What A Day 80 Years After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, New Nuclear Threats Emerge
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Aug 11, 2025 Historian Garrett Graff, author of 'The Devil Reached Toward the Sky,' brings us deep insights into the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, discussing the lessons we still haven’t learned. He examines the Manhattan Project's moral complexities and shares poignant survivor stories, emphasizing the urgent need for nuclear disarmament. The conversation also draws unsettling parallels to today's political tensions, particularly the looming threats posed by current global conflicts, including the uneasy dynamics of the Russia-Ukraine situation.
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Oral History Reveals Uncertainty
- Garrett Graff assembles about 500 first-person voices to show messy uncertainty in history.
- Oral histories recreate decisions before outcomes were known.
Scientists Fled Hitler, Built The Bomb
- Garrett Graff recounts Jewish refugee physicists fleeing Nazi Europe and pushing the U.S. to build the bomb.
- Their fear that Hitler might get a bomb drove urgent action in 1939–1941.
1930s Parallels Warn About Complacency
- Garrett Graff sees chilling parallels between 1930s fascism and modern U.S. complacency.
- He warns it's unclear who would defend democracy if authoritarianism takes root here.
