SHORTS: The Amazing Story of Genie Chance!

10/17/21 • 12 min

BONUS MATERIAL
On Easter Sunday in 1964, one of the strongest earthquakes in North American history struck Alaska with the city of Anchorage being horst hit. Amidst the destruction and despair, a voice emerged over the crackling airwaves that would go on to become one of the unlikely heroes of the disaster. Genie Chance was a local radio journalist who rushed to the station when the earthquake struck. For the next few days, she broadcast around the clock helping the dazed and confused locals find their loved ones and relayed messages of hope and encouragement. I speak with author and journalist Jon Mooallem, who just published a new book, ‘This Is Chance! The Shaking of an All-American City, A Voice That Held It Together’, about this remarkable woman and how she helped to hold the community together during their darkest hour.

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Previous Episode

Battling a Brain Tumor: Stephen McCreddin

Stephen began to realize something wasn't right when noticed parts of his memory was missing. He would go for a walk with his girlfriend during the day and then realize he couldn't recall the last ten minutes - anything. He put it down to stress. But when it continued and became more frequent, added with severe headaches, he went to the doctor. After a brain scan, his doctor called him, "Stephen, you have a brain tumor."... This is the reality that is facing a friend of mine.
Stephen and I went to college together and he was always such a vibrant and fun person to be around. As we say in Ireland he was a 'character'. Always well dressed, always talking cigars, movies, and fashion.
A few years after leaving college Stephen was struck with tragedy when his mother passed away. Soon after this, he was diagnosed with having a brain tumor. Now, after two surgeries, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Stephen is sharing his experience of how he was able to remain strong and stable throughout his life-changing ordeal.

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Next Episode

Exploring Ghostly Radioactive Chernobyl: Philip Grossman

After the catastrophic disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in Ukraine in 1986, around 50,000 people were evacuated from the nearby city of Pripyat. The residents were told to take just the clothes they were wearing along with their passports, and reassured they would be allowed to return soon after. However as radiation levels were so high, the decision was made to create a 30km 'exclusion zone' around the Chernobyl power station and for the past 35 years the city of Pripyat has become a ghost town, frozen in time in Soviet 1986, and now giving way to nature.
Philip Grossman is a scientist, engineer and filmmaker, who has visited the city of Pripyat and the Chernobyl exclusion zone 14 times. He explored the abandoned buildings which are still highly radioactive in parts still today.
Colm Flynn talks to Philip Grossman about his experiences exploring the exclusion zone, as well some of the misconceptions around the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster. They also talk about the overall safety of nuclear energy today.

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