My Nuclear Life
Shelly Lesher
On July 16, 1945, in a New Mexico desert, the Trinity Test ushered in the Nuclear Age. No other piece of technology has penetrated the American consciousness like the nuclear bomb and found a place in everything from culture to medicine. This podcast explores how nuclear science has impacted and changed our world in both beneficial and destructive ways. We explore the intersection of nuclear science and society using interviews from historians, policymakers, experts in their fields, and first-hand accounts to weave a picture of your nuclear life. https://mynuclearlife.com
How to turn the US into a factory: Beer in Hanford, Silver from Fort Knox, and PO Box 1663 with Richard Rhodes (Pt. 2)
In this episode of My Nuclear Life, Shelly Lesher continues her conversation with Richard Rhodes, author of award winning book, The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Their previous conversation left off with the time in history where the atomic bomb was only a theoretical plan in the scientific community. ...
How it all began: Europe, fission, and the Nazis with Richard Rhodes (Pt. 1)
Today on My Nuclear Life, host Shelly Lesher speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes. This conversation has been broken up into three parts. This Part 1 discussion includes topics like the beginning of nuclear science as a field until the Manhattan Project was approved. Dick mention...
Sunshine in a bottle. The origins of using radiation as a moden cancer treatment with Aimee Slaughter
In this episode of My Nuclear Life, host Shelly Lesher interviews Aimee Slaughter. They discuss early radium therapy its journey from sideshow attraction to a staple in US hospitals before WWII. This marks the first-time physicists and chemists worked with physicians in hospitals and clinics to brin...
Thwarting nuclear ambitions with sanctions: Iran, North Korea, and ... Sweden? with Richard Nephew
In this episode of My Nuclear Life, host Shelly Lesher interviews Richard Nephew. Richard was the lead sanctions expert on the US negotiating team for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - also known as the Iran nuclear deal. He is now a Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Ene...
How do you celebrate Alaska Statehood? Nuke them a harbor with Dan O'Neill
In this episode of My Nuclear Life, host Shelly Lesher interviews Dan O’Neil. Dan is author of The Firecracker Boys. In this book, he speaks about Project Chariot, a U.S. atomic energy project in Alaska, and how this project was prevented. Shelly begins the interview by asking Dan to sha...
Saving the world with nuclear energy, one microreactor at a time with Leslie Dewan
In this episode of My Nuclear Life, host Shelly Lesher interviews Dr. Leslie Dewan. Leslie earned her PhD in Nuclear Engineering from MIT and is a cofounder of Transatomic Power, one of the first startup companies attempting to bring a Generation IV reactor to market. Leslie’s understanding of...