principles to real-world challenges. The goal is not for them to become excellent designers (though many do). Rather, it’s to help them gain experience in partnering for creative problem solving, so that they can take these skills back with them into their organizations and apply them to other pressing challenges.

Form a team. Learn the process. Apply it to an idea. Then let it go. Form a new team. Repeat. KNOWLEDGE // PERCEPTION PERCEPTION KNOWLEDGE What Whatlessons lessonsdo donuclear nuclearweapons weaponsteach teachus? us? What Whatinfo infodo doyou youassume assumeisismissing missingfrom from people’s people’sunderstanding understandingof ofnukes? nukes?What What will willsomeone someonedo dowith withthat thatinfo? info?

What What is is the the link link from from being being ininformed formed to to being being involved? involved? From From education education to to action? action?

ENGAGEMENT ENGAGEMENT IsIsaction actionby byuninvolved uninvolvedonly/best only/bestway wayto to reduce reducethreat? threat?

How Howdoes doesnuclear nuclearaffect affectour oureveryday everyday lives liveswith/out with/outus usknowing? knowing?How Howmight mightitit affect affectus usin inthe thefuture? future?

ENTRY ENTRY POINT POINT

Whatisisone onemisconception misconceptionabout aboutnuclear nuclear What threatthat thatyou youwish wishdidn’t didn’texist? exist?Where Where threat doyou youthink thinkititcomes comesfrom? from? do

What What are are possible possible entry entry points points into into topic? topic? How Howcan canimpending impendingdoom doombe berepackrepackaged/rethought aged/rethoughtas asopportunity? opportunity? What Whattype typeof ofimagery/visuals imagery/visualswould wouldyou you use useto totalk talkabout aboutnukes nukesin inan anattempt attemptto to move moveaway awayfrom fromthe thedoomsday/mushdoomsday/mushroom-cloud-type room-cloud-typeapproach? approach? IsIshumor/silliness humor/sillinessonly onlyantidote antidoteto tofear fear and andtrauma? trauma? How Howwould wouldyou youenhance enhancethe theresonating resonating power powerof offacts factsand andfigures? figures?

SUSTAINABLE

How Howhave haveprevious previousgenerations generationsbeen been informed? informed?What Whathave havethey theydone donewith withthat that knowledge? knowledge?

APPROACHABLE

VALUABLE

DIFFERENT

Where Wheredo dothey theygo gofrom fromhere? here?

What Whatfoundational foundationalblocks blockswould wouldhelp helpaa person personto tomake makeright rightdecisions decisionsaround around nukes? nukes? Do Dopeople peopleneed needanswers answersto toevery everyquesquestion tionor orare arethere thereimportant importantquestions questionsfor for people peopleto tobe beleft leftto tothink thinkabout? about?

How How would would you you guarantee guarantee recurrecurring ring engagement? engagement?

24 Prior cohorts spent a full nine months developing one design concept. Cohort 3 ran through the design process three times, developing three concepts in shorter “design sprints” and giving them more practice in rapid-cycle iteration.

Sprint 1

Teams explored intersectional themes, like the intersection of environmental activism and nuclear risk reduction. Sprint 2

The nuclear field and the world of finance have risk reduction in common. Teams explored how to bring new revenue streams to the field and increase the collaboration between these two communities for mutual benefit. Sprint 3

In this self-guided sprint, teams formed around ideas emerging from earlier sprints, prior cohorts, or their own interests.

CONCEPT 2

Process + Adaptation

CHANTELL MURPHY

Projects need

What It Is: A clearly defined goal A consortium of investors from intersectional commun To address a need or working to reduce the risks of nuclear weapons by i. in the ii.) field influe expanding the purview of eachopportunity community; government policies; and iii.) incentivizing startup An audience that can pursue risk reduction projects. provide feedback

How It Works: A schedule, timeline, and current budget We will attract investors from networks that intersect with nuclear risk reduction issues by send targeted asks, getting them to invest, and using tha to fund new projects or raise more awareness to get members.

Who it’s for: This is targeted at leaders of intersectional commun groups, like environmental consortiums. Our consorti meet the desire of certain members of our audience t most good.

Why does my audience care? We offer an investment solution to reduce the risks nuclear weapons to protect the things you care about like land conservation and access to clean water.

REMOTE

JUNE 30, 2020

/ CONNECTED

The Innovation Summit is a celebration of new partners, ideas, and approaches for nuclear threat reduction. It showcases the work of N Square Innovators Network fellows, acting as both the capstone convening for our latest cohort of fellows and a place to share some of the most interesting projects coming out of the larger N Square Network. The Summit is a spirited and unconventional gathering with a serious mission: to provide tangible, meaningful benefit to the nuclear threat community by demonstrating new ideas and fresh approaches to age-old problems in the field.

the innovation summit

The third annual N Square Innovation Summit was meant to be in person—but the pandemic prompted a major change of plans. COVID-19 hit just as the fellows were rounding their way into Sprint 3— which means that most of their collaboration had to take place remotely. What followed was an extraordinary period of work, where fellows, mentors, designers, and N Square staff found new pathways for learning and collaboration. The fellows forged ahead with their projects through incredible disruption. Their remarkable ability to adapt was reflected in the strength of their projects and presentations. As N Square’s Erika Gregory put it:

“The fellows and designers far exceeded our goal of demonstrating that really valuable, exciting collaboration can happen from a distance.”

T O O L S F O R A D A P TAT I O N

Just as the first shelter-in-place orders came down, N Square made two commitments. First, we pledged to work fully remotely for at least a year—which at the time seemed like a bold rather than necessary idea. Second, in trying to figure out the best way to be of service to this field at a moment when so much was changing, we made a commitment to help organizations and practitioners in the field adapt to disruption. Key to that effort was field-testing new tools for remote collaboration while also running our remote programming through the most promising of these platforms.

the innovation summit HOPIN

The Innovation Summit was held on Hopin—one of the online collaboration platforms N Square tested as part of our Tools for Adaptation series. Hopin is the first live online events platform where attendees can learn, interact, and connect with people from anywhere in the world. Attendees can network one-on-one, break out into group sessions, watch keynote presentations, send chat messages and polls, and explore interactive expo areas. We see platforms like Hopin as a tool for planning and experiencing high-impact events from afar. On June 30, 2020, more than 200 people headed to Hopin for the third annual Innovation Summit. Introductory remarks were followed by videos highlighting each project the fellows would present. The main event was a series of panels, moderated by NSIN alums, with each team having two opportunities to present their work and field questions. The expo space featured digital booths where participants could stop by and video chat with current and prior fellows to learn more about their projects. Two fellows from prior cohorts—Lovely Umayam and Anne Harrington, both from Cohort 2—also presented projects launched or enhanced during their fellowship. Their presentations demonstrate that the work among and between cohorts is deeply connected, and offer two of many examples of projects launched by NSIN fellows that are now having real-world impact.

