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Playlist: Hiroshima & Nagasaki

Compiled By: PRX Editors

Curated Playlist

The atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9) in 1945.

Below are picks chosen by PRX editorial staff. You can see all potential pieces for Hiroshima and Nagasaki by using our search.

Hour (49:00-1:00:00)

HV Special: Mushroom Cloud (Atomic Age)

From Hearing Voices | Part of the Hearing Voices series | 58:59

Tales from the Atomic Age

Atomic150_small MUSHROOM CLOUD, a HearingVoices Special. For the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bomb (Aug 6 1945), HearingVoices offers the radio special "Mushroom Cloud," hosted by Larry Massett: * "Atomic Age" documents in political speeches and popular songs our changing attitudes towards weapons of mass destruction. * "Downwinder Diaries" by Claes Andreasson are personal accounts from people who lived downwind from the Nevada and Utah nuclear bomb tests, when the big red clouds drifted across the desert and into their towns. * Antenna Theater's "Enola Alone" is interviews with World War II bomber pilots, Japanese and English bombing survivors, and Colonel Paul Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay mission over Hiroshima. * Poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti performs "Wild Dreams of a New Beginning, produced for radio by KPFA's Erik Bauersfeld (Bay Area Radio Drama). * And we hear the national premiere of Scott Carrier's new story from his cross-country trip asking people: "What Are You Afraid Of?" CONTACT: Creative PR http://creativepublicity.com Kathy Gronau 888.233-5650 LENGTH: 59:00, including 1:00 station break. Audio promo is 0:30. Note: Their are two versions of the first half. At 9:57 in Half1 is the word "shit". This is bleeped out in the clean edit.

What good are these things for?: The pragmatic push to eliminate nuclear weapons

From A World of Possibilities | 55:00

Many former hawks are now drafting a plan for the phased, decades-long elimination of nuclear weapons, while U.S. relations with Russia, China, and Iran continue to sour. These countervailing trends could adversely affect new opportunities for nuclear disarmament.

Trident_small Many former hawks are now drafting a plan for the phased, decades-long elimination of nuclear weapons, while U.S. relations with Russia, China, and Iran continue to sour. These countervailing trends could adversely affect new opportunities for nuclear disarmament. This program assesses these new opportunities and the best ways of overcoming the obstacles to exploiting them.

#130 - Hiroshima Remix

From HowSound | 45:20

If you want to re-broadcast an old doc from 20 years ago but you don't like a lot of the writing, the mix, and the voicing, what do you do? If you're John Biewen, you re-do it! On this episode of HowSound, a comparison of the old and the new version of John's "Hiroshima Remembered" plus the doc in its entirety.

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I cried when I listened to John Biewen’s piece, “Hiroshima Revisited.” I’m a child of the Cold War who clearly remembers the moment in the late 1970s when it suddenly occurred to me I could be blown up at any time, by people I didn’t know, for a reason I couldn’t justify. It made me very angry.

I vividly recall the dreams, too, though I should call them nightmares. Standing on the top floor of a skyscraper, seeing the flash, and feeling the floor give way under my feet. Or, riding in a boat in the ocean and looking back to the coast to see a row of mushroom clouds in a neon sky. Or, a visit to a hospital where the floors were covered with bodies.

So, the bombing of Hiroshima – the beginning of the Cold War – looms large for me even though I wasn’t there.

These days, the Cold War has subsided even though both the US and the Russians are still armed to the teeth. The nuclear angst I felt as a teen and later in my 20s and 30s and even my 40s has subsided. But, it all came back, quickly, hearing “Hiroshima Revisited” and the voices of hibakusha , Japanese for “bomb-effected people.”

“Hiroshima Revisited” was originally produced by John Biewen in 1995 for the 50th anniversary of the bombing. John was a reporter at Minnesota Public Radio at the time.

