A True 'Bombshell' Coming to PBS
New film for 'American Experience' on government and media embrace of the Bomb.in the early days of the nuclear era.
Greg Mitchell started focusing on The Bomb as editor of Nuclear Times from 1982-1986, and has since written four books about the subject, hundreds of articles and, since 2021, two films for PBS.
Decided to cross post the following, with a few additions, from my “other” newsletter, Between Rock and a Hard Place (which covers music and politics and film and like this one is also still free).
Happy to report that a new film I’ve been a rather key part of for several years is finally coming to PBS via its hallowed “American Experience” series on January 6. And thank goodness. Due to federal funding cuts, the series will be running re-runs for the foreseeable future.
It’s “Bombshell: The Fight to Control the A-Bomb’s Story,” directed by Ben Loetterman. I was one of its historical advisers and appear on screen half a dozen times as a talking head (as well as comment numerous times off-screen). I must say it is an honor and point of pride that I provide the closing commentary before the credits roll. More importantly, I supplied input and material from the start for the grant proposal for NEH that really got them going, and offered notes after viewing the rough cut.
The film focuses on the same time period (1945-1947), and many of the same subjects, covered by my 1995 book with Robert Jay Lifton, “Hiroshima in America” and my recent “The Beginning or the End: How Hollywood—and America—Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” as well as my PBS film and book “Atomic Cover-up.” (My latest PBS film and book, “The Atomic Bowl,” on the surreal U.S. all-star football game near ground zero in Nagasaki, also comes out of that time period.)
Here’s the current brief trailer for “Bombshell.” An excerpt from the press release below. I’ll be writing more in the coming month.
Eighty years after the devastating atomic bombings that ushered in the nuclear age, “Bombshell” explores how the U.S.government manipulated the narrative about the atomic bombings of the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Through propaganda, censorship and the co-opting of the press, the government presented a benevolent picture of atomic power, minimizing the horrific human toll of the bombings. Written and directed by Ben Loeterman, produced by Loeterman and Gaia De Simoni, executive produced by Cameo George, and narrated by Ann Curry, “Bombshell” sheds light on the efforts of a group of intrepid reporters to let the world know the truth.