NA TA

EX BR

POTEN

1 Y E AR

LLE

kin n thi

rating

ating

IE DAN

ing

innov

N DA

G E O RGI

mode

NT MO

H O R

NA TH

0 2 0

sha

CH NT E

eni

list

rin g

RS EA

acting

ering

pond

CO L L E E N

1 WEEK

1 DECA

hin

L AUR

Y DA

A L FOR I TI

ACT MP

DAVE

Y AND

OW LL F E EPHEN

1 MINU TE

TO R E CE U S N PO ILLIA

advancing

ding

expa n

me in

lin

ing

wer

o emp

UASHA

SA R A H

IE JAM

articulating

I E R

ATORS NET V O W N

2 0 1 9 / 2

COHORT

PARTICIPATING FELLOWS

Illustration by Maria Alexia Platia

36 Natasha Bajema American Doomsday Founder and CEO, Nuclear Spin Cycle, a consulting firm specializing in national security, entertainment, and publishing; former professor specializing in WMD at National Defense University; author of science fiction novels and techno-thrillers

Lauren Borja Atomsphere Postdoctoral fellow, Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, focused on the effects of new technologies on nuclear security issues; creator of an ultrafast laser apparatus for studying fundamental interactions inside semiconductor materials

David Epstein Money V. Death Founder, Cross Capital Initiative, a research and advisory firm engaging investors and the business world in reducing existential and systemic threats; former research analyst, with 20 years of experience on Wall Street

Andrew Facini Coalesce Publishing manager, Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; teaching assistant in Harvard’s nuclear deterrence certificate program

Sarah Frazar New Clear Advisor, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s National Security Directorate; former deputy team lead in the NNSA’s International Nuclear Safeguards and Engagement Program; onetime investigative reporter covering national security issues

Cohort 3 Fellows Niamh Healy Money V. Death PhD candidate, Centre for Doctoral Training in Cybersecurity, University College London; former researcher at Ridgeway Information, leading its work on nonproliferation in East Asia

Georgia Frances King Atomsphere Editor and literary agent with Aevitas Creative Management, representing nonfiction books about science and technology, futurism, design, and culture, and supporting underrepresented voices

Danielle McLaughlin Money V. Death Author, attorney, and political commentator; columnist for New Zealand’s Sunday Star-Times and contributor to the Sean Hannity Radio Show; coauthor of The Federalist Society: How Conservatives Took the Law Back from Liberals

Colleen Moore Coalesce Digital engagement manager, Global Zero and Beyond the Bomb; formerly worked at Win Without War, Seeds of Peace, East Timor and Indonesia Action Network, and Peace Action New York State

Chantell Murphy American Doomsday Nuclear security postdoctoral fellow, Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation; former graduate research assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory, investigating nuclear safeguards approaches

38 Martin Pfeiffer SCRAM / Movies of Mass Destruction PhD candidate in anthropology, National Security Studies Program, University of New Mexico, studying the creation and circulation of meaning about, around, and through nuclear weapons

Nathan Phillips Money V. Death CCO and cofounder, Technology Humans And Taste (THAT), a creative company bringing counter-culture solutions to mainstream problems; award-winning artist and filmmaker; cofounder of The Oratory Laboratory, New York’s leading speechwriting boutique

Dan Pomeroy I Think You Think Managing director, MIT’s Policy Lab at the Center for International Studies, which works with faculty and researchers to ensure policy-relevant research makes its way into the hands of appropriate policymakers; experienced grassroots political organizer

Stephen Schwartz SCRAM / Movies of Mass Destruction Nonresident senior fellow, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; former editor of The Nonproliferation Review, publisher and executive director of the Bulletin, project director at the Brookings Institution, and legislative director for nuclear campaigns at Greenpeace USA

Jamie Withorne New Clear Research assistant, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies; advisor for Girl Security, which makes national security issues more accessible to young women; developer of learnwmd.com, a website dedicated to creating a learning commons for WMD education

Cohort 3 Fellows design team

Adam Bowen

Maria Alexia Platia

Atomsphere

New Clear, SCRAM / Movies of Mass Destruction

Architect and industrial designer, specializing in projects focused on landscape, the environment, and community engagement; a maker and teacher at heart, he uses his diverse skillset to support his own and others’ creative work

Elizabeth McAvoy I Think You Think, Coalesce Designer and creative strategist, fascinated by the way environments are changed by design; working to enhance everyday interactions

Brian G. Payne New Clear, SCRAM / Movies of Mass Destruction Partner, A TON, which communicates ideas, thematic concepts, narratives, systems, and more through design; graphic designer, illustrator, and industrial designer whose work includes identities, publications, and creating objects based on scenario building for interpretation and learning

Athens-based industrial designer, whose work ranges from traditional wooden boatbuilding and interior design to global security; she strives to design and create objects as a means of storytelling, provocation, experiencing the world, amplifying different perspectives, and thinking about potential futures

Megan Valanidas I Think You Think, Coalesce Industrial designer and studio artist with a focus in biomaterials, national security, and existential threat; she focuses on nature, convenience, the role of chance, and the inevitability of accidents to suggest methods, materials, and strategies for a better tomorrow

Tom Weis Facilitator Associate professor, industrial design, Rhode Island School of Design; cofounder and chief creative officer, Altimeter Design Group

How might we create new platforms that educate and engage new audiences on the topic of our nuclear reality?

41 M O D E R AT E D B Y : NSIN alumni Sara Kutchesfahani and Peter Waring

CONNECT THE DOTS All three Connect the Dots projects identify a unique opportunity to bring whole new communities into the nuclear debate in handson ways. Each seeks to connect the needs and passions of these new audiences—including kids, outdoorsists, and educators—with the resources they need to get informed and get involved. The result? A powerful opportunity to infuse the field with fresh thinking, new allies, and a pipeline of people ready to lend their ingenuity to ending the nuclear threat.

newclearlab.org

COMMUNIT Y

THE L AB

ASK AN EXPERT

RESOURCES

SHOP

PARTNERS

ENTER CODE TO UNLOCK ACTIVITIES + DISCOUNTS

Curated, accessible, engaging and educational content for a rising generation. A proliferation of knowledge for creating sustained impact on nuclear risk reduction.

Missing cards from your collection? TRADE HERE!

What do a goat, a book and a spatula have in common? FIND OUT!

newclearlab.org

COMMUNIT Y

THE L AB

ASK AN EXPERT

RESOURCES

Meet Jamie!

COMMUNIT Y

SHOP

PARTNERS

Meet Sarah!

She makes incredible dumplings and knows a LOT about nuclear topics!

She has an amazing brain and is here to share her thoughts and ideas with you!

Connect with experts to get answers to your questions and feeback on your projects! Experts can also suggest content to be included in our output materials.

FIND CLUES TO

SOLVE THE MONTHLY MYSTERY!

L ATEST COMMUNIT Y POSTS

✦ Wow, this is interesting! Your interpretation is right 'on target.'

Shawnee B. INSPECTOR

Michaela S. ELECTRON

Tena M. PROTON

connect the dots

NEW CLEAR Bringing nuclear activities and adventures to K-12 students

THE OPPORTUNITY FELLOWS Sarah Frazar Jamie Withorne

DESIGNERS Brian G. Payne Maria Alexia Platia

Nuclear topics are often complex and full of jargon. This makes them incomprehensible and inaccessible to young people—our future scientists, technology developers, diplomats, and policymakers. Almost no effort is being made to teach kids about nuclear issues or access their ingenuity about how to address them. “We need to get over our own fears and neuroses about talking about a really scary issue, and tap into the fact that kids are a lot more mature than we give them credit for,” said New Clear co-creator Sarah Frazar. “We have to find a better way of communicating to this new generation.”

connect the dots

46 PROJECT

New Clear is a unique, kid-friendly engagement platform that introduces students, parents, and educators to nuclear topics like nonproliferation, disarmament, and arms control. The platform enables kids to explore nuclear issues in ways that feel adventurous and tailored to their interests. Once on the platform, they can design their own learning experience, choosing from a range of immersive, hands-on educational opportunities (like activity boxes) or following links to learn more about internships or fellowships.

newclearlab.org

Here’s a use case. Chloe—a fictional ninth-grader who likes science, woodworking, and the solar system, and wants to be an engineer—signs up to receive New Clear’s introductory kit. In the mail, she receives a small brochure describing New Clear in more depth, a New Clear lab inspector badge, a small book describing what atoms are, a trading card, and a decoder with launch codes for a discount opportunity. Chloe uses her code to get the Atom Build-a-Box, which includes instructions on how to create a helium atom using the provided craft materials. When she uploads pictures of her project to the New Clear platform, a nuclear expert chimes in with comments, offering a few fun helium facts and directing her to more information. “It’s Trojan horse learning— they’re having so much fun it doesn’t feel like they’re learning,” explained co-creator Jamie Withorne.

newclearlab.org COMMUNIT Y

THE L AB

ASK AN EXPERT

RESOURCES

SHOP

PARTNERS

COMMUNIT Y

THE L AB

ASK AN EXPERT

RESOURCES

SHOP

PARTNERS

8–12

ACTIVITIES Here’s some easy things to try ACTIVITIES at home. Then post your work here and see easy what things others to made! Here’s some try

92 92

at home. Then post your work here and see what others made!

our “atom” section! Already know what > WHAT’S AN ATOM? an atom is? No problem—Jump right in.

