Annie Jacobsen

When, you know, you do as I'm the kind of author that just does interviews and interviews and interviews and reading and research. And then then you find the aha moment and then you understand a certain point in the narrative where that aha moment lives, exists. And then you almost reverse and reverse engineer everything from there. And that was for me.

When, you know, you do as I'm the kind of author that just does interviews and interviews and interviews and reading and research. And then then you find the aha moment and then you understand a certain point in the narrative where that aha moment lives, exists. And then you almost reverse and reverse engineer everything from there. And that was for me.

When, you know, you do as I'm the kind of author that just does interviews and interviews and interviews and reading and research. And then then you find the aha moment and then you understand a certain point in the narrative where that aha moment lives, exists. And then you almost reverse and reverse engineer everything from there. And that was for me.

doing an interview with retired general Robert Keillor, who was the commander of STRATCOM. Right. And then at one point I said, just cutting right to that question that you kind of don't want to ask, but have to ask, which is what would happen in a full scale nuclear exchange with Russia? And the general said to me, Annie, the world could end in the next couple of hours. And it was just a boom.

doing an interview with retired general Robert Keillor, who was the commander of STRATCOM. Right. And then at one point I said, just cutting right to that question that you kind of don't want to ask, but have to ask, which is what would happen in a full scale nuclear exchange with Russia? And the general said to me, Annie, the world could end in the next couple of hours. And it was just a boom.

doing an interview with retired general Robert Keillor, who was the commander of STRATCOM. Right. And then at one point I said, just cutting right to that question that you kind of don't want to ask, but have to ask, which is what would happen in a full scale nuclear exchange with Russia? And the general said to me, Annie, the world could end in the next couple of hours. And it was just a boom.

And I went, oh, my God, this is coming from the STRATCOM commander. And I knew that was both the end of the third act before nuclear winter and the moment that it all begins. Because... The sort of inescapable nature of nuclear war is what terrifies all of us. And the second moment was I'm also a television writer. For example, I wrote the Amazon series Jack Ryan.

And I went, oh, my God, this is coming from the STRATCOM commander. And I knew that was both the end of the third act before nuclear winter and the moment that it all begins. Because... The sort of inescapable nature of nuclear war is what terrifies all of us. And the second moment was I'm also a television writer. For example, I wrote the Amazon series Jack Ryan.

And I went, oh, my God, this is coming from the STRATCOM commander. And I knew that was both the end of the third act before nuclear winter and the moment that it all begins. Because... The sort of inescapable nature of nuclear war is what terrifies all of us. And the second moment was I'm also a television writer. For example, I wrote the Amazon series Jack Ryan.

When you're writing TV, you learn about what's called a B story. And you have to have a B story in there to make sure that people don't leave the television set and go do their laundry. I'm talking literal and figuratively and literally. And so I learned narratively that that's a wise approach because I want readers to stay with me.

When you're writing TV, you learn about what's called a B story. And you have to have a B story in there to make sure that people don't leave the television set and go do their laundry. I'm talking literal and figuratively and literally. And so I learned narratively that that's a wise approach because I want readers to stay with me.

When you're writing TV, you learn about what's called a B story. And you have to have a B story in there to make sure that people don't leave the television set and go do their laundry. I'm talking literal and figuratively and literally. And so I learned narratively that that's a wise approach because I want readers to stay with me.

I write about really complex, deeply disturbing, esoteric, you might say, concepts that you guys are familiar with because these are your careers. But most Americans... don't, can't, won't, et cetera. How do you make it interesting for them? So in seeking a B story, I thought,

I write about really complex, deeply disturbing, esoteric, you might say, concepts that you guys are familiar with because these are your careers. But most Americans... don't, can't, won't, et cetera. How do you make it interesting for them? So in seeking a B story, I thought,

I write about really complex, deeply disturbing, esoteric, you might say, concepts that you guys are familiar with because these are your careers. But most Americans... don't, can't, won't, et cetera. How do you make it interesting for them? So in seeking a B story, I thought,

well, goodness, you know, this is going to be very interesting when I find out how continuity of government works, how the president is rushed out of the White House and how he'll wind up at Raven Rock, which is actually the alternate nuclear command and control center from the Pentagon. You guys know that. Readers don't know that. It's a real place. It's not just in movies.

well, goodness, you know, this is going to be very interesting when I find out how continuity of government works, how the president is rushed out of the White House and how he'll wind up at Raven Rock, which is actually the alternate nuclear command and control center from the Pentagon. You guys know that. Readers don't know that. It's a real place. It's not just in movies.

well, goodness, you know, this is going to be very interesting when I find out how continuity of government works, how the president is rushed out of the White House and how he'll wind up at Raven Rock, which is actually the alternate nuclear command and control center from the Pentagon. You guys know that. Readers don't know that. It's a real place. It's not just in movies.

You know, Bill Perry had spoken of it. So I called up Obama's former FEMA director, Craig Fugate. And in our interviews, I asked him, you know, I just confirmed you guys prepare for nuclear war, correct? And he said, oh, yes, it is what is called a low probability, high consequence event. Wow. He said, we also prepare for asteroid strikes. Wow. Wow. Okay.

You know, Bill Perry had spoken of it. So I called up Obama's former FEMA director, Craig Fugate. And in our interviews, I asked him, you know, I just confirmed you guys prepare for nuclear war, correct? And he said, oh, yes, it is what is called a low probability, high consequence event. Wow. He said, we also prepare for asteroid strikes. Wow. Wow. Okay.