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Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. Chris Maser This week, Dr. Caldicott talks to Chris Maser, author and international consultant in forest ecology and sustainable forestry practices. Trained primarily as a vertebrate zoologist, Maser has spent over 25 years as a research scientist in natural history and ecology, including positions as a research ecologist with the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management for thirteen years from 1974 the last eight studying old-growth forests in western Oregon and a landscape ecologist with the Environmental Protection Agency for one year in 1990. Maser is the author of Resolving Environmental Conflicts and Decision-Making for a Sustainable Environment: A Systemic Approach (Social Environmental Sustainability). Some of the topics covered in this interview include Maser’s theories on adapting to change, relationships between men and women, women’s inequality in a patriarchal order, the prevalence of fear and greed, our connection or lack thereof to the environment, and America’s spiritual bankruptcy. Maser describes his childhood spent in a near-wilderness, and how that shaped his views.

Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. Wertelecki [This weeks guest is Wladimir Wertelecki, the founder and chairman of the Department of Medical Genetics and Birth Defects Center of the University of South Alabama, in the U.S. Prior to his training in Medical Genetics at Harvard University Medical School, Dr. Wertelecki trained in Pediatrics at St. Louis Childrens Hospital, Washington University. Later, he served as Senior Surgeon, U.S. Public Health Commission Corps at the Epidemiology Branch of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Wertelecki is a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics and member of the Academy of Pediatrics, and since 1994, he has served as Secretary-Treasurer of the World Alliance for the Prevention of Birth Defects. He has extensively studied the effects of the radiation released by the Chernobyl meltdown on public health, particularly in children, and discusses his findings with Dr. Caldicott. As background, read the July 2012 article Geneticist charts effects of nuclear disasters, and Dr. Werteleckis study Malformations in a Chornobyl-Impacted Region. Also listen to Dr. Caldicotts interview with Janette Sherman, M.D. on the studies indicating nearly one million people have died as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. Phil Caldicott Dr. Caldicott talks to Australian sommelier, Phil Caldicott, about the science of wine production. Among the topics they discuss are the history of wine production; how wine quality is judged and best tasted; preservatives, pesticides and toxic chemicals used in wine and the benefits of organic wine growing; and the harmful and costly effects on public health of excess alcohol consumption, including how native peoples can be particularly vulnerable to these issues. For some relevant background, read the article Top 3 Reasons Why You Should Drink Organic Wine.

Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. Gundersen This week, Dr. Caldicott brings on nuclear engineer Arnold Gundersen to update readers on the unfolding effects of the Fukushima meltdowns and what is happening with nuclear power in other parts of the world. As background, listen to earlier conversations with Gundersen (starting with April 1, 2011), which can be found on the Archives page. Read the August 2012 news articles Study: Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Caused Mutant Butterflies and Grassroots Power Pushing Japan Towards Nuclear-Free Future . And visit Fairewinds.org, the website of Gundersens organization, for more information.

Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. Ralph Nader This weeks guest is author and lawyer Ralph Nader. (Note: this interview was recorded in April 2012.) A pioneer in the field of consumer advocacy, Nader is a a four-time U.S. Presidential candidate. He ran in 1996 and 2000 on the Green Party ticket. During a very close election in 2000, he was accused of taking votes away from democrat Al Gore. He ran again in 2004 and 2008 as an independent. Nader has helped pass several bills and written many books on the subject of consumer safety. The conversation covers the need for higher wages (Nader mentions timeforaraise.org), the weaknesses of the Occupy movement, the tenets of Naders book Only The Super-Rich Can Save Us and his forthcoming book 17 Solutions (fall 2012), nuclear weapons, the lack of free health care in the U.S. and what it costs the nation, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Read Dr. Brian Moenchs article America: A Fire Sale to Foreign Corporations. Nader and Dr. Caldicott also address the role of greed and the monetized mind, global warmings effect on the poor, and how communities can create small economies that reduce the role of giant corporate entities. Nader mentions that listeners can receive his weekly column if they sign up at nader.org and they can read his presidential platform to compare it to those of the current candidates at votenader.org. For more information, be sure to listen to Dr. Caldicotts August 2010 conversation with Nader. The last 10 minutes of the program include an excerpt from a 2009 speech Dr. Caldicott gave in Middlebury, Vermont. She addresses the dangers of nuclear power, focused on the aging Vermont Yankee plant on the Massachusetts/Vermont border.

Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. Dr. Alan Robock This week, we hear a repeat of Dr. Caldicotts September 2011 interview with Dr. Alan Robock, Ph.D., a Distinguished Professor of Climatology in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University. Dr. Robock has published more than 300 articles on his research in the area of climate change, including more than 170 peer-reviewed papers. His areas of expertise include geoengineering, climatic effects of nuclear war, effects of volcanic eruptions on climate, regional atmosphere-hydrology modeling, and soil moisture variations. This weeks conversation looks at the latest models of nuclear winter after a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, and how even a limited nuclear exchange would increase global warming, destroy the ozone layer, induce major food shortages and cause millions of deaths. The risk of a global nuclear holocaust and severe nuclear winter caused by a U.S./Russian nuclear exchange is also discussed. Listen to Dr. Caldicotts 2008 conversation with Robock. Visit Dr. Robocks Rutgers University page to find more information on climate change and nuclear winter. Dr. Caldicott refers to a 2004 article she co-wrote, Robert McNamara Says NYC Still Number 1 Russian Nuclear Target, and her 2004 book, The New Nuclear Danger: George W. Bushs Military-Industrial Complex, which is still completely relevant.

Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. Dr. Brian Moench This weeks guest is Dr. Brian Moench, President and Founder of the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, and a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Dr. Moench is an anesthesiologist at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has taught at both Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Moench has written over 60 op eds published in newspapers throughout the USA and on progressive online news sites such as Common Dreams, and received several local awards for activism in environmental and public health protection. Dr. Caldicott and Dr. Moench cover such topics as global warming including the devastating fires in the West, as well as radiation exposure from nuclear tests and nuclear power plants, corporate power in politics, and the health dangers of cell phones. Read Dr. Moenchs latest article Adapting to the Climate Crisis: That Was Easy. Also check out As the West Burns: Speaking Truth to Fire (which Dr. Caldicott refers to in the interview), Climate Crisis: The Silence is Deafening, and Criminal Neglect of Future Generations. Read other articles written by Dr. Moench here.

Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. David Dufty In this episode, Dr. Caldicott talks to David Dufty, author of How To Build an Android: The True Story of Philip K. Dicks Robotic Resurrection, published in the U.S. by Holt in 2012. Dufty completed a psychology degree with honors at the University of Newcastle and earned a Ph.D., also in psychology, at the University of Sydney in 2002. He moved to the United States in 2003 where he was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Tennessee. He now lives in Canberra, where he works for the Australian government. Among other issues, Dr. Caldicott and Dufty discuss reality vs. science-fiction, the disturbing aspects of robots and machines, police states, and artificial intelligence which could used by governments and the military. As background, read the 2012 New York Times article, Talking Head, about How to Build an Android.

Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. Arnie Gundersen This week, Dr. Caldicott has a new conversation with nuclear engineer Arnold Gundersen about the ongoing nuclear disaster at the Fukushima plant and its effects on Japan and the rest of the world. Among the topics discussed are the little understood dangers of internal exposure to radiation. Read Dr. Caldicotts 2011 article How nuclear apologists mislead the world over radiationin which she discusses internal emitters. Dr. Caldicott and Gundersen later discuss the new Japanese government report, The Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission Report. As background, watch or read the transcript of As Japan Says Fukushima Daiichi Disaster Man-Made Preventable, Fears Grow for Nuclear Plants Worldwide, Gundersens appearance on Democracy Now earlier this month. Read the articles Fukushima Still Dangerous, Unstable 500 Days Later, Japan Workers Told to Lie About Radiation, Fukushima Report Blasts TEPCOs On-Going Failures: I now understand what people are worried the most about is the vulnerability of the No 4 spent fuel pool and US Infrastructure in Disarray Due to Extreme Weather, Climate Change which mentions how nuclear power plants are overheating more often.

Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. Christine Milne (Katherine Griffiths) Dr. Caldicott talks to Christine Milne, leader of the Australian Greens Party and Senator for Tasmania. They discuss refugees, carbon taxes, green energy and other aspects of the climate crisis. Milne gives a history of Green parties around the world, saying that the first party started in Tasmania, and outlines the principles of the Green parties. She mentions the Global Greens Conference held this year in Dakar. Listen to Dr. Caldicotts interview with former Australian senator Bob Brown. The conversation then covers the need to aid war refugees and global warming refugees, following by a look at the need for carbon taxes on polluting companies. Dr. Caldicott mentions the report Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free. Listen to one of Dr. Caldicotts interviews with report author Arjun Makhijani . The program also addresses how to reach people who deny global warming because of religious beliefs. As background, listen to Dr. Caldicotts December 2011 dialogue with Sen. Milne. Read Milne’s June 17 article Arctic ice vanishing. Also read the articles Milne warns Greens won’t support carbon tax abolition, The next wave: climate refugees, U.S. science official says more extreme events convincing many Americans climate change is real, Sizzling Heat, Storms, Wildfires: ‘This Is Just the Beginning’ of Global Warming’s Effects, and A Long Hot Summer by Bill McKibben.

Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. Prof. Falk This week, Dr. Caldicott talks with Richard Falk, the Albert G. Milbank Professor of International Law Emeritus at Princeton University, where whe was a member of the faculty for forty years until 2001. Prof. Falk is currently Research Professor at the Santa Barbara campus of the University of California, where he directs a research project on Climate Change, Human Security, and Democracy. He served as Chair of the Board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation from 2004 to 2012, and in 2008-2009 he was appointed expert advisor to the President of the UN General Assembly. Prof. Falk has published more than 50 books, including his most recent (co-authored with David Krieger, an earlier guest on this program) published in 2012 titled Path to Zero: Dialogues on Nuclear Dangers. Relevant to this interview is the July 2012 article Iran Sanctions: War by Other Means.

Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. Bob Herbert This week Dr Helen Caldicott talks with author and former New York Times columnist Bob Herbert about the state of America in 2012. Herbert is now one of the experts for the think tank Demos. Listen to Dr. Caldicotts 2009 interview with Herbert here. Read Herberts 2011 columns Losing Our Way: The U.S. can find the resources for endless warfare, but not for nation-building here at home and Is Nuclear Power Worth the Risk? The public deserves a much fuller accounting of nuclear power’s pros and cons. Read more of his New York Times columns here.

Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. Robert Alvarez This week, Dr. Caldicott interviews Robert Alvarez, a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) in Washington, D.C. Alvarez is an award-winning author and has published articles in prominent publications such as Science Magazine, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Technology Review and The Washington Post. As background, listen to Dr. Caldicotts November 2011 interview with Alvarez here. Read the May 2011 IPS press release Expert Cautions that 30 Million Spent Nuclear Fuel Rods Are Unsafely Stored in United States, Could Cause Fukushima-like Disaster and read the 2011 IPS report Spent Nuclear Fuel Pools in the U.S.: Reducing the Deadly Risks of Storage.

Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. Amory Lovins This week, Dr. Helen Caldicott talks about renewable energy with physicist Amory B. Lovins, cofounder, Chairman, and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, an independent non-profit think-and-do tank that drives the efficient and restorative use of resources. An advisor to major firms and governments in over 50 countries for the past four decades, Lovins is author of 31 books including his latest, Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era (2011), as well as over 450 papers. In 2009, Time Magazine named Lovins one of the worlds 100 most influential people. In this conversation, Lovins and Dr. Caldicott discuss the downsides of oil and coal, how America is reducing its coal use, cogeneration, Chinas inspiring partial transition to greener energy in recent years, the enormous potention for non-nuclear renewable energy in Japan, the toxicity of fracking, and a 2010 report by the National Research Council that renewable energy options in the U.S. could meet a large percentage of Americas needs. Lovins mentions the book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. Later, Dr. Caldicott asks how Americans can reduce their energy waste and how architects can create buildings that limit power consumption. Lovins also addresses how Americans could solarize their homes using the example of Israel and Chile. In discussing baseload power, Lovins explains how an array of renewables could provide power at different times of day and night, while storing energy. He recommends listeners watch his presentation, A 50-year plan for energy, based on Reinventing Fire. In closing, Dr. Caldicott strongly urges listeners to read Lovinss book. Also, be sure to visit ReinventingFire.com.

Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. David Bradbury This week, we play a repeat of Dr. Caldicotts July 2011 interview with David Bradbury, described as one of Australia’s best known and most successful documentary filmmakers on his website. Bradburys 2007 film Hard Rain addresses the horrifying realities of nuclear power, and gets beneath the hype propounded by the nuclear industry. Watch a 25-minute clip here. Bradburys films have been shown widely in Australia and overseas, and he has won numerous prizes including five AFI awards and two Academy Award nominations (for Frontline, which profiled war cameraman Neil Davis, and for Chile: Hasta Cuando?, on the brutal military dictatorship of General Pinochet). Among other topics, Dr. Caldicott and Bradbury pay tribute to Wilfred Burchett, an iconic Australian journalist who reported from Hiroshima in the weeks after the atomic bomb was dropped. Burchett is the subject of Bradburys film Public Enemy Number One. Read Hiroshima Cover-up: How the War Departments Timesman Won a Pulitzer. For more on the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, be sure to watch the Emmy Award-winning film White Light, Black Rain. Later in the program, Dr. Caldicott and Bradbury look at the health and environmental ramifications of depleted uranium weapons and uranium mining in Australia, both of which have been the subject of his films. When the Dust Settles is Bradburys film on the latter topic, and can be watched on YouTube. To read more about Bradburys films (several of which can be ordered from his companys website), click here.