Sun August 9, 2020
The Bomb: Understanding its History and the Hope for a Nuclear-Free Future
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City Lights in conjunction with San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility present
A discussion with Fred Kaplan, James L Nolan Jr., Dr. Tova Fuller & Dr. Robert Gould (of S.F. Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility)
City Lights Booksellers join with the San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility to present a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the bombings that killed over 200,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. City Lights founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti has a special connection to these events. He was a naval commander serving during World War II, and one of few American soldiers to walk on Nagasaki shortly after the bombs were dropped. His experience changed his life and inspired him to start a bookstore with the motto, "Books Not Bombs." During this afternoon of discussion, our panelists hope to assess the events of that time, their impact on the world, and where we stand now, facing the dawn of a new global nuclear arms race that compounds the climate and pandemic threats to human survival. At a time when the Nuclear Weapons States possess more than 13,000 nuclear weapons, we will focus on the manifold threats posed by new global programs to expand and modernize nuclear weapons arsenals, the rejection of arms control treaties, as well as the heightened great-power confrontation now accelerating in the Pacific region. While we face our unfolding planetary emergencies, the profound "opportunity costs" of our government planning to spend more than $4 million an hour over the next 30 years to potentially annihilate countless millions of people is unfathomable. Our speakers will also present alternative visions offered by the global movement to abolish nuclear weapons epitomized by the 2017 United Nations' Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons, and the prospects for connecting this with wider popular movements seeking to transform our global priorities in the direction of climate, environmental, and social justice necessary for global survival.
Celebrating two new books:
* Atomic Doctors: Conscience and Complicity at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age
by James L Nolan Jr. - published by Belknap/Harvard Press
A vital and vivid account of a largely unknown chapter in atomic history, Atomic Doctors is a profound meditation on the moral dilemmas that ordinary people face in extraordinary times. Atomic Doctors follows physicians as they sought to maximize the health and safety of those exposed to nuclear radiation, all the while serving leaders determined to minimize delays and maintain secrecy.
and
* The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War
by Fred Kaplan - published by Simon & Schuster
From the author the classic The Wizards of Armageddon and Pulitzer Prize finalist comes the definitive history of American policy on nuclear war--and Presidents' actions in nuclear crises--from Truman to Trump.
show less
A discussion with Fred Kaplan, James L Nolan Jr., Dr. Tova Fuller & Dr. Robert Gould (of S.F. Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility)
City Lights Booksellers join with the San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility to present a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the bombings that killed over 200,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. City Lights founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti has a special connection to these events. He was a naval commander serving during World War II, and one of few American soldiers to walk on Nagasaki shortly after the bombs were dropped. His experience changed his life and inspired him to start a bookstore with the motto, "Books Not Bombs." During this afternoon of discussion, our panelists hope to assess the events of that time, their impact on the world, and where we stand now, facing the dawn of a new global nuclear arms race that compounds the climate and pandemic threats to human survival. At a time when the Nuclear Weapons States possess more than 13,000 nuclear weapons, we will focus on the manifold threats posed by new global programs to expand and modernize nuclear weapons arsenals, the rejection of arms control treaties, as well as the heightened great-power confrontation now accelerating in the Pacific region. While we face our unfolding planetary emergencies, the profound "opportunity costs" of our government planning to spend more than $4 million an hour over the next 30 years to potentially annihilate countless millions of people is unfathomable. Our speakers will also present alternative visions offered by the global movement to abolish nuclear weapons epitomized by the 2017 United Nations' Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons, and the prospects for connecting this with wider popular movements seeking to transform our global priorities in the direction of climate, environmental, and social justice necessary for global survival.
Celebrating two new books:
* Atomic Doctors: Conscience and Complicity at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age
by James L Nolan Jr. - published by Belknap/Harvard Press
A vital and vivid account of a largely unknown chapter in atomic history, Atomic Doctors is a profound meditation on the moral dilemmas that ordinary people face in extraordinary times. Atomic Doctors follows physicians as they sought to maximize the health and safety of those exposed to nuclear radiation, all the while serving leaders determined to minimize delays and maintain secrecy.
and
* The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War
by Fred Kaplan - published by Simon & Schuster
From the author the classic The Wizards of Armageddon and Pulitzer Prize finalist comes the definitive history of American policy on nuclear war--and Presidents' actions in nuclear crises--from Truman to Trump.
