Given the U.S. attacks on three of Iran’s uranium enrichment sites over the weekend, we couldn’t resist bringing nuclear physicist Matt Caplan back into the studio. This bonus episode unpacks what happened, what didn’t happen, what it means and why we should care.

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On the heels of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Japanese anti-nuclear advocacy group Nihon Hidankyō, Naomi Satoh returns to discuss her in-progress illustrated novel based on personal and familial oral histories gathered from survivors of the 1945 bombings over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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Since the 1970s, physicists have worked on developing nuclear fusion as a clean, carbon-free, inexhaustible fuel source. Essentially building a big star on Earth, the United States and other nuclear powers have also used the technology to make nuclear weapons exponentially more powerful. Princeton physicist Stewart Prager joins the podcast to talk about the intersection between nuclear fusion, energy production and arms control.

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Three astrophysicists in training discuss how they're processing the science, policy and politics of nuclear weapons leading up to the 2024 election.

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The United States has spent $400 billion on developing and testing weapons designed to neutralize an attack. All signs point to a fool's errand, particularly in the event of a nuclear strike. Matt Caplan joins this episode with Fred Lamb, professor of physics, astronomy and arms control at the University of Illinois to discuss the "fantasy" of ballistic missiles defense and the misrepresentation that the United States' and Israel's defense of Iran's Oct. 1 attack was a success.

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J. Robert Oppenheimer chose a remote spot in south central New Mexico to build and test the world's first atomic bomb. The people who lived in the surrounding Tularosa Basin were not asked for permission or warned of the risk posed to their health and safety. Nearly 80 years later, proposed legislation giving one-time payments to New Mexicans who contracted cancer as a consequence of nuclear testing has been allowed to expire, blocked by House Speaker Mike Johnson. The congressional stalemate comes as testing programs ramp up and the world braces for the possibility of nuclear war. Tina Cordova of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Association joins Lauren Warnecke and Matt Caplan.

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On this episode of WGLT's Twelve Thousand Bombs, you'll hear from climatologist Lili Xia of Rutgers University. Xia was the leading author on a landmark 2022 research paper in Nature Food detailing climate models and the potential for widespread famine in the aftermath of a nuclear conflict.

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WGLT's Twelve Thousand Bombs podcast examines the history, science and policy behind the United States nuclear program—and why the threat of a nuclear conflict is as high as it’s ever been. The first episode explores the current presidential candidates’ platforms—or lack thereof—on nuclear weapons, plus a primer on questions like: What is the football? Why is the president the only one who can authorize a nuclear strike? What are the checks and balances around a president’s use of nuclear weapons should he/she become compromised in some way? (Spoiler: Not many.)

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WGLT’s Twelve Thousand Bombs podcast features conversations with leading scholars and policy advocates on the real and hypothetical impacts of nuclear war. New episodes each month start September 2024.

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