Communications Director Anna Schumann wrote an op-ed in Inkstick about how an episode of The West Wing about the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty that aired 20 years ago is still unfortunately resonant today.
“Like so many others working in Washington amid the stresses of our current political climate, I recently decided to retreat to the fantasy political world that is The West Wing, just in time for the HBO Max special episode premiering today. Episode 6 of season 2 — The Lame Duck Congress — was one I’d never thought much about before I started working in nuclear weapons policy three years ago. It focused on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty (CTBT), which bans all forms of nuclear testing. This episode actually aired about a year after the real US Senate voted against the treaty on Oct. 13, 1999. Twenty years later, the treaty is still languishing and the episode still resonates in an uncomfortable way.” Read more
