Our story of Rocky Flats continues. In this second chapter, we share the people’s history of the site, from humble beginnings in the early 1970s to a resurgence of activism today.
Unclear Danger: The Colorado Story of Rocky Flats is presented in partnership with the Colorado Independent and the Denver Public Library.
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If you’re loving this Rocky Flats series, we recently launched a new way to support the show. It’s a limited run crowdfunding campaign, and you can find it at www.patreon.com/changingdenver.
Pledge at least $3 per month and you get access to the transcripts from each episode of Unclear Danger and 3 Changing Denver stickers sent to the address of your choice. Pledge at least $10 per month, and we’ll read your name (or a pseudonym of your choice) in the credits to each episode.
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Recommended Reading:
You can learn more about Kristen Iversen’s book Full Body Burden at her website.
Follow along with the activists at Rocky Flats Downwinders, Candelas Glows, and Rocky Flats Right to Know, as well as the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center.
Here’s a few links to documents mentioned in the episode: Rocky Flats Interagency Agreement of 1991, Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement of 1996, and the Citizens Advisory Board’s legacy report.
This episode includes extensive clips from several oral histories on file at the Boulder Public Library’s Maria Rogers Oral History Program. You can find each of the oral histories we excerpted here: Robert Card, Daniel Ellsberg, and Pam Solo.
If you are a subscriber to Harper’s Magazine, you can read all of the Edward Abbey piece excerpted in this episode here. Nonsubscribers can find it in the published collection of Abbey’s work, Down the River.
“One Man’s Nuclear War,” Edward Abbey. Copyright © 1979 Harper’s Magazine. All Rights reserved. Reproduced from the March issue by special permission.
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Our theme song is “Minnow” be Felix Fast4ward.
Denver’s premier chiptunes artists Aethernaut and Michael Zucker provided the score for this episode and all of Unclear Danger.
Also heard in this episode are a few songs by a group called Soft and Furious and a couple of old Rocky Flats protest songs. Those were performed by Jesse Wooten. You can find more of his music under the names Black Balsam and New Hill.
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The photo that serves as a basis for the Unclear Danger logo was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by a user called AlbertHerring. We are using it under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
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The Colorado Independent‘s Kelsey Ray designed the Unclear Danger logo.
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Follow us on Twitter @changingdenver for photos and more behind-the-scenes details from our investigation into Rocky Flats.
Changing Denver is a proud member of the Denver Podcast Network.
Thanks for listening!
Welcome to the first supplemental, side episode in our Rocky Flats series. Herein you’ll find a recording of the panel we put on at the Denver Public Library on April 7, as well as an unprecedented plea.
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You can now support Changing Denver with a monthly pledge on our Patreon! A monthly pledge of $3 or more will get you access to transcripts of each episode of Unclear Danger and three Changing Denver stickers. A pledge of $10 or more will get you a shout out in the end credits of each Rocky Flats episode. Learn more about our new, limited-time crowdfunding campaign at www.patreon.com/changingdenver.
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Meet the Panelists:
Len Ackland is an independent journalist and retired journalism professor. During his time as editor, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists won a National Magazine Award in 1987, and he went on to serve as the founding director of the Center for Environmental Journalism at CU Boulder. Of particular interest, Len is also the author of Making a Real Killing: Rocky Flats and the Nuclear West.
Murph Widdowfield has the unique distinction among our panelists of having spent time working at the Rocky Flats plant. Like many other former workers, Murph remained involved in issues surrounding the site. He is currently the president of the board of the Rocky Flats Cold War Museum, a museum that you cannot physical visit, despite years of effort from Murph and the rest of the board.
Dorothy Ciarlo is a PhD and retired clinical psychologist. In the late 90s and early 2000s, she worked with the Boulder Public Library’s Maria Rogers Oral History Program to conduct more than a hundred interviews with former workers, activists, politicians, scientists, and contractors, some of which you heard in the first episode of our Rocky Flats series. Dorothy went on to publish a paper based on these interviews in the Journal of Peace Psychology. That paper is titled ”Secrecy and Its Fallout at a Nuclear Weapons Plant: A study of Rocky Flats Oral Histories”
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Follow us on Twitter @changingdenver.
Thanks for listening!
Welcome to the fourth season of Changing Denver. It’s going to be a season-long series all on one topic. We’re calling it Unclear Danger: The Colorado Story of Rocky Flats.
We’re proud to present this whole season in partnership with the Colorado Independent and the Denver Public Library.
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Next Week:
We are hosting a panel, titled “Remembering Rocky Flats,” at the Denver Public Library on April 7. Three Rocky Flats historians—Len Ackland, Dorothy Ciarlo, and Murph Widdowfield—will be sharing their stories and unique perspectives on the Rocky Flats story. Find us on the 7th floor of the library’s central branch at 2 pm.
Recording this kind of thing can be hit-or-miss, so come out on the 7th to make sure you hear what these three have to say.
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Recommended Reading:
Len Ackland’s Making a Real Killing should be available at your local bookshop. Len will also be appearing at our April 7 event if you have questions for him.
The Ambushed Grand Jury is available online as a free PDF.
So is the full text of the Lamm-Wirth Task Force’s final report.
For more on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s plans for Rocky Flats, check out their website here.
This episode includes extensive clips from several oral histories on file at the Boulder Public Library’s Maria Rogers Oral History Program. You can find each of the oral histories we excerpted here: Ken Freiberg, Dick Lamm, Tim Wirth, William Cohen, and Jacque Brever.
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Our theme song is “Minnow” be Felix Fast4ward.
Denver’s premier chiptunes artists Aethernaut and Michael Zucker provided the score for this episode and all of Unclear Danger. Also heard in this episode are a few songs by a group called Soft and Furious. Those are in the public domain.
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You can learn more about Changing Denver at our website www.changingdenver.com. Follow us on Twitter @changingdenver for photos and more behind-the-scenes details from our investigation into Rocky Flats.
Changing Denver is a proud member of the Denver Podcast Network.
Thanks for listening!