Dr. Sarah Robey, ISU Associate Professor of History, discusses the cultural and societal impact of nuclear energy in America. She describes how she gravitated to this specific area of historical inquiry and how the insights she is gaining can impact future policy. Dr. Robey talks about the research behind her 2022 book, “Atomic Americans: Citizens in a Nuclear State.” She provides several examples of how ISU students are part of her unique research–from gathering historical material to summarizing interesting and rarely-viewed documentation of Idaho’s nuclear history.
Guest:
Dr. Sarah Robey is Associate Professor of History at Idaho State University, where she teaches courses in American history, the history of the Cold War, the history of science and technology, and the history of energy. Her research focuses on the intersection of American public life and the history of nuclear science and technology. Her first book, Atomic Americans: Citizens in a Nuclear State, was published with Cornell University Press in 2022. She also recently contributed a chapter to American Energy Cinema (West Virginia University Press, 2022), which explores how popular entertainment served as public nuclear education in the early Cold War. Robey holds a PhD in History from Temple University and has held past fellowships at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, and the Philadelphia History Museum. She is currently writing a book about the history of Idaho National Laboratory and its relationship to eastern Idaho and the American West.
