EVENTS AND MEDIA APPEARANCES
MARCH 12, 2024
•TURNING POINT: THE BOMB AND THE COLD WAR. Blume appeared this documentary series to talk about the wartime development of the bomb, the 1945 Trinity Test in New Mexico and its impact, and the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Series now screening on Netflix; click here to watch.
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NOVEMBER 6, 2023
•ANNUAL EVENT, BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS. In the Bulletin’s annual conference, featuring a keynote conversation with Oppenheimer director CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, BLUME led a panel with nuclear analysts JON WOLFSTHAL and SUSAN EISENHOWER about Oppenheimer’s legacy and today’s nuclear landscape.
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OCTOBER 3, 2023
•LATE NIGHT LIVE, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORTION. BLUME spoke with host PHILLIP ADAMS about the latest findings surrounding fallout from the Trinity nuclear test, and the ongoing bid by Trinity “downwinders” for inclusion in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Click here to listen.
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AUGUST 29, 2023
•THE KATIE HALPER SHOW. BLUME spoke with host KATIE HALPER, nuclear historian ALEX WELLERSTEIN and historian DAVID HECHT about Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, the legacy of 1945 Trinity nuclear test and atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the ongoing nuclear threat. Click here to listen.
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AUGUST 25, 2023
•ABC NEWS PODCAST START HERE. BLUME spoke with host BRAD MIELKE about Japan’s controversial dispensation of treated irradiated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, following Blume’s National Geographic feature on the possible trans-Pacific threat posited by the discharges. Click here to listen.
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AUGUST 8, 2023
•NPR’s 1A. BLUME spoke with host JENN WHITE and guests TINA CORDOVA and KIM VISINTINE about the ongoing fight for downwinders of U.S. nuclear tests to gain government recognition and compensation, and about Blume’s exclusive New York Times report on a new study showing that the 1945 Trinity test’s fallout reached 46 states, Canada, and Mexico within ten days of the detonation. Click here to listen.
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JULY 29, 2023
•AIR MAIL PODCAST, MORNING MEETING. BLUME spoke with hosts Michael Hainey and Ashley Baker about her Air Mail feature on E. B. White’s forgotten and extensive writings about the nuclear threat. Click here to listen.
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JULY 24, 2023
•PRESS THE BUTTON PODCAST. BLUME spoke with host Jacqueline Hsing for the podcast’s “Shadow of Oppenheimer” series. Click here to listen.
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JANUARY 24, 2023
•SKIPPED HISTORY PODCAST. BLUME spoke with host BEN TUMIN about the bombing of Hiroshima, the current nuclear threat, and the grim state of New York sports teams. Click here to listen.
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AUGUST 16, 2022
DIESEL BOOKSTORE, LOS ANGELES, 6:30 PM PT.
IN-PERSON EVENT.
BLUME, biographer A. SCOTT BERG and Hemingway scholar MARK CIRINO discussed and signed One True Sentence: Writers and Readers on Hemingway's Art.
Call (310) 576-9960 to purchase a signed copy.
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JUNE 1, 2022
Event co-hosted by TOWN & COUNTRY and the estate of LEE MILLER and ROLAND PENROSE, 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET /5 PM GMT.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
BLUME, ANTONY PENROSE and AMI BOUHASSANE - son and granddaughter of Lee Miller and Roland Penrose - discussed the wartime camouflage campaigns conducted by Surrealists during the Second World War.
Click here to read Blume’s Town & Country feature on wartime surrealist camouflage.
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MAY 24, 2022
•NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY (NYPL), 6 PM ET.
IN-PERSON EVENT and LIVE-STREAMED.
As a launch event for the NYPL’s new ‘The New York Public Library’s Treasures’ permanent exhibit, BLUME, New Yorker archive editor ERIN OVERBEY, and war correspondent JANINE DI GIOVANNI discussed exceptional archival finds Blume made during her FALLOUT research at the NYPL’s New Yorker records archive.
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MAY 9, 2022
Warbler Press will release a new edition of Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, which includes commentary from BLUME, along with Hemingway scholars MARK CIRINO and MICHAEL VON CANNON, on the iconic Lost Generation novel.
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MAY 4, 2022
•N SQUARE, 8:30 AM PT / 11:30 AM ET.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
BLUME, activist TINA CORDOVA, and Art Not War founder DARON MURPHY discussed strategies for effectively conveying stories about the nuclear threat to a mass audience, and in turn, spurring activism and policy change.
