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80 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, disarmament advocates with ties to the bombings speak out

WBUR | By Here & Now Newsroom

Published August 12, 2025 at 9:08 AM PDT

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Kathleen Burkinshaw's grandfather, Hisao Ishikawa, and mother, Toshiko Ishikawa in 1935 or 1936. (Courtesy of Kathleen Burkinshaw)

It’s been 80 years since the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The attacks killed more than 100,000 Japanese civilians, poisoned a generation of survivors and ushered in a precarious era of nuclear war.

Here & Now‘s Scott Tong speaks with two disarmament advocates who have family ties to the bombings. Kathleen Burkinshaw’s mother survived the bombing of Hiroshima. She’s the author of “The Last Cherry Blossom.”

Ari Beser’s grandfather, Lt. Jacob Beser, was the only man who flew both missions to drop the atomic bombs. Today, Ari Beser is a member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and is the author of “The Nuclear Family.”

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This article was originally published on WBUR.org.