Eric Schlosser speaks tonight at Vancouver Writers Fest about sloppy handling of nuclear weapons

Yesterday, the Guardian published an interview with U.S. investigative journalist Eric Schlosser about his new book, Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Incident, and the Illusion of Safety.

It came in the same month as a U.S. general overseeing intercontinental missiles was fired. The U.S. air force also recently revealed that a blast door—designed to keep unauthorized people out of an underground command post— was left open twice this year.

Schlosser expressed surprise to Guardian journalist Ed Pilkington that these problems continue occurring.

"In 2007, after half a dozen thermonuclear weapons went missing for a day, without anyone at the air force even realizing it, secretary of defense Robert Gates took some strong action," Schlosser told Pilkington. Two top air-force officials were fired at that time.

Fans of the Vancouver Writers Fest might consider this Guardian article an hors d'oeuvre for this evening's conversation between Schlosser and CBC Radio On The Coast host Stephen Quinn. It takes place at the Frederic Wood Theatre on UBC's Point Grey campus.

Schlosser is best known for Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness, and also appeared in a documentary about McDonald's called Super Size Me.

As a result, he has has sometimes been hassled at public-speaking events by supporters of the fast-food industry.

Below, you can watch a BBC debate between Schlosser and a McDonald's executive, which took place in 2006.