> WHAT’S AN ATOM?

8–12 MOLECULES LEGO SCI /TE CH

U U 238 238

Hey there! Before you start this section, we think it would be best if you visited our “atom” section!you Already know what Hey there! Before start this section, an No problem—Jump right in. we atom think is? it would be best if you visited

SCI /TE CH

Create your own Periodic Table LEGO MOLECULES of Elements with whatever lego pieces you have available. Create your own Periodic Table Based on that periodic table of Elements withofwhatever create a variety differentlego pieces you have available. molecules of your choice. Based on that periodic table create a variety of different molecules of your choice.

POST YOUR CRE ATION! POST YOUR CRE ATION!

Oliver P. NUE TRINO

Michaela S. ELECTRON

Tena M. PROTON

MORE CHALLENGES

GEOCACHE SAFEGUARD CHALLENGE GEOCACHE SAFEGUARD CHALLENGE

3 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT: THE NUCLE AR DISARMAMENT GAME 3 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT: THE NUCLE AR DISARMAMENT GAME GROW YOUR OWN CRYSTAL BORAX SNOWFL AKE GROW YOUR OWN CRYSTAL BORAX SNOWFL AKE

connect the dots 17/36

SE RI ES

PEOP

PE OP LE

ATOMIC

to be in life is Nothing to is only it , ed fear tood.

ers e und

b to the time so Now is d more an st er less." und may fear that we —M AR

TRI

TR IAD

03/36

SER IES

There are more

than 2 0 0 actively deployed nuclea r subs circling the oceans right now .

E IE CU RI

ore at leaWrC LnE AmR L A B .O R G NE

learn more at

NE WC LE AR

L AB .O RG

“We’re creating a new entry point into nuclear issues and the nuclear field.” Jamie Withorne, New Clear SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE

MONTHLY MYSTERY SERIES MONTHLY MYSTERY MONTHLY MYSTERY SERIES

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE

SERIES

BUILD BOX KITS BUILD BUILD BOX KITS BOX KITS

COMMUNIT Y

SHARING ACTIVITIES COMMUNIT Y COMPLE TING CHALLENGES

COMMUNIT Y SHARING ACTIVITIES

EXPLORING TOPICS COMPLE TING CHALLENGES SHARING ACTIVITIES EXPLORING TOPICS COMPLE TING CHALLENGES EXPLORING TOPICS

EXPERT EXCHANGE EDUCATIONEDUCATION EXPERT EXCHANGE CURATED CONTENT CONNECTING WITH PROS CURATED CONTENT CONNECTING WITH PROS FOR YOUNG LE ARNERS THROUGH Q+A AND FOR YOUNG LE ARNERS THROUGH Q+A ACTIVITIES AND EXCHANGE EDUCATION EXPERT PROJECT PROJECTCONNECTING ACTIVITIES WITH PROS CURATED CONTENT FOR YOUNG LE ARNERS THROUGH Q+A AND OUTPUT SHOP RESOURCES PROJECT ACTIVITIES CURATED CONTENT

FOR EDUCATORS RESOURCES

NUCLE AR TOPICS MADE

SHOPINTO ENGAGING

FIND + VERIFY

The outputs serve as entry points into the system by presenting the content in unique and interactive forms that engage users to become involved in the community in different ways.

SCAVENGER HUNT FIND + VERIFY SCAVENGER HUNT

FIND + VERIFY SCAVENGER HUNT

POSSIBLE OUTPUTS

COLLECTIBLE CARD SERIES

COLLECTIBLE + GROWNUPS CARD SERIES CURATED CONTENT INTO ENGAGING SHOP FOR EDUCATORS COLLECTIBLE RESOURCES ARTIFACTS + GAMES NUCLE AR TOPICS MADE + GROWNUPS CARD SERIES CURATED CONTENTPARTNERS + PUBLICATIONS INTO ENGAGING FOR EDUCATORS CONNECT TO DISCOVER MORE INFORMATION ARTIFACTS + GAMES + GROWNUPS + PUBLICATIONS PARTNERS CONNECT TO DISCOVER WORKSHOPS + MORE INFORMATION E VENTS PARTNERS CONNECT TO DISCOVER MORE INFORMATION WORKSHOPS + E VENTS WORKSHOPS + E VENTS ARTIFACTS + GAMES NUCLE AR TOPICS MADE

SYSTEM MAP SYSTEM MAP

possible entry points sustained engagement possible entry points living content sustained engagement living content

sustained impact on nuclear risk reduction through tailored, accessible and engaging educational content for a rising generation.

ACTIVITIES+CHALLENGES

Learn by doing and engage with other learners in our online community of atoms. Some easy things to try at home. Then post your work and see what others made!

COMMUNIT Y POSTS EXPERT EXCHANGE

WHAT TO KNOW

SUBSCRIPTION LE VELS

NEUTRINO Interested in knowing more maybe its time to subscribe.

ELECTRON Interested in knowing more maybe its time to subscribe.

PROTON Interested in knowing more maybe its time to subscribe.

Connect with experts to get answers to your questions and feeback on your projects! Experts can also suggest content to be included in our output materials.

S TO FIN D CL UE

SOLVE THE MONTHLY MYSTERY!

What's it all about?

NEW+CLEAR USER GROUP

1ST ENCOUNTER PARENT

K-12 STUDENTS

EDUCATORS

BACKSTAGE

STORE CLASS

PARENT BLOG

FRIEND

TEACHER REC

STORE

SOCIAL MEDIA

BOOK FAIR

OTHER TEACHER

FRIEND

PRO NETWORK

STUDENT

SOCIAL MEDIA

PARENT

FRIENDS

EXPERTS

TEACHERS

CHILDREN

FRIENDS

PARENTS

TEACHERS

SOCIAL MEDIA

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

STUDENTS

FRIENDS

PARENTS

TEACHERS

SOCIAL MEDIA

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

“ON CALL” EXPERT

EXPERTS

FRIENDS

CONTENT CREATOR

PARENTS

TEACHERS

SOCIAL MEDIA

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

FRIENDS

OTHER ORGS

PARENTS

TEACHERS

SOCIAL MEDIA

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

COMMUNITY

EDUCATION

EXPERT EXCHANGE

OUTPUT SHOP

EXPERTS

NUC MUSEUMS / ORGS

SPREAD THE WORD

FRIEND

BOOK FAIR FIELD TRIP SOCIAL MEDIA

PARENTS

MAIN STAGE

NUC NETWORK

NSQUARE

OTHER EXPERT

IAEA

SOCIAL MEDIA

FRIEND

NUC NETWORK

NSQUARE

AUDIENCE

IAEA

SOCIAL MEDIA

EXPERT

RESOURCES

PARTNERS

CONTENT CONTRIBUTOR PROMO

CONTENT CONTRIBUTOR MEDIA COVERAGE RESOURCES

“We see New Clear as a force multiplier. We’re giving even more voice to the field and creating new voices as well.” Sarah Frazar

connect the dots The element of choice is key. New Clear gives kids agency over what they learn, how they learn, and the actions they want to take. “It’s like a ‘choose your own adventure,’” said Frazar. “Part of the experience going through the platform is being able to create your own solutions to these old problems. They don’t have to accept the status quo or what it tells you about what nuclear is or what it means to us.” New Clear will enable young people to explore the platform and the subject matter in their own way, whether it’s through art, poetry, science, or something else. All profits will go to aligned nonprofits working on nuclear risk reduction or similarly aligned scholarship funds. Said Withorne: “The whole system is designed to have a sustainable impact on nuclear risk reduction.”

