{"685223":{"#nid":"685223","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Event Provides Visceral Reminder of Nuclear Threat","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOlder Americans grew up with an early awareness of the threat of nuclear weapons, thanks to \u201cduck and cover\u201d drills in schools. But many Americans today are only vaguely aware that there are enough nuclear weapons globally to destroy the entire Earth many times over.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHosted by the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Tech Arts, and Spelman College, \u003Cem\u003Ethe bomb\u003C\/em\u003E event on Sept. 16 gave the audience an uncomfortable and unsettling front-row seat to the nuclear threat that hangs largely unnoticed over our daily lives.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe event began with \u003Cem\u003Ethe bomb\u003C\/em\u003E film, an almost hour-long film that combines disturbing and sometimes beautiful archival footage, animation, music, and text to explore the complex cultural and technological impact of nuclear weapons. The film is available streaming on Amazon, Apple TV, Tubi, Roku, and other platforms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter the screening, there was a panel discussion with former Senator Sam Nunn, co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative; Smriti Keshari, one of \u003Cem\u003Ethe bomb\u003C\/em\u003E\u2019s creators; and Rachel Whitlark, a Georgia Tech expert on nuclear proliferation, moderated by WABE host Rose Scott.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen you look at the film you realize that basically this is God\u2019s universe at stake. It\u2019s not winning or losing a war. It\u2019s a question of whether we destroy the Earth. And that means all of us, whether we want to or not, have to pay attention to it,\u201d Nunn said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe panel discussed the need for more public debate and awareness of nuclear threats. Keshari said her team conducted informal interviews with members of the public while working on \u003Cem\u003Ethe bomb.\u003C\/em\u003E They were surprised by the number of people who thought nuclear weapons were no longer a real threat and had little knowledge of how many there were and where.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI remember when we were editing the film in Los Angeles, I would drive past the Hollywood sign and I would think \u2018instead of the Hollywood sign, what if there was just a nuclear weapon right here?\u2019 What if, instead of every single weapon being hidden underground or on a submarine, they were above and people could actually see them? We would start having a lot of strong opinions about them.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe panel discussed how AI could accelerate nuclear threats. Whitlark outlined how AI\u2019s increasingly intense use of power may ramp up demand for nuclear power across the globe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe can very quickly get from the data needs of AI to the need to power those data centers,\u201d Whitlark said. \u201cOne of the ways we may be doing that is with nuclear energy, and with nuclear energy comes the possibility of nuclear weapons. We need to be thoughtful about that.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESpreading awareness among young people of the threat of nuclear war or accidents is particularly important, said Nunn.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt may take 20 years but if we don\u2019t do that the dangers we now see and the dangers we saw during the Cold War are going to get much, much worse with the speed of nuclear weapons, the lack of decision time, and the conflict between nuclear powers,\u201d Nunn said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe bomb exhibition runs free through Oct. 16 at the Ferst Center and includes student art and a graphic narrative on nuclear close calls.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOlder Americans grew up with \u201cduck and cover\u201d drills, but many today are only vaguely aware that enough nuclear weapons exist to destroy Earth many times over.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Older Americans grew up with \u201cduck and cover\u201d drills, but many today are only vaguely aware that enough nuclear weapons exist to destroy Earth many times over."}],"uid":"36009","created_gmt":"2025-09-24 15:36:38","changed_gmt":"2025-09-24 15:38:11","author":"cwhittle9","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-09-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-09-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"678121":{"id":"678121","type":"image","title":"bomb-crop.jpg","body":null,"created":"1758728204","gmt_created":"2025-09-24 15:36:44","changed":"1758728204","gmt_changed":"2025-09-24 15:36:44","alt":"Panelists speaking at the bomb event on Sept. 17, 2025.","file":{"fid":"262106","name":"bomb-crop.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/09\/24\/bomb-crop.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/09\/24\/bomb-crop.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":33737,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/09\/24\/bomb-crop.jpg?itok=MIFgAK-N"}}},"media_ids":["678121"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.thebombnow.com\/","title":"\u0022the bomb\u0022 Website"},{"url":"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/ondemand\/thebombfilm\/221025072?autoplay=1","title":"\u0022the bomb\u0022 Trailer"}],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"},{"id":"1285","name":"Sam Nunn School of International Affairs"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMegan McRainey\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:megan.mcrainey@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emegan.mcrainey@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}