Podcasts

TO THE MEMORY OF Chernobyl, Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment (FOUR)

This last of four programs presents important information on the plight of the children of Chernobyl who – to this day – need vacations in uncontaminated areas to detoxify their bodies from some of the embedded radioactive substances that they absorb in every day life, substances such as cesium, cobalt, thorium, plutonium etc. Also explained is the danger of contaminated food, and how to set up ongoing projects, under control of local communities, to deal with the persisting radiation and find methods to measure the burden of internal radiation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

TO THE MEMORY CHERNOBYL – Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment (THREE)

How has the radiation affected – and continues to affect air, water, the soil, plants and animals. How does radiation move, disperse, bio-accumulate and enter the food chain. Specific examples are from studies on rivers and lakes, wild and domestic animals, birds, fish, fungi, bacteria, viruses, studies that show that they were all affected, in varying degrees, but without exception.

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TO THE MEMORY CHERNOBYL – Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment (TWO)

This extensive section on health effects offers a whole new view of the consequences of radiation induced disease. Yes, there are cancers to specific organs, but there are also diseases that affect body systems such as the whole endocrine system, not just the thyroid, or the immune system, the respiratory and the reproductive systems. – Also a brief explanation of “half life” “hot spots” and why background radiation is different from radiation from nuclear processes.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

TO THE MEMORY OF CHERNOBYL – Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment (ONE)

The Chernobyl reactor explosion is referenced to minimize the impact of Fukuchima. The WHO and the IAEA, whose mission is to promote nuclear power, claim that “there is no scientific evidence of increases in overall cancer incidence or mortality rates .. that could be related to radiation exposure from Chernobyl.” There are good arguments that the death toll is near 1.9 million.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)

Helen Caldicott: IMPACT OF RADIATION FROM NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS (ONE archival only)

Helen Caldicott says that 200 new elements are made inside a nuclear reactor, all intensely radioactive, some lasting seconds, some 17 million years. Many of them are carcinogenic, some are mutagenic. In this speech she explains how radiation induces cancers and mutations, and describes the effects of the four most significant isotopes present in nuclear power plants: radioactive iodine-131, cesium-137, strontium-90, and plutonium-239.
This a an extremely timely excerpt of a one hour lecture given in 2009. Helen Caldicott was then campaigning against the pro-nuclear power stance of the Obama administration. She spoke to create awareness of the terrible danger from nuclear reactors and demanded that no new plants be built and the existing reactors be closed.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:02 — 19.9MB)

1979 Archive SHUT DOWN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS (TWO of TWO)

With Jane Fonda, David Brower, Dick Gregory, Grace Paley, Abbie Hoffman, Kurt Vonnegut, Governor Jerry Brown and Barry Commoner. This is the second part of an amazing historic document that raises all the questions that confront us today: nuclear reactors as ticking time-bombs with potential for catastrophic accidents. Do we have the right to spread nuclear waste and nuclear radiation that will poison the planet tens and hundreds and even hundreds of thousands of years into the future?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:02 — 19.9MB)

1979 Archive SHUT DOWN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS (ONE of TWO)

Five weeks after the accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania on March 28, 1979 – on a mere three week’s notice – 70,000 determined people came to Washington, DC, to call for the shut-down of all nuclear power plants. And if they had succeeded the world would be a SO much better place today.
Bella Abzug, John Gofman, Helen Caldicott, Ralph Nader and more.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:59 — 19.9MB)

SHUT DOWN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS (TWO)

Begins with a news clip from Utah, January 2012. The Downwinders are meeting for the first Day of Remembrance and mourn the many who died from fallout from bombs exploded at the Nevada Test Site. They are the living and dying proof of the dangers of radiation.
Dr. John Gofman was one of the prominent whistle blowers of the nuclear age. He was the first to warn of the danger and call for the shut-down of all nuclear power plants as early as 1970. Gofman came from the Manhattan Project, worked on the effects of radiation at Lawrence Livermore Lab and concluded that power plants are killers. He is the 1992 recipient of the Right Livelihood Award. He died in 2007.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)

