November 07, 2008
President-elect Barack Obama has embraced nuclear power as part of the solution to the climate crisis, and an antidote to America’s dependence on foreign oil. According to psychiatrist Robert DuPont, the biggest hindrance to nuclear power may be fear itself. DuPont tries a little cultural therapy on our national psyche with Kurt Andersen.
Exactly 25 years ago this month, the largest audience ever for a TV movie tuned to ABC to watch a simulated nuclear holocaust. “The Day After” focused on a group of survivors in the heartland of Kansas. Studio 360's Derek John grew up nearby. He asks his 9th grade science teacher why she made him watch the program.
The underground nuclear missile bases and silos are still out there in Kansas. Many of them are now empty – but not for long. Studio 360’s Eric Molinsky visits a peace activist who is turning decommissioned nuclear missile bases and silos into family homes.
In 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine suffered a catastrophic explosion. Eugene Hutz, founder of the New York rock band Gogol Bordello, was a boy living less than 100 miles away. His flight with his family led him to creative inspiration. Produced by Jill DuBoff.
Eugene Hutz performs the song live in Studio 360.
Edward Curtis is known for his early 20th-century photos of Native Americans, but he also made a silent movie with an all-indigenous cast, called "In the Land of the Head Hunters." The film is being shown again now, accompanied by a live orchestra - this time, the musicians are all Native. Produced by Trent Wolbe.
Studio 360 is a co-production of
Public
Radio International and
WNYC New York Public Radio, and is funded in part by
Ken and Lucy Lehman, the
National Endowment for the Arts, and the Lily Auchincloss Foundation. Studio 360's American Icons series is supported in part by the
National Endowment for the Humanities. Our series on creativity and science is supported in part by the
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Our series on Underground Heroes is supported in part by the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. 
