At age 15, astrophysicist Fred Lamb went to the library for three days after school to figure out if it made sense for his family to build a bomb shelter. It didn't.
When he joined the faculty at the University of Illinois, Lamb's colleagues were among the team of scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project developing the world's first atomic bombs—bombs fired by the United States on Japan near the end of World War II.
Lamb has spent his life trying to convince people such a bomb should never be used again, yet he says the threat of nuclear war is as high as it's been since the cold war. That's the bad news.
Now the good news: There are far fewer nuclear weapons on earth than there were then. It's about 12,000 bombs. And, like Lamb, the next generation of astrophysicists knows the only winning move is not to play.
On this episode, WGLT’s Twelve Thousand Bombs talks to three astrophysicists in training. Hear how Claire Campbell, Andy Santarelli and Naomi Satoh are processing the science, policy and politics of nuclear weapons leading up to the 2024 election.
They discuss personal ethics around working on nuclear technology, arms control, personal agency with big, existential topics—and Gen Z voter apathy, including whether Chappell Roan should have endorsed a candidate.
An excerpt of the episode also appears on Democracy’s Future, a joint production of WGLT and The Vidette, a student media outlet at Illinois State University.
Listen to Twelve Thousand Bombs on the NPR App or wherever you get your podcasts. For a full transcript, visit this episode on Apple Podcasts.
