Oppenheimer's omission

07/20/23 • 33 min

1 Listener

With 'Oppenheimer,' director Christopher Nolan has turned the Manhattan Project into a summer blockbuster. The film is set in Los Alamos, one of the primary places where the first atomic bomb was developed. But fewer people know the history of Carrizozo, a rural farming area downwind of the Trinity test — and a community still dealing with the fallout to this day.

Radioactive fallout from the bomb settled on everything: the soil, gardens, and drinking water. Cow’s milk became radioactive. Later, hundreds of people developed radiogenic cancers.

The people of Carrizozo were among the first people in the world exposed to a nuclear blast. More than 75 years later, their families are still fighting for medical compensation from the federal government.

Host Nate Hegyi traveled to New Mexico to visit the Trinity Site, and to hear the stories of so-called ‘downwinders.'

Featuring: Paul Pino, Tina Cordova, Ben Ray Lujan

Editor's note: A previous version of this description incorrectly described Los Alamos as the site of the first atomic bomb test. The actual test took place in the White Sands Missle Range.

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LINKS

The federal government has produced a few studies on the fallout from Trinity. This one from Los Alamos found that there was still contamination in the area in 1985.

Another, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, produced one of the most in-depth histories of the fallout from Trinity and the government’s reaction.

The National Cancer Institute found that hundreds of people likely developed cancer because of the fallout.

The history of Trinity is full of strange little details, like the desert toads that were croaking all night.

You can find affidavits and first-hand accounts of the fallout from Trinity at the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium website.

This review by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists explains why it’s so hard to determine a definitive death toll for the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII.

CREDITS

Host: Nate Hegyi

Reported and produced by Nate Hegyi

Edited by Taylor Quimby

Editing help from Rebecca Lavoie, Justine Paradis, Felix Poon, and Jeongyoon Han

Rebecca Lavoie is our Executive Producer

Music for this episode by Blue Dot Sessions

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio

Radioactive fallout from the bomb settled on everything: the soil, gardens, and drinking water. Cow’s milk became radioactive. Later, hundreds of people developed radiogenic cancers.

Host Nate Hegyi traveled to New Mexico to visit the Trinity Site, and to hear the stories of so-called ‘downwinders.'

Featuring: Paul Pino, Tina Cordova, Ben Ray Lujan

Editor's note: A previous version of this description incorrectly described Los Alamos as the site of the first atomic bomb test. The actual test took place in the White Sands Missle Range.

SUPPORT

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.

Subscribe to our newsletter (it’s free!).

Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

LINKS

The federal government has produced a few studies on the fallout from Trinity. This one from Los Alamos found that there was still contamination in the area in 1985.

Another, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, produced one of the most in-depth histories of the fallout from Trinity and the government’s reaction.

The National Cancer Institute found that hundreds of people likely developed cancer because of the fallout.

The history of Trinity is full of strange little details, like the desert toads that were croaking all night.

You can find affidavits and first-hand accounts of the fallout from Trinity at the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium website.

This review by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists explains why it’s so hard to determine a definitive death toll for the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII.

CREDITS

Host: Nate Hegyi

Reported and produced by Nate Hegyi

Edited by Taylor Quimby

Editing help from Rebecca Lavoie, Justine Paradis, Felix Poon, and Jeongyoon Han

Rebecca Lavoie is our Executive Producer

Music for this episode by Blue Dot Sessions

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio

Previous Episode

Shhhhhh! It’s the sound and silence episode

Humans are noisy. The National Park Service estimates that all of our whirring, grinding, and revving machines are doubling or even tripling global noise pollution every 30 years.

A lot of that noise is negatively affecting wildlife and human health. Maybe that’s why we’re so consumed with managing our sonic environments, with noise-cancelling headphones and white noise machines — and sometimes, we get into spats with our neighbors, as one of our guests did...

So for this episode, producer Jeongyoon Han takes us on an exploration of three sonic landscapes: noise, silence, and something in between.

Featuring Rachel Buxton, Jim Connell, Stan Ellis, Mercede Erfanian, Nora Ma, and Rob Steadman.

SUPPORT

Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.