With President Obama’s historic visit to Hiroshima earlier this year, John dusted off the documentary to feature it on his podcast Scene on Radio . But, when he listened, there was a lot he didn’t care for in the writing, the mix, and pacing. His production sensibilities had changed over the years. But, rather than let the piece be, John re-wrote, re-mixed, and re-voiced it. There’s a lot to glean from his new choices.

On this episode of HowSound, we compare John’s old work with the new and we feature the 2016 production in its entirety.


Half-Hour (24:00-30:00)

Lessons of Nagasaki

From Making Contact | Part of the Making Contact series | 29:01

The US dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. Three days later, Nagasaki also fell victim. On this edition, we commemorate the anniversary of the bombings with excerpts from two documentaries, “Hiroshima Countdown” and “Nagasaki Journey.”

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The US dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. Three days later, the small fishing village of Nagasaki also fell victim. On this edition, we hear the voices and lessons of the most deadly attacks the world had ever seen.  We commemorate the anniversary of the bombings with excerpts from two documentaries, “Hiroshima Countdown” and “Nagasaki Journey.”

RN Documentary : Building the Bomb

From Radio Netherlands Worldwide | Part of the RN Documentaries series | 29:30

Joseph Rotblat explains how he came to work on the first atomic bomb.

10914879_small The detonation of the first atomic bomb on August 6th 1945 marked the start of a deadly new race for military supremacy. The blast in Hiroshima, Japan was the largest the world had ever seen and was trumpeted as a victory of ingenuity – indeed some of the world’s greatest scientists worked on it. One of them was Joseph Rotblat - a man who has spent the last 50 years trying to prevent the use of the weapon he helped create.

Imperial Ambitions

From Voices of Our World | 27:59

Leading nuclear specialist and peace campaigner Joseph Gerson talks about how the United States has used nuclear weapons to bolster its imperial ambitions and to preserve its global empire.

Josephgerson_small Part One: Imperial Ambitions Since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, each and every U.S. president has threatened nuclear war at some point during their presidency. Join us as we speak with leading nuclear specialist and peace campaigner Joseph Gerson about how the United States has used nuclear weapons to bolster its imperial ambitions --- and how the United States uses them today to preserve its global empire. That's today on Voices of Our World. Part Two: Imperial Ambitions (II) In a speech delivered at world conference against atomic & hydrogen bombs in Hiroshima & Nagasaki, Japan on august 3, 2007, Joseph Gerson said the following: "my argument is not that U.S. use and threatened use of nuclear weapons have always succeeded. Instead, successive U.S. presidents, their most senior advisers, and many in the pentagon have believed that U.S. use of nuclear weapons has achieved U.S. goals in the past. Furthermore, these presidents have repeatedly replicated this ostensibly successful model. In fact, the U.S. commitment to nuclear dominance and its practice of threatening nuclear attacks have, in fact, been counterproductive, increasing the dangers of nuclear war in yet another way: spurring nuclear weapons proliferation. No nation will long tolerate what it experiences as an unjust imbalance of power. It was primarily for this reason that the Soviet Union and China, North Korea, and quite probably Iran opted for nuclear weapons." We now continue our interview with leading nuclear specialist and peace campaigner Joseph Gerson about his newest book Empire and the Bomb.


Segments (9:00-23:59)

Nuclear Plowshares

From Gabriel Spitzer | 14:33

Here is the story of a government program that used nukes to excavate a deep-water harbor in Alaska; and how a small group of Eskimos turned back the feds, secured their own land and changed the global environmental movement.

Default-piece-image-2 The story of a government program to use nukes to excavate a deep-water harbor in Alaska. And how a small group of Eskimos turned back the feds, secured their own land and changed the global environmental movement. Host lede: After the destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, many Americans began having second thoughts about the atomic bomb. In response, scientists and public officials set about putting a happy face on nuclear technology, promising that the atom would do more than just win wars, it would improve people?s lives. But they didn?t always tell the whole story, as one group of Alaskans found out. Reporter Gabriel Spitzer has more on the U-S plan to turn its swords into plowshares.