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APRIL 15, 2022
•NPR’S MUSEUM CONFIDENTIAL. BLUME spoke with host JEFF MARTIN about her Town & Country feature on how British surrealists helped turn the tide of WWII through a camoflage operation in North Africa. Click here to listen.
SEPTEMBER 30, 2021
•HOLLYWOOD, HEALTH & SOCIETY, 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
BLUME and investigative journalist ERIC SCHLOSSER discussed FALLOUT and its continued relevance as contemporary American journalism faces existential challenges.
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AUGUST 30, 2021
•YALE UNIVERSITY / BEINECKE LIBRARY, 4 PM ET.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
On the eve of the 75th anniversary of the publication of John Hersey’s “Hiroshima,” Blume and her research associate, Anastasiya Osipova, gave a webinar presentation about their FALLOUT research in Hersey’s archives, housed at Beinecke and including the first draft of “Hiroshima” and Hersey’s on-the-ground reporting materials from Japan.
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AUGUST 16, 2021
•USEFUL IDIOTS PODCAST. BLUME spoke with hosts MATT TAIBBI and KATIE HALPER about the current nuclear threat and its relationship to climate change. Click here to listen.
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AUGUST 10, 2021
PAPERBACK RELEASE OF FALLOUT, with updated introduction and epilogue for the post-Trump administration era.
Available at booksellers everywhere.
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JULY 15, 2021
FALLOUT RELEASED IN JAPAN, published by Shueisha.
Click here to purchase the edition.
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MARCH 11, 2021
•MAGIC CITY BOOKS, 5 PM PT / 7 PM CT.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
BLUME discussed Fallout and participated in an audience Q&A.
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MARCH 4, 2021
•PBS SoCal & THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
BLUME joined filmmakers KEN BURNS and LYNN NOVICK, along with novelist RACHEL KUSHNER, in a discussion about Ernest Hemingway and celebrity, on the eve of Burns’s and Novick’s upcoming PBS documentary series on Hemingway’s life and work. Moderated by Los Angeles Times columnist PATT MORRISON.
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FEBRUARY 11, 2021
•BOOK SOUP, 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
BLUME and IAN ROSENBERG, author of The Fight for Free Speech, discussed landmark first amendment cases and their relevance today.
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JANUARY 19, 2021
•COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW, THE KICKER PODCAST.
BLUME and KYLE POPE, editor and publisher of The Columbia Journalism Review, discussed how reporter John Hersey - protagonist of Fallout - cracked the code in successfully creating a journalistic account of a mass casualty event, and how his work can be instructive to journalists today who are grappling with telling the story of mass COVID casualties.
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JANUARY 7, 2021
•LITERARY HUB, KEEN ON PODCAST.
BLUME spoke with ANDREW KEEN about the attempted cover-up of the Hiroshima bombing, and what journalists can learn from reporter John Hersey about covering the tragedy of COVID-19.
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JANUARY 5, 2021
•THE CURIOUS MAN’S PODCAST.
BLUME spoke with MATTHEW CRAWFORD on how reporter John Hersey’s work demonstrates the importance of investigative reporting - and why we need to support journalism more than ever today.
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DECEMBER 3, 2020
•WILLIAMS COLLEGE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, 8 PM ET.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
BLUME (‘98) and Professor JAMES L. NOLAN, JR. - author of Atomic Doctors: Conscience and Complicity at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age - discussed the U.S. government’s efforts to manipulate and downplay the narrative of Hiroshima’s aftermath.
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NOVEMBER 15, 2020
•THE BIG BROADCAST, WAMU, 9:45 PM ET.
BLUME and The Big Broadcast host MURRAY HORWITZ discussed the September, 1945, ABC Radio adaptation of Hersey’s “Hiroshima,” which ran on four consecutive nights on the network. The Big Broadcast subsequently aired the final two installments of the ABC adaptation.
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NOVEMBER 12, 2020
•BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS 75TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT, 5 PM CT.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
Blume appeared as a special guest and “provocateur” presenter.
Click here to see the program.
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NOVEMBER 8, 2020
•THE BIG BROADCAST, WAMU, 9:45 PM ET.
BLUME and The Big Broadcast host MURRAY HORWITZ discussed the September, 1945, ABC Radio adaptation of reporter John Hersey’s “Hiroshima,” which ran on four consecutive nights on the network. The Big Broadcast subsequently aired the first two installments of the ABC adaptation.
