Audio Podcasts

An interview with Ms. Setsuko Thurlow, Atomic Bomb Survivor and Special Communicator for a World Without Nuclear Weapons

Setsuko Thurlow has been appointed by the Government of Japan as a special communicator for a world without nuclear weapons. She was born and raised in Hiroshima and experienced the atomic bombing at the age of 13. She remembers vividly the 6th of August 1945, the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, and the hardships she and many survivors endured physically and mentally thereafter. Subsequent to the atomic bombing, she started attending a local Christian church in Hiroshima in the hope of finding meaning in her life. Professionally, she practiced social work in the USA and Canada.

As a survivor of the atomic bombing, she is strongly committed to tell the story of Hiroshima. Most survivors are getting old and many are passing away, leaving a smaller number of Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) to tell their stories. Ms. Thurlow feels it is imperative to tell the younger generations of that terrible day and its aftermath. This is one of the reasons why she joined a non-governmental organization called “Hibakusha Stories” which passes the legacy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to a new generation, and empowers them with tools to build a world free of nuclear weapons. She is married with two sons and two granddaughters and currently lives in Canada. She has devoted over 40 years of her life to nuclear disarmament.

Clifton Truman Daniel and Shigeko Sasamori on Backstory

Brian Balogh speaks with Shigeko Sasamori, a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing, and Clifton Truman Daniel, grandson of the man who ordered that strike, about the friendship that grew as both of them worked on a project to bring survivors’ stories to the U.S. “Friendship out of Fallout” — scroll down the page

Ari Beser on Public Radio International

Six years ago, Ari Beser, a photographer from Baltimore, received a grant to visit the city of Hiroshima for the first time. He wanted to trace the path his grandfather had once taken. Jacob Beser, who died in 1992, flew over Japan as a member of the Army Air Force during World War II.

Clifton Truman Daniel on Public Radio International

Harry S. Truman is remembered for one thing: his decision to drop nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, in August 1945. His eldest grandson, Clifton Truman Daniel, is now an advocate against nuclear weapons.

Setsuko Thurlow on BBC Scotland

Hiroshima was the Japanese city that was first targeted by a nuclear weapon in August 1945. An estimated 80,000 people died. Setsuko Thurlow was a schoolgirl in Hiroshima at the time and recalls her memories of the event.

Kristen Iversen on Fresh Air

On NPR’s Fresh Air, author Karen Iversen speaks about her book, Full Body Burden: Growing up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats. Her book is part a memoir about her troubled family, and also an investigation into the decades-long environmental scandal involving nuclear contamination in and around Rocky Flats. Weapons production ended there after FBI agents raided the plant in 1989. Its operators later pleaded guilty to criminal violations of environmental law.