NEXT STEPS Explore business and subscription models, and identify and develop key partnerships. Research child relevant publications and organizations that can propagate word about the platform, and seek to build a network of K-12 youth, educators, science education centers, museums, and nuclear nonproliferation professionals engaged in the project.

connect the dots

ATOMSPHERE Mobilizing outdoors enthusiasts to protect the natural world from nuclear risks THE OPPORTUNITY FELLOWS Chantell Murphy Lauren Borja Georgia Francis King

DESIGNER Adam Bowen

The nuclear complex represents a pressing but invisible problem to the environment, much like nuclear radiation itself. Not many outdoorsists realize just how close their favorite national and state parks are to nuclear weapons sites, uranium mines, power plants, and labs. In the event of a nuclear incident, radioactive material released into the air will put both outdoorsists and the natural environment in danger. “Without taking action today, the outdoors community risks losing access to the spaces they love,” said Atomsphere team member Georgia Francis King. “This will all be at risk if we don’t act now.”

52 The outdoors community is enormous: US national parks draw more than 330 million visits each year, and the US outdoor industry averages $646 billion annually. Said team member Chantell Murphy: “We’re looking at a really large and untapped market.” Yet there has never been an effort to engage this audience in nuclear issues directly. For outdoorsists and the companies that serve them, the message is simple: the outdoors is your life and livelihood—and nuclear weapons threaten the outdoors. PROJECT

Atomsphere is an effort to spark this engagement at a time when nuclear risks are growing, offering outdoorsists actionable ways to feel safer in nature and ensure these spaces stay safe. For its launch, Atomsphere will produce branded Geiger counters to be used by outdoorsists to collect data about radiation in national and state parks. This information will upload to the Atomsphere platform, which will feature a mobile phone app to track outdoor activities and radiation exposure and an interactive website with aggregated data about how people use wild spaces and interact with potential contamination. By engaging with Atomsphere’s citizen-science projects, outdoorsists will help gather data to help protect beloved spaces and learn how the nuclear weapons legacy impacts environmental issues. These projects will also help Atomsphere pressure policymakers and business stakeholders to make decisions that protect the great outdoors from nuclear risks.

Atomsphere will organize citizenscience projects to collect data for nuclear research.

connect the dots

Atomsphere launches environmental projects that reduce the risk of nuclear weapons both now and in the future.

w faced with the fact w is today. We are with the fierce urgency s unfolding conundrum story, there “is” such a ng too late. This is no thy or complacency. for vigorous and on.”

USER FLOW ●

●

● ● ● ●

ADAM, don’t need text here, but this is a suggestion for what the image flow could be: During the hike you’re using the the geiger counter (image of product) You use the app (image of app) Then you look at it at home (image of data) Then that data goes to nuclear community Profit goes to affected communities (caution sign)

REVIEW

ACT

UPLOAD

MONITOR

ACTIVITY

–Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“We want to help people who really care about the environment and the outdoors and climate change to see that these issues are nuclear issues.” Georgia Francis King

ATOMSPHERE

The outdoors is your life & livelihood— and nuclear weapons threaten the outdoors. Atomsphere launches environmental projects that reduce the risk of nuclear weapons both now and in the future.

WHY IS THIS A PROBLEM?

In the event of a nuclear incident, radioactive material will be released into the air and spread through weather patterns. Many nuclear weapons facilities are located near nature reserves, meaning the environment will become contaminated, and the people who recreate it are at high risk of inhaling or ingesting radioactive material. Effects of increased exposure include radiation sickness, increased risk of cancer, hypertension, thyroid and liver diseases, and cataracts.

WHAT DO WE DO? Atomsphere gives you an actionable way to feel safer in nature and make sure those spaces stay safe. Radiation detectors for outdoorists to use while on adventures on land and sea.

Cell phone app to track outdoor activities, radiation exposure, and get nuclear-related facts

Informational sheet for Atomsphere, front and back

Interactive website with aggregated data about how people use wild spaces and interact with potential contamination

By engaging with Atomsphere’s citizen-science projects, you can: Become aware of current nuclear radiation risks in the places you recreate

Gather data to help protect those spaces from future nuclear-weapons risks

Learn about how nuclear-weapons legacy impacts environmental issues

Give back to the communities you recreate in!

Geiger Counter Mobile Sporty GPS-enabled Sustainable

During Hike: See information on nuclear weapons activity Track your route and exposure

Post hike: Print out exposure data Print out route

Inlfuencers use Atomsphere radiation detectors to: • Show off a cool new gadget to their friends, family, followers • Detect and track rad contamination in the places they recreate • Monitor if their boat, backpack, gear, boots (the stuff that they bring home) is contaminated

Outdoorists uses the Atomsphere website to: • Upload their activity to earn badges • Connect with and compare their activities with other users • Learn more about nuclear facts both locally and at future adventure destinations • See cumulative radiation data on our interactive map

Atomsphere collects the following data: • Demographic information • Rates of exposure in different locations • Updated radiation contamination in land and sea • How people use outdoor spaces

The information Atomsphere collects is useful for: • Remediation projects • Holding responsible parties accountable for radiation cleanup • Supporting environmental and human rights advocacy groups with data • Raising awareness among outdoorsits to various environmental and human rights injustices as they relate to the nuclear industry • Connecting outdoor industry/ community to nuclear risk reduction projects

User Flows Outdoorist uses the Atomsphere App to: • Track their hike/ activity in real time • See the background radiation • Connect to their health/ body composition apps • See dose rate in real time • Track overall exposure over time • Learn interesting nuclear facts about the surrounding area

Atomsphere is also leveraging parallels between the current pandemic and nuclear disaster. COVID-19 illustrates what it can look like for the outdoors to represent a health risk; some of the global effects of COVID-19 mimic the potential impact of nuclear fallout. The team also seeks to highlight how the communities most impacted by nuclear contamination (like the Navajo nation) are the same ones most impacted by COVID-19. “If we want to get people safely and responsibly back in the outdoors, be it in time of COVID or time of nuclear contamination, we need to be mindful of how vulnerable communities could be negatively impacted. It’s much more than just making gear for people going on a hike,” said team member Lauren Borja. Atomsphere’s target audience includes outdoor enthusiasts, influencers, and retailers who want to help people get back outside and feel safe in a post-COVID world.

“The nuclear field has never really linked these two communities— outdoorsists and nuclear activists.” Chantell Murphy

connect the dots

COVID changes how people interact outdoors.

Illustration of catastrophic risk in the outdoor community

We conducted a preliminary survey to understand how COVID-19 is impacting the outdoor community. Hiking trails are...

Trailheads are...

Summary of preliminary survey available at Atomsphere expo booth.

