Preventing Nuclear Apocalypse
You may know Apocalypse as a Marvel Comics supervillain. It is a word of Greek origin, meaning the catastrophic final destruction of the world. The use of nuclear weapons would be apocalyptic. It is difficult to imagine extinction. Understandably, most people would rather not think about it. The term nuclear war is misleading and false. It suggests that one side would come out on top, that there would be a winner and a loser. No way. We’d all be losers. Nevertheless, countries, including the U.S., go on building new nuclear weapons, that are called smarter and packing more of a wallop. It’s a worldview Dr. Strangelove would have appreciated. In the interests of sanity and self-preservation, the nuclear weapons states must move toward eliminating these weapons of mass destruction that, if used accidentally or deliberately will destroy our precious planet.
Recorded at Jack Straw Studio.
Speakers
Lilly Adams
Lilly Adams is the coordinator of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility’s nuclear arms abolition campaign. She has worked as a community organizer with various civil society groups.
Bruce Amundson
Bruce Amundson is a former president of and long-time member of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. He has taught the University of Washington Medical School.
Mark Bird –
My maximum rating was only based on the clever intro with references to the Greeks and Dr. Strangelove. It is valuable that Alternative Radio covers the topic, as major media networks practice censorship on the topic. When was the last year, decade or century in which you heard a 60-minute documentary on nuclear weapons from MSNBC, CNN, or FOX? Everyone should be in agreement that nuclear weapons are a far more critical topic than the multiple hours spent on Britney Spears, Gabby Petito, Kyle Rittenhouse, or dozens of relatively trivial topics covered every year. Now I need to order a couple copies of the transcript.
Doris in Berkeley –
Once again, you stand out among the various NPR programs. Thanks to you we got to hear Bruce Amundson and Lilly Adams speak about “Preventing Nuclear Apocalypse”. Many years ago, when Helen Caldecott was a mainstay of anti-nuclear activism, I volunteered hours of my time to help with the Nuclear Freeze Movement at their phone bank. Although too many Americans are ignorant about the continuing urgency to remain educated and vigilant about American policy re: our agreements, like ‘no first use’, we hope PSR will help spread the word about these issues. I’ve belonged to PSR for years. Thank you for your programming. We need you more than ever!