We're sunsetting PodQuest on 2025-07-28. Thank you for your support!
Export Podcast Subscriptions
cover of episode Double-Blasted

Double-Blasted

2025/6/13
logo of podcast Radiolab

Radiolab
AI Deep Dive AI Chapters Transcript
People
L
Latif Nasser
S
Sam Kean
Topics
Sam Kean: 我讲述了山口彊的故事，他是一名在1945年8月6日于广岛遭遇原子弹爆炸的日本工程师。当时他正在上班途中，距离爆炸中心约一英里。爆炸产生的强烈白光充满了伽马射线，这些射线破坏了他的DNA。尽管如此，他还是设法逃离了广岛，并在第二天返回家乡长崎。然而，8月9日，当他正在向老板讲述广岛的遭遇时，长崎也遭受了原子弹袭击，他再次经历了同样的恐怖。尽管经历了两次原子弹爆炸，并遭受了严重的健康问题，但他奇迹般地活到了93岁。更令人惊讶的是，他的后代并没有出现明显的遗传缺陷，这挑战了人们对辐射长期影响的传统认知。这让我相信，人类的DNA具有惊人的修复能力，即使在最极端的环境下也能保持韧性。

Deep Dive

Chapters
Tsutomu Yamaguchi's incredible story begins on August 6, 1945, in Hiroshima. He survived the atomic bombing, only to experience the same horror again in Nagasaki the following day. This chapter details his experiences on that fateful first day, from a delayed commute to his harrowing escape from the devastated city.
  • Tsutomu Yamaguchi was a ship engineer working in Hiroshima.
  • He survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by a mile.
  • Yamaguchi's journey back home to Nagasaki involved navigating a city in ruins and overcoming numerous obstacles.

Shownotes Transcript

We first aired this episode in 2012, but at the show we’ve been thinking a lot about resilience and repair so we wanted to play it for you again today. It’s about a man who experienced maybe one of the most chilling traumas… twice. But then, it leads us to a story of generational repair. 

On the morning of August 6th, 1945, Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a work trip. He was walking to the office when the first atomic bomb was dropped about a mile away. He survived, and eventually managed to get himself onto a train back to his hometown... Nagasaki. The very next morning, as he tried to convince his boss that a single bomb could destroy a whole city, the second bomb dropped. Author Sam Kean tells Jad and Robert the incredible story of what happened to Tsutomu, explains how gamma rays shred DNA, and helps us understand how Tsutomu sidestepped a thousand year curse.Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up) (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!

Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab) (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.

Follow our show on Instagram), Twitter) and Facebook) @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected]).

Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.