NEXT STEPS Build awareness of this effort within the larger N Square network and beyond. Turn Atomsphere into a self-sufficient, self-funded company within two years (launched as a 501c3 or a for-profit with a large charitable giving component). Long term, Atomsphere aspires to serve as a permanent bridge between the nuclear and outdoors communities.

connect the dots

NRICHED Empowering a new generation to tackle the world’s biggest problems through experiential learning THE OPPORTUNITY FELLOWS (Cohort 2)

Anne Harrington Tara Drozdenko Dan Esposito Kiran Lakkaraju Rives Matson Khushbu Sanghi Kate Hewitt Tom Weis Harry Jones

The general public remains relatively uninformed about nuclear weapons and the threat of nuclear war. What if educators had easy access to engaging, compelling materials on these issues? And what if nuclear experts took the lead in creating them, effectively forming a community of experts committed to sharing their knowledge with the world?

60 PROJECT

NRiched is an online marketplace platform that brings active and experiential learning resources into in-person and virtual classrooms. The platform invites educators and students to search for engaging content such as games, simulations, and curriculum modules on nuclear topics. It also facilitates connections between students, educators, and experts working in the field of peace and security, enabling teachers and professors to invite experts into the classroom, connect students with mentors, and help experts recruit the next generation. The NRiched platform aims to suit a wide range of needs, from government agencies in search of new exercises to practice or share to high-school teachers seeking projectbased curricula. “We want to inspire change, increase understanding of world issues, and be a go-to platform that is actionable and easy to understand,” explained NRiched co-creator Anne Harrington.

connect the dots

“It’s about converting all the clear anecdotal stories about what we want and need in this field into something of value in the space.” Anne Harrington

Specifically, the NRiched platform offers experiential learning resources (games, simulations, and other participatory activities) that are accessible and packaged in ways that are easy to implement in the classroom or in community. The platform also features a mentor portal— essentially, a database of nuclear experts who have signed up and are willing to be contacted as mentors or to be guest speakers in classrooms. It hopes also to include a jobs board, where experts who need to recruit into their organizations can post jobs for whatever they’re looking for.

U P D AT E NRiched has launched! NRiched was a Cohort 2 project and is now a year into development. Since presenting the NRiched prototype at the 2019 N Square Innovation Summit, five of the original eight team members continued to meet once a week and further develop their idea. They researched business models, and fundraised in order to bring the idea to life. With some additional funding, they were able to build the platform, move NRiched into beta, and add hundreds of experts to their roster. The team continues to recruit more experts to serve as mentors (highlynriched.com/signup).

How might sharing nuclear stories through multiple lenses and mediums create new knowledge and understanding?

63 M O D E R AT E D B Y : NSIN alumni Laicie Heeley and Ryan Beickert

TELL THE STORY The techno-strategic language that dominates the nuclear field moves conversation away from the human impacts of policies (or the failure to create them). Personal stories, grounded in experience and emotion, invite us into a deeper conversation. Human stories are a means through which we can highlight underserved voices, express deeply held viewpoints, and even change long-held notions of national security.

“A story has the power to change thinking. When people engage with story, they’re postured for change, learning, emotional experience.” Natasha Bajema

tell the story

AMERICAN DOOMSDAY Saving the world, one story at a time

THE OPPORTUNITY FELLOW Natasha Bajema

DESIGNERS Brian G. Payne Maria Alexia Platia

Stories have the power to change thinking, making them an ideal medium for shaping public opinion about nuclear weapons. But there have been few efforts to figure out what kinds of stories prove most compelling—both for raising awareness of the nuclear threat and for revealing the dangers of the status quo. “There are many stories we could tell about nuclear weapons,” Natasha Bajema, American Doomsday creator, said. “But what kind of stories have the most impact?”

66 PROJECT

Bajema spent 20 years in the nuclear risk reduction field, half of them as a professor at National Defense University, where she taught the popular elective course “Contemporary Issues in Countering WMD: Through the Filmmakers Lens” to senior military officers. She started each semester with a poll: Did nuclear deterrence work during the Cold War, or did we just get lucky? Invariably, most said that it worked. Then Bajema showed them Dr. Strangelove, Fail Safe, Thirteen Days, and The Day After, along with documentaries about nuclear weapons accidents. When she asked the same question about deterrence at the end of the semester, more than half had always changed their minds. “Each year, I became more convinced in the transformative power of story,” Bajema said. Before her N Square fellowship, Bajema spent three years trying to put onto the Department of Defense’s radar the potential impacts of artificial intelligence on WMD. Eventually, she decided to use a fictional scenario to open their imaginations to the possibilities:

A NUCLEAR SPIN CYCLE PRODUCTION MARIA ALEXIA PLATIA

SARAH FRAZAR

BRIAN PAYNE

BASED ON THE CLASSIC NOVEL BY NATASHA BAJEMA

The President has eight minutes and fifty-three seconds to decide

NUCLEAR SPIN CYCLE PRODUCTIONS IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE NSQUARE INNOVATORS NETWORK PRESENTS RESCIND ORDER DIRECTED BY NATASHA BAJEMA WITH MARIA ALEXIA PLATIA AND SARAH FRAZAR AND BRIAN PAYNE AND MARTIN PFEIFFER AND STEPHEN SCHWARTZ AND JAMIE WITHORNE SCREENPLAY BY DARREN COGAN PRODUCTION BY ERIKA GREGORY AND MORGAN MATTHEWS AND TOM WEIS

The year is 2033. Bilateral relations with China deteriorate to reach an all-time low. Chinese officials threaten to use nuclear weapons on social media over an escalating crisis in Hong Kong. Two Chinese nuclear-armed submarines go missing off the coast of Alaska. An automated command and control system detects an incoming sea-launched nuclear attack and sends out the retaliation order to US nuclear forces. The president now has 8 minutes and 53 seconds to rescind the order.

tell the story order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order order

denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ year order is 2033. denied_ order denied_ order The denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ Nuclear launch systems denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ enhanced with AI. order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ have orderbeen denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ ordergo denied_ order denied_ order denied_ What could possibly wrong? denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ A N U C order L E A R denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ S P Iorder N denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ C Y Corder LE denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ P R O D U Corder T I O N denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ NUCLEAR SPIN CYCLEdenied_ PRODUCTIONS IN order ASSOCIATION WITH THE NSQUARE INNOVATORS PRESENTS RESCIND ORDER denied_ order denied_ order denied_NETWORK order denied_ order denied_ denied_ DIRECTED order denied_ order denied_ orderANDdenied_ order denied_ BY NATASHA BAJEMA WITH MARIA ALEXIAorder PLATIA denied_ AND SARAH FRAZAR BRIAN PAYNE denied_ order AND denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ MARTIN PFEIFFER AND STEPHEN SCHWARTZ AND JAMIE WITHORNE denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ SCREENPLAY BY DARREN COGAN PRODUCTION BY ERIKA GREGORY AND MORGAN MATTHEWS AND TOM WEIS denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_ order denied_

RESCIND

ORDER

During her fellowship, Bajema turned that scenario into a published techno-thriller called Rescind Order. The book became the cornerstone of American Doomsday, a larger project exploring the power of stories to reduce nuclear risk. American Doomsday’s goal is to create entertaining and educational stories that challenge the status quo, “hook” a broader audience, and bring more attention to nuclear weapons issues. Rescind Order is told through three strong women protagonists, one of them the US president. Bajema plans to tell the same story several times through different genres, tones, and mediums, to test what sorts of messaging land with different audiences. She also plans to write a dark comedy where the Rescind Order story is told from the point of view of a curmudgeonly army colonel stuck working in the Pentagon basement, and to produce a graphic novel featuring a nuclear expert superhero called WMD Girl, targeting younger audiences.

