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Back to To the Point

To the Point

Thinking about the "Unthinkable": the Prospect of Nuclear War

It's been 70 years since the US became the first nation to drop an atomic bomb. So far, it's the only one. But how long will that last? Today there are some 16,000 nuclear weapons in nine countries, and they're many times more powerful than those used against Japan.

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By Warren Olney • Aug 3, 2015 • 33m Listen

It's been 70 years since the US became the first nation to drop an atomic bomb. So far, it's the only one. But how long will that last? Today there are some 16,000 nuclear weapons in nine countries, and they're many times more powerful than those used against Japan. Despite arms reduction agreements, the US and Russia still have massive arsenals, and now both countries are “modernizing” their stockpiles — ostensibly for defensive purposes. But each side suspects the other of thinking offense -- as memories the more than 100,000 people who died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki fade into the past.

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    Warren Olney

    former KCRW broadcaster

  • KCRW placeholder

    Christine Detz

    Producer, 'To the Point'

  • KCRW placeholder

    Charlotte Duren

    Producer, To the Point/Which Way LA?

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    Evan George

    Director of Content, News

  • KCRW placeholder

    Lisbeth Gronlund

    Union of Concerned Scientists

  • KCRW placeholder

    Michaela Dodge

    Heritage Foundation

  • KCRW placeholder

    Hans Kristensen

    Federation of American Scientists

    NewsNationalPolitics
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