City Lights in conjunction with San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility present
A discussion with Fred Kaplan, James L Nolan Jr., Dr. Tova Fuller & Dr. Robert Gould (of S.F. Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility)
City Lights Booksellers join with the San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility to present a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the bombings that killed over 200,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. City Lights founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti has a special connection to these events. He was a naval commander serving during World War II, and one of few American soldiers to walk on Nagasaki shortly after the bombs were dropped. His experience changed his life and inspired him to start a bookstore with the motto, "Books Not Bombs." During this afternoon of discussion, our panelists hope to assess the events of that time, their impact on the world, and where we stand now, facing the dawn of a new global nuclear arms race that compounds the climate and pandemic threats to human survival. At a time when the Nuclear Weapons States possess more than 13,000 nuclear weapons, we will focus on the manifold threats posed by new global programs to expand and modernize nuclear weapons arsenals, the rejection of arms control treaties, as well as the heightened great-power confrontation now accelerating in the Pacific region. While we face our unfolding planetary emergencies, the profound "opportunity costs" of our government planning to spend more than $4 million an hour over the next 30 years to potentially annihilate countless millions of people is unfathomable. Our speakers will also present alternative visions offered by the global movement to abolish nuclear weapons epitomized by the 2017 United Nations' Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons, and the prospects for connecting this with wider popular movements seeking to transform our global priorities in the direction of climate, environmental, and social justice necessary for global survival.
Celebrating two new books:
* Atomic Doctors: Conscience and Complicity at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age
by James L Nolan Jr. - published by Belknap/Harvard Press
A vital and vivid account of a largely unknown chapter in atomic history, Atomic Doctors is a profound meditation on the moral dilemmas that ordinary people face in extraordinary times. Atomic Doctors follows physicians as they sought to maximize the health and safety of those exposed to nuclear radiation, all the while serving leaders determined to minimize delays and maintain secrecy.
and
* The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War
by Fred Kaplan - published by Simon & Schuster
From the author the classic The Wizards of Armageddon and Pulitzer Prize finalist comes the definitive history of American policy on nuclear war--and Presidents' actions in nuclear crises--from Truman to Trump.
read more
A discussion with Fred Kaplan, James L Nolan Jr., Dr. Tova Fuller & Dr. Robert Gould (of S.F. Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility)
City Lights Booksellers join with the San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility to present a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the bombings that killed over 200,000 people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. City Lights founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti has a special connection to these events. He was a naval commander serving during World War II, and one of few American soldiers to walk on Nagasaki shortly after the bombs were dropped. His experience changed his life and inspired him to start a bookstore with the motto, "Books Not Bombs." During this afternoon of discussion, our panelists hope to assess the events of that time, their impact on the world, and where we stand now, facing the dawn of a new global nuclear arms race that compounds the climate and pandemic threats to human survival. At a time when the Nuclear Weapons States possess more than 13,000 nuclear weapons, we will focus on the manifold threats posed by new global programs to expand and modernize nuclear weapons arsenals, the rejection of arms control treaties, as well as the heightened great-power confrontation now accelerating in the Pacific region. While we face our unfolding planetary emergencies, the profound "opportunity costs" of our government planning to spend more than $4 million an hour over the next 30 years to potentially annihilate countless millions of people is unfathomable. Our speakers will also present alternative visions offered by the global movement to abolish nuclear weapons epitomized by the 2017 United Nations' Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons, and the prospects for connecting this with wider popular movements seeking to transform our global priorities in the direction of climate, environmental, and social justice necessary for global survival.
Celebrating two new books:
* Atomic Doctors: Conscience and Complicity at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age
by James L Nolan Jr. - published by Belknap/Harvard Press
A vital and vivid account of a largely unknown chapter in atomic history, Atomic Doctors is a profound meditation on the moral dilemmas that ordinary people face in extraordinary times. Atomic Doctors follows physicians as they sought to maximize the health and safety of those exposed to nuclear radiation, all the while serving leaders determined to minimize delays and maintain secrecy.
and
* The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War
by Fred Kaplan - published by Simon & Schuster
From the author the classic The Wizards of Armageddon and Pulitzer Prize finalist comes the definitive history of American policy on nuclear war--and Presidents' actions in nuclear crises--from Truman to Trump.
show less
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