Movie posters illustrating the effectiveness of using different tones in storytelling

NEXT STEPS Conduct/disseminate market research on regular consumers of fiction and entertainment, then use collected data to shape further stories about nuclear weapons and artificial intelligence. Ultimately, create a collaborative ecosystem where existing organizations use American Doomsday stories to hook, engage, and grow their audiences for change.

tell the story People tend to seek out information that reinforces their own point of view and discount opinions or information that conflicts with their beliefs. Overcoming that takes deliberate action and active listening that won’t happen on its own. Dan Pomeroy

I THINK YOU THINK The anti-debate for opposing opinions

THE OPPORTUNITY FELLOW Dan Pomeroy

DESIGNERS Megan Valanidas Elizabeth McAvoy

Illustration by Brian G. Payne

We’re living in a time of extreme polarization; there’s lots of talking at each other but very little listening. We know from social science that people tend to seek out information that supports their worldview while devaluing and ignoring information that challenges their beliefs. This cognitive bias has a significant effect on the functioning of society and distorts our ability to make evidence-based decisions. It’s possible to overcome this bias and change strongly held beliefs by creating environments that foster real listening.

70 Why did public opinion about marriage equality shift so fast? Because people from different social and identity groups became willing to talk about their contentious and sometimes uncomfortable opinions. “These everyday conversations got people out of their echo chambers, listening and thinking,” said I Think You Think creator Dan Pomeroy. “So how might we structure a conversation to force this kind of communication in issue areas where it isn’t happening on its own, in order to build empathy and depolarize some of these points of view?” PROJECT

I Think You Think is a conversation framework that helps people empathize across divided issue areas. The framework can be used in a variety of situations/formats to help people listen to opposing views and engage contrasting perspectives. As part of his fellowship, Pomeroy used the framework to create an I Think You Think podcast. Two guests present opposing views on a controversial issue, but instead of trying to win the argument, their goal is to understand and explain their counterpart’s perspective. It’s an “anti-debate,” Pomeroy explained. “Winning is being able to articulate the other person’s opinion, why they hold it, and what the underlying values are to that point of view.”

Support and opposition (y) for abortion over time (x)

Support and opposition (y) for the death penalty over time (x)

“Listening in this way can change perspectives.” Dan Pomeroy

Support and opposition (y) for marriage equality over time (x)

tell the story For his pilot podcast, Dan invited two guests with opposing views on defunding nukes, a divisive issue in the nuclear space. Instead of trying to counter or rebut each other’s positions, the guests engaged in active listening, asking questions to better understand the other’s point of view. Then they attempted to repeat back what they heard and explain the other person’s perspective and its origins. “The goal is to really get to the root of these issues and start from the basic principle of first understanding the differences and disagreements between both sides,” “I Think, You Think” Pomeroy explained. At the end, both guests reflected on “I Think, You Think” Ep. 001 [Defund the Nukes] Ep. 001 [Defund the Nukes] whether they felt heard, whether they learned anything, Streaming now in the Expo and whether their position changed in any way. Pomeroy It’s no longer enough to win the fight, Streaming now in the Exp o understanding the root of opposing perspectives sees policy issues cannot be advanced as key to both empathy and productive activism. “We without finding some common ground. really can’t make progress on major issues until we Having these conversations might open begin to work together,” he said. “I Think You Think is a a window to that world. conversation format to try to make that happen.”

NEXT STEPS Identify partners interested in further developing the I Think You Think podcast. Explore the creation of an active listening guide that individuals, teams, and organizations can use to get to the heart of what motivates opposing viewpoints, a website explaining to liberal audiences the motives and reasoning of conservatives who support nuclear weapons (motivation-based research that shows liberals are bad at predicting conservatives answers to moral values questions), and a workshop bringing together nuclear leaders with opposing views with the goal of understanding each other’s perspectives.

tell the story

BOMBSHELLTOE Changing the way we tell stories in the nuclear field

THE OPPORTUNITY FELLOW (Cohort 2)

Lovely Umayam

Illuminating Radioactivity

Policymakers and scientists and the bomb itself tend to be the main protagonists in nuclear stories, while other elements, including the land, become passive characters. As storyteller and NSIN Cohort 2 fellow Lovely Umayam put it: “As we think about using storytelling in our work, it’s critical to ask who gets to be the character in those stories, and who determines the protagonist. Who is writing that story? The answer ultimately informs larger policy issues, who gets to be remembered and memorialized, who becomes an expert, who gets to influence the future.”

74 PROJECT

Umayam, founder of Bombshelltoe Policy x Arts Collective, has been working on nuclear nonproliferation issues for a decade as a researcher, writer, and artist. She collaborates with scientists, communities, and other artists to tell nuclear stories in creative ways while highlighting voices, perspectives, and wisdom that dominant narratives often skip over. At the Innovation Summit, she shared her storytelling approach across three different projects. People are still largely uninformed about how much radiation is dangerous, as well as the various protective measures to reduce exposure. Atomic Sublime is a book about radiation that experiments with form. It deconstructs experience to mimic the idea of unfolding and discovery. As you learn about uranium mining in the Grand Canyon as well as the Nevada test site, the land is the protagonist. There are hidden primary sources between the pages, so that readers can study open source reports themselves. The book has been acquired by several museums and special collections.

Illuminating Radioactivity is Atomic Sublime’s companion website. It’s a digital exhibition that invites audiences to learn about radiation: what it is, when it can cause bodily harm, how to protect oneself, and how it permeates—physically and figuratively—everyday lives. Like Atomic Sublime, it blends policy, scientific, and creative expertise to produce interactive media that introduces the concept of radiation to new audiences in surprising ways.

A collaboration with Navajo community members, with the leadership of Navajo storyteller Sunny Dooley, Ways of Knowing is a film that lifts up indigenous perspectives, shares their lived experience with uranium mining, and values their expertise.

tell the story

Illuminating Radioactivity

“As I’m trying to change the way we tell stories in the nuclear field, it’s also transforming me, which is a gift.” Lovely Umayam

Running through Umayam’s work is a determination to highlight and interrogate the connection between land, lived experience, and nuclear bombs. During her first trip to Los Alamos in 2016, a tour guide told her that when Oppenheimer saw the area, he thought it was the perfect place for the secret location to build the bomb because it was so remote, and that maybe the beauty of the place would inspire the scientists. “As I heard that, I had a cognitive dissonance moment. How can someone believe that this landscape can inspire bomb making?”

76 Lovely Umayam, Illuminating Radioactivity

How might exploring new forms of action around nuclear and other intersectional issues unlock opportunities to bolster public engagement—and activate more people to do something?

79 M O D E R AT E D B Y : NSIN alumni Deepika Choudhary and Tim Maly

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT Three teams of C3 fellows tackled this challenge head-on through their projects. While these projects share a common goal, they are wildly different (but equally compelling) in approach and tone.

MMUN O IC C I AT

R AT

CH AND

#LickTheBomb

do something about it

/PREVENT NUCLEAR CATASTROPHE_

S.C.R.A.M. / MOVIES OF MASS DESTRUCTION Saving the world, one cat meme (or film chat) at a time THE OPPORTUNITY FELLOWS Martin Pfeiffer Stephen Schwartz

DESIGNERS Brian G. Payne Maria Alexia Platia

How you talk about nuclear weapons matters. But very little of what we know about how to talk about nuclear issues is being applied in the social media space. As the 2018 Unites States Strategic Command media strategy points out, content featuring pictures and links gets a lot more engagement. What if there were more—and more organized—efforts to design social media campaigns capable of delivering messages more powerfully and with more influence? Films are another powerful medium for communicating the threats posed by nuclear weapons. How might bringing together different audiences to view and discuss nuclear-themed films influence public understanding of nuclear threat?