Drop-Ins (2:00-4:59)

Last Witness: Mission to Hiroshima

From Radio Diaries | Part of the Last Witness series | 04:44

On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. It was the first time a nuclear weapon had been used in warfare. Russell Gackenbach was a second lieutenant and a navigator on the Necessary Evil. Today, he is the only surviving member of the mission.

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On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. It was the first time a nuclear weapon had been used in warfare. There were three strike planes that flew over Hiroshima that day: the Enola Gay which carried the bomb, and two observation planes, the Great Artiste and the Necessary Evil. But most of the 34 crew-members didn’t know that they were carrying the most powerful weapon in the world. Russell Gackenbach was a second lieutenant and a navigator on the Necessary Evil. Today, he is the only surviving member of the mission.

Hiroshima - What We Think

From Richard Paul | 06:32

How American public opinion has changed in the 60 years since Hiroshima

Laxcartoon_small In the first days after atomic bombs were dropped, 86% of Americans thought it was the right thing to do. By the 60th anniversary of the bombings, the nation was split 47/46. This story takes a look at what brought us to this change in thinking by looking at what Americans saw, heard and read in the intervening years.

This I Believe - Harry Truman

From This I Believe | Part of the Edward R. Murrow's This I Believe series | 04:22

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. Born and raised in Missouri, Truman was a farmer, businessman, World War I veteran and U.S. Senator. As President, his order to drop atomic bombs on Japan helped end World War II.

479pxharrytruman_small Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. Born and raised in Missouri, Truman was a farmer, businessman, World War I veteran and U. S. Senator. As President, his order to drop atomic bombs on Japan helped end World War II. TRANSCRIPT: I believe in a moral code based on the Ten Commandments found in the 20th chapter of Exodus, and in the fifth, sixth and seventh chapters of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, which is the Sermon on the Mount. I believe a man ought to live by those precepts, which, if followed, will enable a man to do right. I don?t know whether I have or not, but I have tried. I believe that the fundamental basis for a happy life with family and friends is to treat others as you would like to be treated, speak truthfully, act honorably and keep commitments to the letter. In public life I have always believed that right will prevail. It has been my policy to obtain the facts ? all the facts possible ? then to make the decision in the public interest and to carry it out. If the facts justify the decision at the time it is made, it will always be right. A public man should not worry constantly about the verdict of history or what future generations will say about him. He must live in the present; make his decisions for the right on the facts as he sees them and history will take care of itself. I believe a public man must know the history and background of his state and his nation to enable him to come more nearly to a proper decision in the public interest. In my opinion, a man in public life must think always of the public welfare. He must be careful not to mix his private and personal interests with his public actions. The ethics of a public man must be unimpeachable. He must learn to reject unwise or imprudent requests from friends and associates without losing their friendship or loyalty. I believe that our Bill of Rights must be implemented in fact; that it is the duty of every government ? state, local or federal ? to preserve the rights of the individual. I believe that a civil rights program, as we must practice it today, involves not so much the protection of the people against the government, but the protection of the people by the government. And for this reason we must make the federal government a friendly, vigilant defender of the rights and equalities of all Americans; and that every man should be free to live his life as he wishes. He should be limited only by his responsibility to his fellow man. I believe that we should remove the last barriers which stand between millions of our people and their birthright. There can be no justifiable reason for discrimination because of ancestry, or religion, or race, or color. I believe that to inspire the people of the world whose freedom is in jeopardy, and to restore hope to those who have already lost their civil liberties, we must correct the remaining imperfections in our own democracy. We know the way ? we only need the will.

Nuclear Security

From Woodrow Wilson Center | Part of the Lee H. Hamilton Commentaries series | 01:41

Securing nuclear weapons should be the paramount concern of U.S. foreign policy, says former Congressman Lee Hamilton. No threat risks graver repercussions that the detonation of a nuclear weapon on U. S. soil.

Lhc_prx_pic_small Securing nuclear weapons should be the paramount concern of U.S. foreign policy, says former Congressman Lee Hamilton. No threat risks graver repercussions that the detonation of a nuclear weapon on U. S. soil.