Hemlock #15 - Confronting the Bomb: Franco Castro Escobar on the History of Nuclear Weapons in Japan, Antiwar Movements, World Federation, Hibakusha, Youth Antinuclear Organizations, and Fallout

Learn more about Franco and his research:

https://www.keele.ac.uk/socialsciences/staff/francocastroescobar/

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/fcastroescobar

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https://www.patreon.com/c/HemlockPatreon

Summary

In this conversation, Franco Castro Escobar, a peace researcher and PhD candidate, discusses the historical and contemporary issues surrounding nuclear weapons, particularly focusing on Japan's anti-nuclear movement. The dialogue explores the origins of nuclear disarmament efforts, the role of scientists and intellectuals, the impact of censorship, and the environmental consequences of nuclear testing.

Chapters

(00:00) Introduction to Nuclear Disarmament and Peace Research
(04:32) The Historical Context of Nuclear Weapons in Japan
(12:30) The Role of Scientists and Intellectuals in Anti-Nuclear Movements
(20:39) Censorship and Early Opposition in Post-War Japan
(30:47) The Impact of Nuclear Weapons on Society and Environment
(37:54) Tactical Nuclear Weapons: Myths and Realities
(51:54) Contemporary Nuclear Arms Control and Its Challenges
(01:00:10) Erosion of Arms Control Treaties
(01:05:27) The Role of the NPT in Global Security
(01:12:10) Nuclear Weapons as a Deterrent
(01:15:54) The Impact of Nuclear Weapons on Global Politics
(01:19:44) Youth Activism Against Nuclear Weapons
(01:28:19) The Future of Nuclear Energy
(01:49:09) Building a Youth Archive for Anti-Nuclear Activism

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Books:

-The World Set Free, H. G. Wells (1913)

-Confronting the Bomb: Lawrence S. Wittner

https://www.lawrenceswittner.com/books/confronting-the-bomb

-The Ocean on Fire, Anaïs Maurer

https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-ocean-on-fire

-Political Fallout, Toshihiro Higuchi

https://www.sup.org/books/sociology/political-fallout

-Nuclear is Not the Solution, M. V. Ramana

https://www.versobooks.com/products/3013-nuclear-is-not-the-solution

-Being Nuclear: Africans and the Global Uranium Trade, Gabrielle Hecht

https://gabriellehecht.org/being-nuclear/

-The Rape of Nanking, Iris Chang

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_Nanking_(book)

-The Free World, Louis Menand

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/books/review/louis-menand-the-free-world.html

-The Wizards of Armageddon, Fred Kaplan

http://www.fredkaplan.info/wizards.htm

Articles and News

Lawrence Livermore National Ignition Facility Tests Nuclear Arsenal

All Rainwater is Poison (Microplastics)

Fukushima Nuclear Disaster was Preventable, Company Responsible

Nuclear Reactor on Moon as Part of Artemis Mission

Pentagon Identifies Climate Change as Top Nat'l Sec Threat

The Baby Tooth Survey (Radiation in Baby Teeth)

Trump Admin Alters Nuclear Posture Review (NPR)

Texas Wildfire at Nuclear Weapons Facility

Cost Overruns on SENTINEL ICBM Modernization Program

Art, Poetry, Prose

The Maruki Gallery for the Hiroshima Panels

https://marukigallery.jp/en/hiroshimapanels/

Hiroshima: Three Witnesses (Book of Poetry, trans. Richard H. Minear)

https://a.co/d/1c6Tky0

When We Say Hiroshima, Kurihara Sadako

https://press.umich.edu/Books/W/When-We-Say-Hiroshima

People & Organizations

-Garry Davis (World Citizen)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Davis

-"Hibakusha" (Japanese term, “nuclear-affected person/nuclear bomb survivor”)

-John Lewis Gaddis (Cold War Historian, “The Long Peace”)

-Robert “Bo” Jacobs (Cold War as Limited Nuclear War)

https://bojacobs.net/

Significant Events, Treaties

Atoms for Peace Speech, Eisenhower 1953

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atoms_for_Peace

Castle-Bravo Hydrogen Bomb Test (March 1954, Bikini Atoll, 15 Megatons)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Bravo

Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (1968)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_the_Non-Proliferation_of_Nuclear_Weapons

Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_Nuclear_Test_Ban_Treaty

Errata

I said the Bravo test yielded 30 megatons, it actually yielded 15.