The Man Who Survived Two Atomic Bombs | Smartest Year Ever (Oct 17, 2025)

What would it be like to experience history’s deadliest weapon — twice? This episode tells the astonishing story of Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a man caught in both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic blasts. Gordy unpacks how he endured the unimaginable, what it meant for his family, and why he later devoted his life to warning the world about nuclear weapons.

You’ll hear about survival against all odds, Japan in 1945, and how one man became the only officially recognized nijū hibakusha — a “double-bombed person.”

Stick around for the full story: it’s one you’ll never forget.

Sources:

• Yamaguchi, T. (2006–2009). Interviews. Asahi Shimbun.
  

• Johnson, K. (2009, March 25). Japan confirms Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivor. TIME.
  

• Pellegrino, C. (2010). The Last Train from Hiroshima. Henry Holt.
  

• Hijiya, J. A. (2000). The Gita of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 144(2).
  

• Lifton, R. J. (1991). Death in Life: Survivors of Hiroshima. University of North Carolina Press.
  

Music thanks to Zapsplat.

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