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An episode from 7/21/23: Tonight, I read a few dozen quotations from the scientists, politicians, and military figures who were instrumental in the development of the atomic bomb, and in the final decision to drop it on Japan in August of 1945. The most prominent voices here are those of Robert Oppenheimer and his fellow physicists, whose dedication and excitement to develop the bomb was matched only by their misgivings (though rarely their outright regret) in the years after World War Two.

While I previously dedicated four long episodes to the subject, I tried here to isolate the most vivid quotations, and the most difficult ideas, into one episode. The sources I drew on for this episode are:

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• \u2060The Making of the Atomic Bomb\u2060, by Richard Rhodes
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• \u2060Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb\u2060, by Richard Rhodes
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• \u2060American Prometheus: The Triumph & Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer\u2060, by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
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• \u2060J. Robert Oppenheimer: Shatterer of Worlds\u2060, by Peter Goodchild.
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• John Else\u2019s documentary,\xa0The Day After Trinity,\xa0\u2060can be watched here\u2060.
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• John Bradley\u2019s anthology of poets writing about the bomb is\xa0\u2060Atomic Ghosts: Poets Respond to the Atomic Age\u2060.
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• My poem about Robert Oppenheimer\xa0\u2060can be read here\u2060.
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Don\u2019t forget to support Human Voices Wake Us\xa0on Substack, where you can also get our newsletter and other extras. You can also support the podcast by ordering any of my books:\xa0Notes from the Grid,\xa0To the House of the Sun,\xa0The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and\xa0Bone Antler Stone.

Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to\xa0humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com.