The Day We Bombed Utah (Part TWO)

John Fuller delved into freedom of information files on the behavior of the Atomic Energy Commission from 1953 to the late nineties. The AEC denied that the deaths from cancer in St. George, Utah, had anything to do with the fact that the town was repeatedly engulfed in fallout from the bomb tests in Nevada.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

THE DAY WE BOMBED UTAH (ONE of TWO)

A reading from John G. Fuller
From the beginning of the nuclear age, from the Manhattan Project to the bomb testing program to the development of nuclear reactors one aspect remained concealed, that is the emission and the effects of radiation on life. And it was not a question whether scientists, government agencies, including the Atomic Energy Commission, were ignorant about the danger and the effects. Freedom of information requests reveal the evidence that they knew and decided to keep it secret or downplay it. And one can easisly argue that it remains one of the murderous secrets of our time as well.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:02 — 19.9MB)

SHUT DOWN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS (ONE)

How many nuclear power plant accidents does it take to come to that conclusion. Even after Fukushima there is very little movement in that direction. Why is that? Are we mistaken or uninformed about the dangers of nuclear radiation? Do we believe again – and over again this time – that there are safe doses of radiation? That radiation from power plants will not stay dangerous – depending on the element – from days to hundreds, thousands and even hundreds of thousands of years?
The story of an extraordinary scientist illustrates the science and politics of nuclear power. Dr. John Gofman, from 1970 on, called for the closure of nuclear power plants. He came from the Manhattan Project, worked on the [ . . . ]

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)

The Murders at Kent State (ONE single program)

The killing of four students on the campus of Kent State, Ohio, on May 4, 1970, during a demonstration against Nixon’s expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia received new attention on April 23, 2012. The Obama administration’s Justice Department decided not to re-open the case in spite of evidence that the guardsmen had been ordered to shoot. This reminded the public that the question of who ordered the shooting has never been resolved.
This is the first of an occasional series on the place that has become TUC Radio’s new home: Mendocino County, Northern California, to honor extraordinary people and events in this remote region. Here is the connection between a small local newspaper in Anderson Valley , a rural [ . . . ]

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)

Richard Heinberg: The End of Growth (TWO of TWO)

Richard Heinberg may be best known for his appearance in the movie: The End of Suburbia that made it clear that the American Dream and the American urban geography are entirely dependent on abundant fossil fuels. That film inspired many to look for ways to strengthen local communities under a new concept: the Transition Town movement. The Mendocino Coast Transition Towns movement invited Heinberg in December 2011 to celebrate the release of his most recent book: The End of Growth.
In this part TWO continues his argument on depletion – not just of fossil fuels.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:59 — 19.9MB)

Richard Heinberg: The End of Growth (ONE of TWO)

An important contribution to the running debate on economic growth. In his new book Heinberg argues that growth is ending due to the convergence of three factors: Debt, depletion and disaster. Heinberg is considered one of the foremost experts on fossil fuel depletion. He is the author of ten books, including The Party’s Over Powerdown, Blackout and Peak Everything. He came to Mendocino, CA, in December 2011 to talk to – and exchange ideas with – the Mendocino Coast Transition Towns movement.
Heinberg is senior fellow of the Post Carbon Institute. His website is richardheinberg.com/. He appeared in the movie: The End of Suburbia that inspired so many to prepare for local self reliance.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

Michael Parenti: The Face of Imperialism (TWO of TWO)

Dr. Michael Parenti has written about empire, history, the media, theology, and socialism in his decades as an activist and teacher. However one topic has intrigued him more than others. He once wrote that “Imperialism has been the most powerful force in world history over the last five centuries, carving up whole continents, oppressing indigenous peoples and obliterating entire civilizations. Yet, it is seldom accorded any serious attention by our academics, media, and political leaders.” This talk for KZFR in Chico, CA, on October 27, 2011, and his book set the record straight.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)