Episodes
If you were alive at the time, you remember an o-ring caused the January 28, 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explosion 73 seconds after take off. But was it that simple? Adam Higginbotham discusses his new book, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space and see how much you really know about that day.
Published 11/26/24
This episode was recorded in Toronto with Nathan Radke and Lee Kuhnle from the UnCover Up Podcast and special guest Nina Weston (a young person). We brainstorm some additional ideas on how to "hide" our nuclear waste far into the future.
Published 11/06/24
Find Matt Caplan's podcast where every you find us.
Published 10/17/24
Learn about the nuclear horror movie Threads with author Bob Mielke and his new book from Die Die books https://diediebooks.com/products/threads1984
Published 10/03/24
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Published 09/03/24
What role has Uranium played in our society? Who was "hotter than radioactive yams"? What do fashionable Uranium prospectors wear? Lucy Santos answers these questions and more when she joins Shelly on this episode.
Published 09/03/24
What if you discovered warning signs of something very dangerous buried deep underground from an ancient civilization? Would you believe the item was dangerous or would you think it was valuable treasure? Would you continue exploring? Find out what could be buried and what Drs. Caplan and Lesher would do with the knowledge.
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Published 08/01/24
Physicist and activist, Frank von Hippel discusses his career in arms control and what the future may hold for the world.
Two corrections – 1) The Nuclear Weapons Freeze march was from the UN to Central park and 2) The banner in the Freeze march said 177 out of 195 towns voted for the Freeze in Vermont, not 193 out of 197.
Published 05/28/24
Our team returns to the Soviet Union to take data on the Slava. We hear about the spectroscopy of a nuclear weapon and the legacy of the Black Sea Experiment.
Published 04/30/24
This episode sets the stage for the Black Sea Experiment. We are introduced to Tom Cochran and Frank von Hippel, two people who had a hand in changing the way the US viewed arms control verification. This episode introduces seismic verification, used to verify nuclear tests for decades.
Published 04/30/24
Shelly continues her stay in Tbilisi, Georgia and speaks to two Physicists, Giorgia Japaridz (Illia State Univ.) and Revaz Shanidze (Tbilisi State Univ). They discuss what life as a physicist was like under Soviet rule and after Georgian independence. Along the way we learn about scientists who protected nuclear material when security fled, why the Institute’s reactor was unique, and find out how to survive in post-Soviet times. This podcast is in collaboration with The Stanley Center for...
Published 03/27/24
Spend time with Shelly and two guest as she travels to Tbilsi, Georgia. First she discusses storytelling and Georgian’s atomic Odyssey with Shorena Lortkipanidze from the Civil Council on Defense and Security (Tbilsi, Georgia). Next, Mariam Chabashvidi explains her love for computer programming after Georgian independence and how she became an invaluable member of the nuclear science team at the Institute of Physics in Tbilsi, Georgia. This podcast is in collaboration with The Stanley Center...
Published 02/27/24
Start the New Year off with a bang. Join Shelly & Miss America 2023, nuclear engineer, and fellow Badger Grace Stanke to discuss a range of topics.
Published 01/30/24
What makes Edward Teller tick? Find out with physical chemist and author Istvan Hargittai on this episode.
Published 11/28/23
Physics Nobel Laureate Donna Strickland talks about all things lasers, how lasers relate to nuclear physics, and explains why she had to pay the long-distance bill to Sweden.
Published 10/31/23
Meet Dr. Ed Calabrese, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, School of Public Health & Health Sciences. Ed has spent years diving into the history of dose response and the Nobel Prize awarded to Hermann Muller for this work.
Published 09/26/23
How can you find the age of Plutonium? Why is it important? What are the applications? Find out the answer to these questions and more on this episode of My Nuclear Life when Cody Folden joins Shelly Lesher to discuss his paper in the Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry.
Published 08/29/23
My Nuclear Life and The Uncover Up visit the Diefenbunker: Canada's Cold War Museum. Join Shelly, Nathan, and Lee as they journey 75 feet underground to compare how the Canadian Government planned to prepare for their survival versus the Civil Defense measured intended for their citizens.
Published 07/25/23
Get ready for the summer movie by joining Oppenheimer biographer Kai Bird (author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer) as he discusses Oppie's life and science.
Published 06/27/23
What is the 3rd Nuclear Age? Wait, what about the 1st and 2nd? Join Shelly as she speaks to Stanton Senior Fellow Ankit Panda about how the world is grabbling with nuclear proliferation and what challenges we face.
Published 05/30/23
Chemical elements make up the matter we observe in the universe but how did they form? How did scientists figure this out and what is left to learn? Artemis Spyrou joins Shelly to discuss the evolution of the elements and the nuclear processes that govern stellar nucleosynthesis.
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Published 04/25/23
In December 2022, Lawrence Livermore's National Ignition Facility (NIF) achieved ignition. Join Shelly as she speaks with Bob Rosner about what this milestone means to Stockpile Stewardship and to physics. Also - learn how cool it is to focus 192 lasers onto a tiny little capsule.
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Article: Bulletin Article
Published 03/28/23
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to witness an above-ground nuclear weapons test? Shelly is joined by Jim Burkhart who was stationed on the Johnston Atoll in 1962 when the largest nuclear test in outer space was conducted. He will discuss this and other shots during his year "on island" as part of Operation Dominic.
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Published 02/28/23
From his beginnings as a nuclear physicist to his Nobel Prize-winning work on neutrinos, Arthur McDonald sits down with Shelly Lesher in the studio.
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Published 01/31/23