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OCTOBER 7, 2020
•THE MACARTHUR MEMORIAL, 7 PM ET.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
BLUME gave a presentation on the press - both foreign and Japanese - during the MacArthur occupation, and how reporter John Hersey navigated the SCAP apparatus to report “Hiroshima.”
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OCTOBER 2, 2020
•THE HISTORY OF WWII PODCAST.
Blume spoke about Fallout with The History of WWII podcast founder and producer RAY HARRIS.
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SEPTEMBER 25, 2020
•A MIGHTY BLAZE, 4 PM ET.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
In a “Frontliner” appearance, BLUME spoke with former Reuters journalist MARK CECIL and participated in a Q&A across A Mighty Blaze social media platforms.
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SEPTEMBER 9, 2020
•THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
A conversation among BLUME, fmr. GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN - now executive chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - and RACHEL BRONSON, president and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
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AUGUST 29, 2020
•SAN DIEGO FESTIVAL OF BOOKS.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
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AUGUST 18, 2020
•FRESH AIR, NPR.
Blume spoke at length with Fresh Air co-host DAVE DAVIES about Fallout.
Click here to listen and to see the transcript.
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AUGUST 14, 2020
•SIRIUSXM P.O.T.U.S, 6:25 PM ET.
BLUME talked with host NAYYERA HAQ about Fallout, the perilous nuclear landscape today, and why nuclear issues need to become a primary U.S. election issue.
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AUGUST 9, 2020
•LIVE INSTAGRAM CONVERSATION, 12 PM ET, between BLUME (@LESLEYMMBLUME) and DIANA WEYMAR, founder, Tiny Pricks Project (@TINYPRICKSPROJECT). Blume and Weymar discussed information wars in 2020, how history is told, and the importance of individual narrative and objects in bringing history to life.
•NATIONAL WWII MUSEUM, 6 PM ET.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
Presentation by BLUME on Fallout, followed by moderated Q&A. This presentation of Fallout, which premiered on the Museum’s Facebook page, recounts how reporter John Hersey got the story that no other journalist could—and how he subsequently played a role in ensuring that no nuclear attack has happened since, possibly saving millions of lives.
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AUGUST 7, 2020
•PBS NEWSHOUR.
BLUME discussed Fallout with NewsHour correspondent JEFFREY BROWN.
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AUGUST 6, 2020
•MORNING JOE, MSNBC, 8:50 AM ET.
BLUME discussed Fallout with Morning Joe hosts JOE SCARBOROUGH and WILLIE GEIST.
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•WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL, 2 PM ET.
Live conference call interview and Q&A with BLUME.
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•CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS, 5 PM ET/4 PM CT.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
Panel discussion on the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing with BLUME, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists CEO and president RACHEL BRONSON, and EMMA BELCHER, incoming president of the Ploughshares Fund.
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•HARVARD CLUB OF NEW YORK CITY, 7:30 PM ET.
Private event.
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AUGUST 5, 2020
•NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, 1 PM ET.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
Presentation by BLUME, followed by a moderated question-and-answer session with National Press Club President MICHAEL FREEDMAN.
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•BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 6:30 PM ET.
VIRTUAL EVENT.
Live virtual conversation between BLUME and New Yorker writer ADAM GOPNIK: “Breaking the True Story of the Atom Bomb.”
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AUGUST 4, 2020
•ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, NPR, 5:50 PM.
BLUME discussed Fallout with All Things Considered host MARY LOUISE KELLY.
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•LIVE INSTAGRAM CONVERSATION, 7 PM ET, between BLUME and JESSICA YELLIN (@JESSICAYELLIN), Former CNN Chief White House Correspondent and host of News Not Noise. Event co-hosted by LINGUA FRANCA (@LINGUAFRANCANYC).
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•PRESS THE BUTTON PODCAST, 8 PM ET.
BLUME talked about Fallout with the Press the Button co-hosts Tom Collina and Michelle Dover, defense experts of Ploughshares Fund, a global security foundation.
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AUGUST 1, 2020
•WW2 PODCAST.
Conversation between BLUME and podcast host ANGUS WALLACE about Fallout. About WW2 Podcast: “This is a military history podcast that looks at all aspects of WWII. With the second world war slipping from living memory, Wallace aims to look at different historical aspects of the Second World War.”
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