In First Joint Appearance, Noam Chomsky and Daniel Ellsberg to Talk Nuclear War

Appearing on the stage for the first time together, noted intellectual and activist Noam Chomsky and Daniel Ellsberg, the celebrated whistleblower who leaked the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War, will appear at the University of Arizona on Tuesday night to discuss an issue both have studied at length over their storied careers: nuclear war.

Hosted by The Intercept, and moderated by the outlet's editor-in-chief Betsy Reed, the talk will be livestreamed beginning at 10 PM ET (7:00 PM local time) here.

A longtime faculty member at MIT, Chomsky recently took a professorship at UA. The event is co-sponsored by the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice, which helped fund Chomsky's position at the university.

The event takes place following the recent publication of Ellsberg's new book, titled The Doomsday Machine:Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner—an account of the dangers of America's top secret, 70-year-long nuclear policy.

"Nuclear war has been a constant, unsettling presence, with an unthinkable outcome, since the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945," said John Paul Jones III, dean of the university's College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. "The reality today is even harder to grasp. Scientists predict that the detonation of even so-called 'regional' bombs would cause widespread global famine through nuclear winter."

Jones said it was exciting to bring Ellsberg and Chomsky, longtime friends, together for the first time. "The fact that Noam and Dan share a history related to the Pentagon Papers will certainly add a historical significance to the event," he said.

Watch it live: