Annie Jacobsen

speaker

473 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Aug 2026 last heard 4 Aug

Annie Jacobsen’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 1.

Appearances

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Talking Scared · 289 – Annie Jacobsen & Be Afraid… Be Very Afraid · 4 Aug 2026 podcast

How do you balance that with like this sweeping dramatic narrative? voice-verified

And the North Star moment was I was asked to come to the UN and I was asked to give a 16 minute presentation from the podium to all the diplomats, 180, 190 some odd diplomats. voice-verified

Yes. voice-verified

And there was a small reception afterwards. voice-verified

And one of the lead diplomats from Austria who wrote the treaty on nuclear weapons said to me, Annie, you... voice-verified

You were able to do something that the rest of us subject matter experts forgot, and that is to keep it simple and to keep it narrative. voice-verified

And in the world in which we live, where we all have a zillion things to do, I think it's the journalist's role, at least my role, to keep it simple, keep it dramatic, keep your attention, let you get to the end and decide what you think about all this. voice-verified

Absolutely. voice-verified

And I try to people my stories with, you know, these high ranking government officials who have direct access to the president, but also like people like the janitor or the nurse in the homeless clinic who's dealing with the man in the green Crocs and the dog that you said. voice-verified

And those are based on real interviews I do with real people so that I really, you get a sense of, you know, at the highest level of government you have voice-verified

I think you hit the nail on the head that I'm raising that exact question, which is what comes next? voice-verified

What comes next in terms of a leader? voice-verified

And of course, the president being so important voice-verified

in any of these scenarios because you realize really quickly, same as in nuclear war scenario. voice-verified

I mean, the president has sole presidential authority in nuclear war. voice-verified

He launches nuclear weapons at his own behest. voice-verified

He does not ask permission of anyone. voice-verified

not the Secretary of Defense, not the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, not the Congress. voice-verified

And in bio, when you have ultimately the declaration of what's called COG CON 1, which is Continuity of Government Readiness Condition 1, it's the equivalent of DEFCON 1 for the military. voice-verified

And that's when your devolution crews have to spread out and you've got the Insurrection Act. voice-verified

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