David Hoffman – Plutonium Mountain
David speaks with journalist David Hoffman about his article “Saving the World at Plutonium Mountain.” The origins of this article can be traced back to the end of the Cold War and Russia’s disposal of their cache of plutonium, a main ingredient in the construction of a nuclear bomb. As it turns out, this material has simply dumped into a mountain in Kazakhstan where it stayed for 10 years before some scavengers found the plutonium in plain view. Along with Russian and American scientists, Kazakhstan spent the next 15 years disposing of this highly hazardous material.
Original Air Date: 8-27-2013
Part 1
[audio:http://1690wmlb.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/CWDL-David_Hoffman_Plutonium_Mountain.mp3]
David chats with former Harvard President Neil Rudenstine in to chat about his new book The House of Barnes: The Man, The Collection, The Controversy. This book covers the extraordinary and eccentric Albert Barnes. Often lauded as the most successful art collector in history, Barnes’ collection was panned by critics in the early-20th Century for including artists like Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Picasso before they contemporary art at the time was understood and respected.
As the debate over gun-control heats up, David chats with Dan Baum about his book Gun Guys: A Road Trip. A supporter of gun rights, Baum is a bit of a rarity not because of his views but because he is a liberal Democrat. Rather than making standard party-line arguments, this book points the finger at both parties showing their shortcoming when coming to handling gun control arguments.