In Episode 83 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg notes signs of hope on the 76th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, with the city’s Mayor Kazumi Matsui calling on the world’s nations to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. President Trump walked away from US-Russia nuclear arms control treaties, and China is now rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal. Ukraine and Syria are ominously likely flashpoints for superpower conflict. But South Africa provides a shining example of progress—under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, newly post-apartheid South Africa became the first and only nation on Earth to willingly dismantle its nuclear weapons. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.
Production by Chris Rywalt
We ask listeners to donate just $1 per weekly podcast via Patreon. We now have 26 subscribers. If you appreciate our work, please become Number 27!
Photo: Hiroshima Day vigil 2014, via Nihon zan Myohoji Buddhist Peace Council
Erratum re. Soviet intermediate-range missiles
The Soviet intermediate-range missiles deployed in the early 1980s were placed in European Russia (not, as stated, in East European satellite states).