82 PROJECT

This team prototyped two projects. The first is S.C.R.A.M., which stands for Strategic Communication, Research, and Memes. S.C.R.A.M. aims to reduce nuclear weapons risks by working with nuclear experts and activists to develop and deploy strategic communications capabilities and meme skills designed to enhance the reach, circulation, and effectiveness of nuclear disarmament, risk reduction, and nonproliferation messages. Members will work with other organizations and groups to create content that enhances the spread and effect of their social media reach. The S.C.R.A.M. core community will have access to a range of resources and research about strategic communication, including a bank of images and other meme making tools; they will also have the ability to discuss, analyze, and plan strategic messages with other S.C.R.A.M. members. Not surprisingly, given its meme focus, S.C.R.A.M. aims to bring humor to this effort, recognizing that some of the best memes make people snigger and often involve cats. “Brilliantly made cat memes can make people want to learn more about nuclear risk,” said S.C.R.A.M. co-creator Martin Pfeiffer. “No tweet about nuclear war without cat feet! Not every one will be about cats, but they will all be fun.”

/SYSTEM COMPONENTS_

R A N G E O F TAC T I C S + SK I LL S COMMUNIT Y CONSTRUCTING CA PA B I LI T Y B U I LD I N G R E S O U R C E SH A R I N G

/CAPABILITIES_

C O N T E N T C R E AT I O N C O N T E N T E VA LUAT I O N CONTENT DISTRIBUTION

“Humor has a variety of communicative functions that can be mobilized in subtle or obvious ways. It’s been underused.” Marty Pfeiffer

do something about it

Together we will:

increase the reach, engagement, and effects of nonproliferation, disarmament, and peace messages by developing and leveraging amazing strategic communication, research, and meme skills amongst people working to reduce nuclear weapon risks.

CO M M U N

TIO CA N

STRA TE

We will both create content and complement that of our allies, partners, and friends.

H AND M

MEME PRODUCTION COMMUNITY

RESEARCH + RESOURCES

TACTICS: GET INVOLVED!

MOVIES OF MASS DESCRUCTION

/PROTOTYPE_

M O V I E S O F M AS S D E S T R U C T I O N DR. STRANGELOVE

How A Dark Comedy Came Alarmingly Close to the Truth A N A LYSI S BY ST E PH E N S CH WA R T Z

BR O W S E R ES O U R CE LI BR AR Y

UPCOMI NG VI RTUAL SCREENI NGS

SUM OF ALL FEARS J U LY 8 8 P M

THE DAY AFTER

Gathering Together to Watch the End of the World A N A LYSI S BY ST E PH E N S CH WA R T Z

DIscuss the cultural impact of the film and the nature of the nuclear threat today and what we can all do to address it.

WAR GAMES

Game Over for Nuclear War A N A LYSI S BY ST E PH E N S CH WA R T Z

The second project is Movies of Mass Destruction, a curated film series combining screenings of films about nuclear weapons and nuclear war with lively post-screening discussions. Building on previous N Square projects, Movies of Mass Destruction will bring together filmmakers, policymakers, nuclear experts, and interested citizens to watch and discuss some of the best and most influential nuclear-themed films, with the twin goals of better appreciating how these movies reflect and influence public understanding of nuclear threat and building a more informed and engaged citizenry to demand real change to the nuclear status quo. Audiences will come away entertained, informed, and eager to remain engaged on these issues. “The idea is for it to be very social, and to have rollicking discussion,” said co-creator Stephen Schwartz. Tying back to S.C.R.A.M., they will also build a library of cinematic still images and GIFs to facilitate meme creation and other forms of visual and written nuclear commentary via social media.

“Most people don’t study nuclear issues in school. They glean their knowledge of nuclear weapons from television and film.” Stephen Schwartz

MEME PRODUCTION COMMUNITY

RESEARCH + RESOURCES

do something about it MOVIES OF

TACTICS: GET INVOLVED!

MASS DESCRUCTION

/PROTOTYPE_

M EM E B A NK A PL ACE WHERE FOLK CAN SHARE , VOTE , DISCUSS, AND DESIGN MEMES

❤430 ➜120 12

NEXT STEPS Explore potential partnerships for both concepts and the funding and expertise to promote them. Seek expertise in building a website to serve as a portal to host memes and other strategic communication resources discussions, film clips, interviews, and related materials.

SEND YOUR RESE ARCH ARE A AND OUR DILIGENT FELINES WILL TRANSFORM IT INTO A SHARABLE FEAST MEME PRODUCTION COMMUNIT Y NUCLEAR NUKES NUKING NUCUMBERS NUCLEARING

RESEARCH AND R E S O U RFCIERSE A W AY

UPLOAD DOCUMENT

TA C T I C S : G E T I N V O LV E D ! MOVIES OF MASS DESCRUCTION

“It’s not easy to find creative entry points into the field. It’s time for us to reach outside the box, bring in people from other movements.” Andrew Facini

do something about it

*Human-Centered Action: Prioritizing the personal experiences, impacts and motivating beliefs of those affected by our current system and those taking action.

COALESCE Fostering a broader, stronger anti-nuclear movement built on human-centered action THE OPPORTUNITY FELLOWS Colleen Moore Andrew Facini

DESIGNERS Megan Valanidas Elizabeth McAvoy

Illustration by Brian G. Payne

The nuclear risk reduction field, with its siloed expert community, can feel inaccessible to outsiders. The absence of creative entry points prevents a lot of talented people from getting involved. One way to change this dynamic, and create new pathways for participation, is to link the nuclear risk reduction field to a broader range of voices and movements, creating a larger, intersectional community of action.

88 PROJECT

Coalesce is an online network and resource hub that aims to build a stronger movement against nuclear weapons by connecting nuclear risk reduction professionals with experts and activists in other movements and fields, illuminating the intersections of their work, and having them work together to identify common needs. “We’re not simply recruiting people into the nuclear field, but trying to broaden how we see the nuclear field itself,” explained Coalesce co-creator Colleen Moore. “We’re aiming to build a fundamentally new understanding of how people can get involved in nuclear risk reduction.” Coalesce members will cross-pollinate and lend their efforts to other really good movements, in service of moving all of them forward. Coalesce is grounded in the concept of human-centered action—prioritizing the personal experiences, impacts, and motivating beliefs of those affected by current systems and policies rather than on decisions made at the highest levels of government that are far removed from everyday experience. In this way, Coalesce seeks to operationalize research showing the need to make nuclear issues feel more proximate and relevant. “Our field needs to be doing a better job of connecting the dangers of nuclear weapons to issues that are more familiar and part of our lived experience,” said Coalesce co-creator Andrew Facini. “If we’re not connecting nuclear threat to people’s everyday lives, we cannot forge a strong anti-nuclear movement.” And if we’re not connecting it to other issues, that’s more missed opportunity. “The core of our project is the mutuality we want to foster—the idea of mutual respect and understanding between different causes.”

t Artist-Led Conten

ry Experts interdisciplina _FUTURISTS _JOURNALISTS _ANTHROPOLOGISTS _ETHICISTS ...

_BARBARA KRUGER _CAI GUO QIANG _YOYOI KUSAMA _AI WEI WEI ...

