Nuclear war and carving a chicken
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Today’s stories in a nutshell:
💣 The threat of nuclear war
🎬 Film study with Quentin Tarantino
🤔 How will you measure your life?
🍗 How to carve a chicken like a champ
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💣 The Threat of Nuclear War
“A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. The only value in our two nations possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they will never be used. But then would it not be better to do away with them entirely?”
- Ronald Reagan, 1984
On 6 August 1945, US Colonel Paul Tibbets departed a Pacific island airbase on a B-29 bomber named after his mother, Enola Gay. Onboard was a weapon the likes of which the world had never seen.
As Enola Gay reached the Japanese city of Hiroshima, cruising at 9500m, it dropped a bomb named “Little Boy”. Seconds later, the city of Hiroshima was vapourised. The world had entered the era of nuclear war.
Colonel Tibbets recalls the immense explosion:
“The tail gunner called, ‘Here it comes.’ I had a peculiar taste (electrolysis) in my mouth and saw a bright hue. The first shock wave hit with a force of 2½ Gs, followed by a 2-G shock and a smaller third shock wave. It was a very sobering event, as we turned back over the target to take camera photos of the area. A boiling, tumbling, rolling cloud rose up from the ground. The cloud went up rapidly and was 10,000 feet above us and climbing by the time we had turned around. Down below all you could see was a black, boiling nest. I didn’t think about what was going on down on the ground—you need to be objective about this. I didn’t order the bomb to be dropped, but I had a mission to do.”
Over 70 000 people were killed instantly. Those within 1 km of the impact zone literally melted in the 3 000 degrees Celsius heat caused by the blast. Many, many, many more died of radiation and injuries too gruesome to recount.
Sadly, the bomb didn’t result in Japan’s immediate surrender, prompting the US to drop a second bomb. Three days later, “Fat Man” obliterated Nagasaki. Another 50 000 people lost their lives.
Those were the first and last uses of nuclear weapons in war.
Today’s nuclear weapons are exponentially more powerful (as in more than 1000x) than those used 80 years ago, and the devastation they can cause is unimaginable. If you want to freak out, see below what would happen if we nuke a city:
But the blast and the radiation would only be the beginning of the horror. The explosion would send thick clouds of smoke high and far into the atmosphere, way above the clouds, blocking the sun’s rays, causing an apocalyptic “nuclear winter”. This, in turn, will have a ruinous impact on agriculture, leading to a global famine the likes of which the world has never seen.
Luckily the world’s nuclear warhead stockpiles have declined considerably since the end of the Cold War, but an alarmingly large number of nuclear warheads remain. Guess who is in charge of the biggest stockpile?
The events in Ukraine make the threat of nuclear war feel unsettlingly real. Although the use of nuclear weapons is unlikely, the world must do everything to keep it that way.
🎬 Film study with Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino is a master of his craft and his WW2 epic, Inglorious Bastards, is one of his best. The opening scene of the movie is a masterpiece within a masterpiece.
Actor Christoph Waltz won an Oscar for his role as Hans Landa, the brilliant, egotistical, multilingual, duplicitous, charming and murderous SS Colonel. This film study takes an in-depth look at Quarantino’s filmmaking tricks in the suspenseful opening scene of the movie where Landa interrogates Monsieur LaPadite, a French farmer suspected of hiding Jews. It’s fascinating to see how Tarantino meticulously arranges scenes within the camera frame and uses camera positioning to build tension. Check it out👇:
🤔 Life advice from Professor Clayton Christensen
Professor Clayton Christensen was a former Harvard Business School professor and one of the world’s top business thinkers. He authored multiple books, including “The Innovator’s Dilemma”, one of the six most important business books ever written, according to The Economist.
In 2010, Christensen wrote an essay to his HBS graduating class wherein he shared how the principles he learned in business have helped him find meaning in life. His essay, How Will You Measure Your Life?, covers three big questions:
How can I be sure that I’ll be happy in my career?
How can I ensure that my relationships with my spouse and family become an enduring source of happiness?
How can I stay out of jail?
The essay became one of Harvard Business Review’s most popular articles ever and was turned into a book in 2012.
Here’s a snippet of the essay:
“When people who have a high need for achievement—and that includes all Harvard Business School graduates—have an extra half hour of time or an extra ounce of energy, they’ll unconsciously allocate it to activities that yield the most tangible accomplishments. And our careers provide the most concrete evidence that we’re moving forward. You ship a product, finish a design, complete a presentation, close a sale, teach a class, publish a paper, get paid, get promoted. In contrast, investing time and energy in your relationship with your spouse and children typically doesn’t offer that same immediate sense of achievement. Kids misbehave every day. It’s really not until 20 years down the road that you can put your hands on your hips and say, “I raised a good son or a good daughter.” You can neglect your relationship with your spouse, and on a day-to-day basis, it doesn’t seem as if things are deteriorating. People who are driven to excel have this unconscious propensity to underinvest in their families and overinvest in their careers—even though intimate and loving relationships with their families are the most powerful and enduring source of happiness.”
For the rest 👉 How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen
🍗 A random skill: How to carve a chicken like a champ
I’ve carved many chickens in my life, but I’ve never been able to do it properly. Last weekend, I made the perfect roast chicken (thanks for the guidance Jamie Oliver) only to hack the juicy, golden-brown bird to pieces when it came out of the oven. I had to remedy the situation.
If you eat meat, you are bound to carve a chicken at some point. You may even be asked to do it publically at a family gathering. If you want to do so without looking like Jack the Ripper, spend 5 minutes watching this video:
🧩 Weekend games
If you’re keen to test your vocabulary, give today’s Wordle a try. If you prefer maps to words, then try today’s Globle instead.