The voice for her community

This week is the 13th anniversary edition of Nuclear Hotseat. Host, Libbe HaLevy invited 2023 Nuclear-Free Future Award winner, Hinamoeura Cross (pictured by Adam Stoltman) to describe her efforts to seek justice for her people in French Polynesia who were subjected to 193 atomic tests inflicted on them by the colonialist French government.

CLICK HERE to download This Week’s Episode #678

Cross became an activist when she realized that her leukemia was a legacy of the 193 French nuclear tests in the South Pacific. She conquered her blood cancer and became a collector of unheard stories of suffering and ignored medical records from the Polynesian people. In doing so, she put pressure on the French government, which to this day lacks accountability for its actions. Hinamoera fights for recognition, medical care and financial compensation for victims, and in 2023 was awarded the Nuclear Free Future Award. In May 2023, seeking a wider base of authority for her actions, she moved into politics and was elected to the Polynesian Assembly of Representatives.

And on this week’s Hot Story, Linda Pentz Gunter asks why likely next UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, wants Britain to be “fit to fight” with nuclear weapons within a year. So what happened to deterrence?