Better Weapons

Mon, 05 May 2008 05:00:00

BETTER WEAPONS

Anh Duong

You would think that the victims of war would be the last ones to get into the business of inventing new arms.

Ahn Duong was a teenage girl in Saigon when she fled from the invasion of Communist forces. She stuffed everything she owned into a little duffle bag and, along with her family, made her way to the US.

Ahn is now a weapons designer in Washington. She is responsible for engineering America's first "thermobaric bomb". This bomb is designed to be extra deadly when it is dropped into caves. Ahn talks with Dick Gordon about what it is like to have seen war from both sides, and her strong connection to freedom.

Read an article written about Anh after she won the 2007 National Security Medal
See a photograph of Anh receiving the medal
Read an article about US plans to send 7000 more troops to Afghanistan

The Sound of Melting Ice

Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky

This summer in Antarctica was one of the wettest and warmest on record. Like anyone, artist Paul D. Miller finds this alarming - but it's also intriguing. Any dynamic shift is fertile ground for art. So Paul, who performs and writes under the name DJ Spooky: That Subliminal Kid, decided it was time to take a trip.

During the weeks Paul traveled by ship through the icy waters around Antarctica, he recorded images and sounds for mixing into a multi-screen live performance. His shows tend to shake up people's perspectives on what they think they know. He talks to Dick about what he saw and heard on his trip, and how he's hoping to share those experiences with audiences.

Check out Paul's website
See photos of the ice in Antarctica and Paul

The Story from American Public Media - Better Weapons

Better Weapons

BETTER WEAPONS

The Sound of Melting Ice