Humanities Washington
Donate
  • Email List Sign-up
  • Press Room
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • What is Humanities Washington?
    • Our Impact
    • Our Staff
    • Our Board of Trustees
    • Financials and Governance
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
    • Job Opportunities
    • Contact Us
  • Programs
    • Prime Time
      • Host Prime Time
    • Speakers Bureau
      • Current Speakers: 2021-2023
      • Host a Speaker
      • Host Resources
    • Grants
      • Opportunity Grants
      • Washington Stories Fund Grants
    • Think & Drink
    • Poet Laureate
      • Past Poets Laureate
    • Center for Washington Cultural Traditions
    • Public Humanities Fellows
    • Media Projects
  • Calendar
  • Blog
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Join Humanities Sustainers
    • Get Involved
    • Bedtime Stories Fundraiser Events
    • Planned Giving
  • Press Room
    • In the News
    • Press Releases
    • Press Kit

Steve Olson

Atomic Washington: Our Nuclear Past, Present, and Future

This speaker is available for both in-person and online programs. 


At the center of every nuclear weapon in the United States is a small pit of radioactive material manufactured at a top-secret facility in Eastern Washington, a facility which today remains the most radiologically contaminated site in the Western hemisphere.

But Washington State’s role in the nuclear era ranges far beyond the construction, operation, and ongoing cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation. Today, Washington has two operating nuclear reactors, one of which provides us with ten percent of our electricity. Radioactive substances are used in our state to cure diseases, build airplanes, detect pollutants, and power smoke detectors. Further, Naval Base Kitsap has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons deployed anywhere in the country.

Drawing from history, science, and popular culture, author Steve Olson reveals the many influences of nuclear materials on Washington State, and the many ways in which our state has been a pioneer in the atomic age.

Steve Olson (he/him) is a writer who most recently authored The Apocalypse Factory: Plutonium and the Making of the Atomic Age. His books have been nominated in several local and national book awards. Since 1979, he has been a consultant writer for the National Academy of Sciences, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and other national scientific organizations.

Raised in Eastern Washington, Olson now lives in Seattle.

Learn More

For more information on how to book a speaker, please contact Asia Lara at (206) 682-1770 x101 or by email.

  • About Us
    • What is Humanities Washington?
    • Our Impact
    • Our Staff
    • Our Board of Trustees
    • Financials and Governance
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
    • Job Opportunities
    • Contact Us
  • Programs
    • Prime Time
      • Host Prime Time
    • Speakers Bureau
      • Current Speakers: 2021-2023
        • Deepti Agrawal
        • Omari Amili
        • Rais Bhuiyan
        • Maria Chávez
        • BJ Cummings
        • Steve Edmiston
        • Clyde Ford
        • Michael Goldsby
        • Ceasar Hart
        • Lauri Hennessey
        • Robert Horton
        • Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons
        • Bill Kabasenche
        • King Khazm
        • Nancy Koppelman
        • Afua Kouyaté
        • Michelle Liu
        • Richard Middleton-Kaplan
        • Kristen Millares Young
        • Steve Olson
        • Allison Palumbo
        • Julie Pham
        • Jake Prendez
        • Fern Naomi Renville
        • Ross Reynolds
        • Chelsey Richardson
        • Jennifer Sherman
        • Steven Stehr
        • Matthew Sullivan
        • Matthew Avery Sutton
        • John Trafton
        • Eric Wagner
        • Lori Tsugawa Whaley
        • William Woodward
      • Host a Speaker
      • Host Resources
    • Grants
      • Opportunity Grants
      • Washington Stories Fund Grants
    • Think & Drink
    • Poet Laureate
      • Past Poets Laureate
    • Center for Washington Cultural Traditions
    • Public Humanities Fellows
    • Media Projects
  • Calendar
  • Blog
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Join Humanities Sustainers
    • Get Involved
    • Bedtime Stories Fundraiser Events
    • Planned Giving
  • Press Room
    • In the News
    • Press Releases
    • Press Kit
  • Programs
  • Think & Drink
  • Prime Time
  • Speakers Bureau
  • Poet Laureate
  • Grants
  • About Us
  • What is HW?
  • Our Staff
  • Our Board of Trustees
  • Financials and Governance
  • Calendar
  • Blog
  • Press Room
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Spark Magazine
Sign up for the HW email list
  • Follow Us:
Humanities Washington info@humanities.org 206-682-1770
Copyright © 2022 Humanities Washington, all rights reserved. Humanities Washington is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Washington state.
Website design by The Medium