Subscribe to our newsletter (it’s free!).

Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook.

LINKS

Behavioral ecologist Miya Warrington and her colleagues found that Savannah sparrows changed the tune of their love songs as a result of noisy oil fields in Alberta, Canada (The New York Times)

Bats have changed their day-to-day habits because of traffic noise, according to research conducted in the U.K.

Natural sounds are proven to improve health, lower stress, and have positive effects on humans. Rachel Buxton and her colleagues wrote about that in their study from 2021.

Erica Walker’s organization, the Community Noise Lab, monitors noise levels in Boston, Providence, and Jackson, Mississippi. You can read more about her work in this article from Harvard Magazine.

Are you interested in going to a Quiet Parks International-designated quiet park? The organization has a list of spaces across the world that they’ve certified.

Here’s a radio story from NPR that serves as an homage to John Cage’s 4’33”.

If you were ever curious about why bird songs are good for you... This article from the Washington Post should be on the top of your reading list!

This New Yorker piece from 2019 outlines how noise pollution might be the next public health crisis. Since that article, there’s been even more research showing that noise can take years off of our lives.

So, you’ve heard lots of sounds in this episode. But do you want to see what sounds look like? Click here — and this is not clickbait!

Ethan Kross, who is a psychologist and neuroscientist, wrote a whole book about noise — the noise in your head, to be precise. It’s called Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It.

Mercede Erfanian’s research into misophonia and soundscapes is fascinating. You can hear her speak on the subject of different kinds of sounds in a show aired from 1A, or watch her presentation on the effects that soundscapes have on humans...

Next Episode

What's really in your wine?

Wine is considered to be an expression of a place and climate, a reflection of centuries-old traditions. But these days, a lot of wine is a product of an industrialized agricultural system, and just as processed as the bulk of products in the grocery store.

Today on Outside/In, we take a look at what really goes into your wine, and at a growing movement exploring just how “natural” wine can be.

Featuring Julia Furukawa, Helen Johannesen, and Lee Campbell, with appearances by Lucy Leske, Steve Paradis, Jenny Paradis, Elsie Turner Matthews, and Samuel Golding.

SUPPORT

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Subscribe to our (free) newsletter.

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LINKS

Lee Campbell is a partner in a Virginia winery called Common Wealth Crush.

Helen Johannesen is a partner in Jon & Vinny’s and Helen’s Wines, a wine shop and delivery club in Los Angeles. She’s also the host of Wineface podcast, with episodes covering the basics of natural wine, a deeper dive on the specific grapes (like pinot noir), and an introduction to certain styles, like orange wine.

Julia Furukawa is the host of All Things Considered at New Hampshire Public Radio. Check out her investigative reporting on a lack of evidence for some claims of Abenaki ancestry in New England.

5 tips for navigating the world of natural wine

1. As Helen Johannesen likes to say, “wine is for enjoying and wine is for everyone,” but it’s also a luxury. Still, you can get natural wines for $20 a bottle or less. The hard part is finding them.

2. If you’re trying to figure out whether a wine is natural or not, turn the bottle around and look at the importer on the back. There are certain importers who seek out small producers who are aligned with the natural wine movement. A couple of importers with such a reputation are Zev Rovine and Jenny & Francois.

3. If possible, find a local brick-and-mortar wine shop. They’re more likely to help you find a natural wine. Plus, wine shops often offer free or low-cost tastings, which can help you figure out what you like without spending a ton of money. There are online wine subscription services that have natural wines as well.

4. If you’re just dipping your toe into the natural wine world, start with what you like. If you love Sauvignon Blanc, try a natural bottle of the same variety.

5. Last, have a good time! Don’t get intimidated or think that you have to be completely pure about it. Again, in the end, wine is supposed to be fun.

-Justine P.

CREDITS

Outside/In Host: Nate Hegyi

Hosted, reported, written, and produced by Justine Paradis

Mixed and edited by Taylor Quimby

Our team also includes Felix Poon and Jeongyoon Han.

Executive producer: Rebecca Lavoie

Music by Matt Large and Blue Dot Sessions

Outside/In is a production of New Hampshire Public Radio.