Humans

Multimedia _VIDEOS _PODCASTS _SOCIAL MEDIA _BLOG

ENGAGING HUMANS New Voices

Collaborative Entry Points

Interdisciplinary Content Experts Connecting People Providing Resources Identifying Needs

do something about it

Human Centered Action

INTERSECTIONS Nuclear Weapons Economy

COALESCE

Challenging Fragility, [Call for Entry] Curated by Artist CAI GUO QIANG

Misson Get Involved TL;DR Calls for Entry The Roundup

Social Security Climate Crisis Technology All entries must be submitted by 11:59 pm (EST) 4 July 2020. (Courtesy of Science Gallery, Systems Call for Submissions)

CALL FOR ENTRY In a time of heightened global crisis, the systems that shape our world are becoming increasingly fragile. While ecosystems are being destroyed, political processes are being manipulated, economic structures exploited and personal networks eroded, all of which are

“We can’t fearmonger. We need to acknowledge that a better world is possible.” Colleen Moore

Through its hub and network, Coalesce will create an open coalition around human-centered action, bringing activists and experts from diverse fields and issue areas together to explore what their movements have in common and to develop projects that light up those intersections. In the near term, measurable effects of this project include more intersectional work being done across issues, clearer connections between nuclear risk reduction and other progressive issues, and a more engaged public. Longer term, the Coalesce team hopes to establish a strong and diverse anti-nuclear movement, with nuclear weapons becoming a central and actiondemanding issue in the broader political conversation.

do something about it

MONEY V. DEATH Making existential threats less existential

THE OPPORTUNITY FELLOWS Danielle McLaughlin Niamh Healy David Epstein Nathan Phillips

DESIGNERS THAT (Technology, Humans And Taste): Nathan Phillips Cameron High Julia Gorbarch

People don’t donate to things they don’t care about—and they don’t care about things they don’t understand. More often than not, nuclear dangers fall into that category. “The nuclear threat is massive, scary, and existential. It is not proximate. The threat just feels too far away,” said Money V. Death team member Danielle McLaughlin. Yet significant opportunity exists to create that proximity and engage new audiences. One unexplored approach: getting “right up in your face” about the nuclear threat.

92 PROJECT

Money V. Death (MVD) aspires to do what any super effective charity does—attract donations and prevent the apocalypse in all potential manifestations. MVD will attract its donations through powerful, provocative social media campaigns that force audiences to comprehend the gravity of the nuclear threat. An example? A video campaign featuring a cute dog resting on a pile of soft blankets, accompanied by the caption: “If we don’t raise $50,000, this dog will be exposed to nuclear radiation.” Inspiring visceral reactions is the intention. “People may feel mad, or excited, but they will feel something,” said MVD team member Nathan Phillips. The cute dog isn’t in danger, of course. But the point is that it will be— we all will be—at some point if nothing is done about the nuclear threat. Every donation causes the timer to go up, giving the dog more time. “It’s like the United Way thermometer, but it’s built for virality and it gives you the sweats,” said Phillips. “It makes you want to donate.”

“This idea is a disrupter in the nuclear space. It’s like the biker gang of nuclear. There is a provocation about MVD that I think sets it apart from almost anything else we see in the nuclear space.” Danielle McLaughlin

do something about it

94 Another MVD campaign made for virality: Nuke-a-Friend, where you can make a micro-donation to send a vial of (not real) radioactive material to someone you care about (“Light up a friend’s day!”). For a small donation, that friend can redirect it to another friend rather than receive it themselves. MVD will also call on experts to help educate people about nuclear risk by contributing small sharable factoids, built as social-ready assets, that will live on its website. There will also be a newsletter for keeping people interested and informed, as well as a shop featuring merchandise that is equally provocative, like Money V. Death t-shirts and glow-in-the-dark dog treats (“They’re radiating with flavor!”). Said McLaughlin: “We’re looking to attract people who maybe even hadn’t thought about nuclear issues before but are probably young, probably socially conscious, probably interested in cool t-shirts.”

“We want it to induce fear and feel dangerous.” Nathan Phillips

do something about it The MVD team’s long-term goal is to build steady awareness and activism over time. “It’s not like the ice bucket challenge, which made everybody know about ALS for a short, brief moment,” explained Phillips. “This is consistent action.” Imagine a street team of activists in New York City’s Union Square, carrying iPads with an augmented reality layer that shows what Union Square would look like after a nuclear event. All of MVD’s efforts will be in service of making the nuclear threat real and proximate. And they’ll distribute whatever money they earn to other provocateurs in the nuclear space. Said Danielle McLaughlin: “We want to provoke, make people think, activate them, and ultimately bring more funding into the space.”

NEXT STEPS Consider operationalizing as a 5013c or 501c4 nonprofit. Explore models for fundraising, including traditional small-dollar recurring donations (street teams), partnerships with gaming or payment apps (Fortnite, Venmo), partnerships with financial organizations (“keep the change” giving, branded credit cards), brand partnerships (cosmetics, sunscreen), and at a very basic level, merchandise (t-shirts).

COHORT

PASSING THE TORCH

INNOVATING INWARD A new cohort of NSIN fellows is designing breakthrough solutions to several field-wide challenges In September 2020, a new cohort of fellows joined the N Square Innovators Network. The 32 fellows are a mix of current and emerging leaders in the fields of nuclear nonproliferation, security, disarmament, and/or arms control. They hail from several countries and represent more than a dozen organizations. Nineteen of the fellows are women, many of them spearheading efforts to elevate women’s voices in the field. While all three prior NSIN cohorts have generated a range of creative projects designed to advance the field’s mission—from forging new routes for engaging the

98 public in nuclear issues, to leveraging emerging analytics to track threats to humanity, to creating pathways for connecting educators to nuclear experts and curricula— this new cohort has a slightly different brief. They’ll be advancing the field’s mission by turning their collective energy toward critical issues internal to the field. As N Square’s 2019 Greater Than report revealed, basic challenges within the field are serving to inhibit its ability to innovate, collaborate, and attract and retain the best and brightest minds on the planet. The report surfaced the need and the opportunity to reimagine the nuclear risk reduction field in four key areas:

1 2 3 4

How might we redesign the culture and structures of work to enhance cooperation and improve outcomes, in the COVID-19 world and beyond? How might the field begin to practice hiring and advancement with a DEI lens, valuing new and different types of professional and cultural competencies? How might we ensure that the field has a shared definition of excellence in leadership and develops the best pathways for mentorship? How might we build the field’s capacity to operate as a cooperative and collaborative system by creating (and training) crossorganization, cross-function teams that work together on projects?

passing the torch

Working virtually and in teams, the fellows are exploring strategies for driving change in these four areas, developing their best ideas into prototypes that can be operationalized. Each team has access to expert consultants in fields related to the four topics as well as a host of facilitators, designers, and creative professionals well-suited to realizing the teams’ ideas and goals. Several fellows will then pilot their prototypes within their organizations in early 2021, sharing their preliminary findings with the rest of the community in March 2021 at the next N Square Innovators Summit. The hope is that tackling these issues head-on will help strengthen the field at its foundations, ultimately accelerating the ability to innovate, collaborate, and deliver on its most audacious goals. Stay tuned!

100 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A big thank you to all our Cohort 3 fellows for all of their hard work during this extraordinary time. Thank you to our alumni fellows, partners, and funders for being an integral part of our rich network. We’d like to give an especially massive thanks to the design and ops teams who made our first fully remote N Square Innovation Summit possible: Donna Broughan Lisa DeYoung Jenny Johnston Sara Kutchesfahani Myrna Newcomb

Adam Bowen Elizabeth McAvoy Brian G. Payne Maria Alexia Platia Scott Sell Megan Valanidas Tom Weis

T H E I N N O V AT O R S N E T W O R K S P E C I F I C A L LY R E A C H E S O U T S I D E THE SECTOR TO BUILD BRIDGES WITH OTHER FIELDS. WE ENCOUR AGE NUCLE AR SECURIT Y E X P E R T S T O W O R K I N N E W W AY S AND TO ACCE SS NEW IDE A S T H AT W I L L H E L P T H E M A C H I E V E N U C L E A R S E C U R I T Y G O A L S . AT T H E SAME TIME, WE SUPPORT NONEXPERTS TO EXPLORE AND SHAPE N A R R AT I V E S A B O U T N U C L E A R WEAPONS AND GLOBAL SECURITY T O E N G A G E A N E W G E N E R AT I O N .

nsquare.org

CO Powering a network of innovators committed to ending the nuclear threat. UNLIKELY PARTNERSHIPS. BREAKTHROUGH IDEAS. WORLD-CHANGING PROJECTS.