Cyclical Trauma and Why We Justify Nukes
ANNOUNCEMENT: We’re taking a much-needed hiatus! We’ll do one more minisode after this episode airs, then we’ll be resting/relaxing/etc. for a few months before we come back better than ever (or something). Patreon will be paused while we’re away, so no need to cancel subs - you won’t get charged as long as you’re not receiving content!
I honestly considered just copying and pasting my notes from this episode because I’m so tired of reading and thinking about war and death, but my notes are 16 single-spaced pages long. This has been one of the most viscerally unpleasant episodes I’ve ever had to write, but I do feel something akin to enriched. I’ve learned more about this than I ever thought possible (especially considering how dismally our public schools handle teaching it).
This week, we’re finally wrapping up my series on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Why do I feel like this isn’t going to be fun?
It probably won’t! But, with a little luck, it’ll be interesting. And maybe a little enraging.
Like last time, this episode was broken into a handful of sections: the decision to drop the bomb and where, a play-by-play (down to the millisecond) of the bombing in Hiroshima, the Japanese response and subsequent bombing of Nagasaki, short- and long-term effects on the survivors, the schools of thought on whether the bombing itself was justified, and where I finally landed with my own conclusions.
To be perfectly honest, I don’t think I can write a blog post detailing all that here. I don’t have a good excuse—just that my mental health has already been pretty affected by the things I’ve read and looked at over the last month or so. Instead, I’m going to leave you with a hefty list of sources and my ultimate takeaway. I’ll also make my full original script available to anyone who would like to read it (you can reach out via all social media, email ttkmeup@gmail.com, or use the contact form on this site). Maybe someday I’ll be able to condense the 16 pages of scripting into something concise, but that day is, uh, not today.
You’ll find the list of sources below. As you listen to this episode, I hope it leaves you with some hope that things are, slowly but surely, getting a little better every day. We’re scared primates who are still desperately scrambling to survive in a world that no longer requires that level of desperation. And the good news is we’re figuring that out! This was one of the most violently evil events in human history, and there’s no moralistic justification for it—but there’s no justification for mass violence of any kind. Ever. As we slowly understand the futility of war and destruction, we will begin to find new paths through conflict and (if we’re lucky and smart) a better way to relate to one another. It’s aspirational, but it’s possible. I hope I get to see it.
SOURCES:
George Weller’s Nagasaki Articles: http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/history/pre-cold-war/hiroshima-nagasaki/weller_nagasaki-report.htm
Japanese Site on the Development of Nuclear Weapons: http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/kids/KPSH_E/hiroshima_e/sadako_e/subcontents_e/12kakukaiha_1_e.html
The MIT Press Reader - Devastating Effects of Nuclear Weapons: https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/devastating-effects-of-nuclear-weapons-war/
The Washington Post survey on American opinion of nuclear weapons: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/05/27/in-1945-americans-were-thrilled-with-nuclear-weapons-thats-no-longer-true/
LiveScience article on nuclear shadows: https://www.livescience.com/nuclear-bomb-wwii-shadows.html
How Nuclear Bombs Work: https://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-bomb.htm
Another article on how nuclear bombs work: https://cnduk.org/how-do-nuclear-weapons-work/
Yet another piece on how nuclear bombs work: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/how-nuclear-weapons-work#:~:text=Modern%20nuclear%20weapons%20work%20by,pressure%20needed%20to%20ignite%20fusion.
