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HAVE SKILLS? VOLUNTEER. WhoWhatWhy can use all kinds of skilled individuals. Right now, we need a Website Manager (to be on top of problems and to identify improvements in how our site appears to our readers); Editorial Coordinator (help manage the flow of stories between editors); Investigative Reporters; Donor Network Coordinator (interact with our donors around the country and help arrange outreach events); Images Editor (help us find and edit photos and other images to illustrate our posts). If interested, please write us.

NOW LIVE ON WhoWhatWhy

RadioWhoWhatWhy: 70 Years Later, Survivors of Atomic Bombings Recall Horror
By Jeff Schechtman
Charles Pellegrino opens a you-are-there time capsule on the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, which was followed three days later by the bombing of Nagasaki. With WhoWhatWhy’s Jeff Schechtman, Pellegrino shares the heart-searing testimony of survivors —who show what’s really at stake in the nuclear negotiations with Iran.

WHO

Fox News Had Its Own GOP Debate Agenda: Narrow Down The Field
There is no shortage of analysis about last night’s debate. You can check out the “top ten moments.” And you have your pick of the top “five” or “seven” or “eight” takeaways. But Ed Kilgore at TPM has the most interesting take. He took note of FOX’s obvious targeting of Trump.

Mikhail Gorbachev: US Military an ‘Insurmountable Obstacle to a Nuclear-Free World’
The Soviet Union’s last leader gave a wide-ranging interview to Der Spiegel on US-Russian relations, his negotiations with Ronald Reagan and the dim prospects for nuclear disarmament. When asked about America, Gorbachev said one of his biggest disappointments was its inability to emerge from the enduring power of the Military-Industrial Complex.

The Man for Mars
The New York Review of Books profiles Elon Musk. The visionary founder of Tesla is trying to privatize space flight, warns of the dangers posed by artificial intelligence and, ultimately, has his sights set on a manned mission to Mars to establish a permanent colony. His epic wish-list is underwritten by the $11 billion fortune he spun out of $165 million he earned as part of the team that founded PayPal.

WHAT

The Religious Roots of Domestic Terror
The Daily Beast compares the way Islam is quickly and easily linked with jihadist terrorism versus the ignored links between Christianity and racist terrorism. Central to Stuart Wexler’s thesis is a White supremacist group that calls itself the “Christian Identity” movement. Its racism is inexorably linked to Biblical interpretation and, in the final analysis, is not too far afield from the theocratic roots of America’s history of racism.

Save Animals to Beat Terrorists
The indefatigable David Axe at War is Boring breaks down the US State Department’snew focus on illicit wildlife trade. It’s a $10 billion per year “industry” and the new effort to stop it isn’t just about saving animals. It’s also about stopping a key source of income for terrorist groups like al-Shabaab.

WHY

Artisanal Water is Both a Joke and a Thing
Circus showman P.T. Barnum may or may not have said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Either way, the truth of the statement remains indisputable… as evidenced by the existence of “Ray’s and Stark Bar” in Los Angeles. They are selling premium water at premium prices to well-heeled suckers who want to be taken “on a global journey of water.”

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