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Government & Politics
Explore our coverage of government and politics.

'Raven Rock' And The U.S. Government's (Flawed) Plan To Survive A Nuclear Attack

Vermont Public | By Patti Daniels,
Mitch Wertlieb
Published May 16, 2017 at 12:00 PM EDT
Mannequins attend a "dinner party" thrown by Civil Defense officials who were testing the effects of an atomic explosion on houses and occupants on March 15, 1953. The first in a series of tests were held at the atomic proving grounds near Las Vegas, Nev.
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Mannequins attend a "dinner party" thrown by Civil Defense officials who were testing the effects of an atomic explosion on houses and occupants on March 15, 1953. The first in a series of tests were held at the atomic proving grounds near Las Vegas, Nev.
Dick Strobel / Associated Press
A gigantic pillar of smoke with the familiar mushroom top climbs above Yucca Flat during nuclear detonation in Las Vegas, Nev., April 22, 1952.
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A gigantic pillar of smoke with the familiar mushroom top climbs above Yucca Flat during nuclear detonation in Las Vegas, Nev., April 22, 1952.
Larry Ullom / Associated Press
This photo made by a U.S. Army automatic newsreel camera, shows the test explosion of the world's first atomic bomb at Alamagordo, N.M., on July 16, 1945.
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This photo made by a U.S. Army automatic newsreel camera, shows the test explosion of the world's first atomic bomb at Alamagordo, N.M., on July 16, 1945. Known as Trinity, the plutonium bomb test capped a $2 billion effort, unprecedented in those times.
Associated Press

"The alternatives are to dig, die or get out — and we certainly don't want to die." That assessment in 1954 by a Midwestern governor encapsulates the massive but deeply problematic redundancy planning civilian and military leaders undertook to prepare for a Soviet nuclear attack. This shadowy legacy of the Cold War is explored in the new book Raven Rock by Vermont-based journalist Garrett Graff. 

Vermont Edition speaks with Graff about the book, and about his recent reporting into modern security questions around the Trump presidential campaign's connections with Russia, and the firing of the FBI director who was investigating them.

Disclosure: Garrett Graff is a member of the VPR Board of Directors.

Broadcast live on Tuesday, May 15, 2017 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
Tags
Programs Vermont EditionGovernment & PoliticsLocal NewsMilitary
Patti Daniels
Patti is an integral part of VPR's news effort and part of the team that created Vermont Edition. As executive producer, Patti supervises the team that puts Vermont Edition on the air every day, working with producers to select and research show ideas, select guests and develop the sound and tone of the program.
See stories by Patti Daniels
Mitch Wertlieb
A graduate of NYU with a Master's Degree in journalism, Mitch has more than 20 years experience in radio news. He got his start as news director at NYU's college station, and moved on to a news director (and part-time DJ position) for commercial radio station WMVY on Martha's Vineyard. But public radio was where Mitch wanted to be and he eventually moved on to Boston where he worked for six years in a number of different capacities at member station WBUR...as a Senior Producer, Editor, and fill-in co-host of the nationally distributed Here and Now. Mitch has been a guest host of the national NPR sports program "Only A Game". He's also worked as an editor and producer for international news coverage with Monitor Radio in Boston.
See stories by Mitch Wertlieb
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