Atomic Archive - Fallout Particles: https://www.atomicarchive.com/science/effects/fallout-particles.html
Atomic Archive - Radioactive Fallout: https://www.atomicarchive.com/science/effects/radioactive-fallout.html
Atomic Archive - Long-Term Effects on Humans: https://www.atomicarchive.com/science/effects/long-term-effects.html
Forbes - Why Did We Make the Atomic Bomb: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2013/12/07/why-did-we-make-the-atomic-bomb/?sh=55354f2f6e90
BBC - Pictures of the effects of the atomic bomb: https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-53648572
Yoshito Matsushige's Account of the Hiroshima Bombing: https://www.atomicheritage.org/key-documents/yoshito-matsushiges-account-hiroshima-bombing
Atomic Heritage Foundation - Overview of the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/bombings-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-1945
Atomic Heritage Foundation - Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombing Timeline: https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/hiroshima-and-nagasaki-bombing-timeline
National Geographic - Twists of fate made Nagasaki a target 75 years ago: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/twists-fate-made-nagasaki-target-atomic-bomb
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
Science Panel’s Report to the Interim Committee: https://www.atomicheritage.org/key-documents/interim-committee-report-0
Met Lab’s Report by the Committee on Political and Social Problems: https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/documents/manhattan-project/franck-report.html
Britannica - The decision to use the atomic bomb: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Trumans-decision-to-use-the-bomb-712569
Atomic Heritage - Franklin D. Roosevelt bio: https://www.atomicheritage.org/profile/franklin-d-roosevelt
President Harry Truman’s diary:https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/online-collections/decision-to-drop-atomic-bomb
Japanese site - children in post-war Hiroshima: http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/kids/KPSH_E/hiroshima_e/sadako_e/subcontents_e/12kidssengo_1_e.html
TIME - After the Bomb (survivors’ accounts): https://time.com/after-the-bomb/
Center for Nuclear Studies - Long-Term Effects of the Bomb: https://k1project.columbia.edu/news/hiroshima-and-nagasaki-long-term-health-effects-cloned
MayoClinic report on radiation sickness: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/radiation-sickness/symptoms-causes/syc-20377058
NPR: George Weller Reporting from Nagasaki: https://www.npr.org/2005/06/25/4717966/george-weller-reporting-from-nagasaki
1945 Project - Kazumi Yamada Survivor’s Account: https://www.1945project.com/portfolio-item/kazumi-yamada/#1498206302968-41dc96a7-7877
Smithsonian Magazine - 9 Survivor’s Accounts of the bombing in Hiroshima: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/nine-harrowing-eyewitness-accounts-bombings-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-180975480/
The Atlantic - Hiroshima Before and After the Nuclear Bombing: https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2016/05/hiroshima-before-and-after-the-atomic-bombing/482526/
JapanToday - What do Japanese college students think of the US: https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/what-do-japanese-college-students-think-about-u-s
US Department of Energy Report on the Trinity Test: https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Events/1945/trinity.htm
Britannica - Japan, WWII, and Defeat: https://www.britannica.com/place/Japan/World-War-II-and-defeat
Pew Research Center - What People Around the World Like – and Dislike – About American Society and Politics: https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2021/11/01/what-people-around-the-world-like-and-dislike-about-american-society-and-politics/
Pew Research Center - Americans, Japanese: Mutual Respect 70 Years After the End of WWII: https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2015/04/07/americans-japanese-mutual-respect-70-years-after-the-end-of-wwii/
American Historical Association - Why Did Japan Choose War: https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/gi-roundtable-series/pamphlets/em-15-what-shall-be-done-about-japan-after-victory-(1945)/why-did-japan-choose-war
Holocaust Encyclopedia - World War II in the Pacific: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/world-war-ii-in-the-pacific
Britannica - Pearl Harbor and Japanese Expansion: https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II/Pearl-Harbor-and-the-Japanese-expansion-to-July-1942
US Department of Energy - Interactive History of the Manhattan Project: https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Resources/library.htm
TIME - Myths of WWII: https://time.com/6045753/v-e-day-wwii-myths/
WWII Foundation - Timeline of WWII: https://wwiifoundation.org/timeline-of-wwii/
Britannica - The Treaty of Versailles: https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Versailles-1919/German-reparations-and-military-limitations
Atomic Heritage Foundation - Debate over Japanese surrender: https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/debate-over-japanese-surrender
Naval History Government Site - the United States Strategic Bombing Survey: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/j/japans-struggle-end-war-1946.html
Japan’s Declaration of War primary source: https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source/japan-declares-war-1941
Columbia University - Japan’s Quest for Power: http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/japan_1900_power.htm
Slate - Japanese Aggression Before and During the War: https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/07/what-prompted-japan-s-aggression-before-and-during-world-war-ii.html
National WWII Museum - The Path to Pearl Harbor: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/path-pearl-harbor