Interview with Giorgos Robolas about the Esquire.
Photos © Andrew Leatherbarrow
On April 26, 1986, at exactly 01:23:40 in the morning, the largest and most terrifying nuclear accident of all time occurred. The world would never be the same again after Chernobyl. What really happened that night? The answer is neither easy nor certain, but it was given in the best possible (artistically) way through the HBO mini-series of the same name. However, in order for this televised feat to become a reality, research had to be done. Too much research.
British Andrew Leatherbarrow is the author behind the 01:23:40 (ed. Oxy) and a man who, after his trip to the cursed lands of Ukraine, spent five whole years investigating what exactly had happened. The result of this effort was recorded in the said book, a text that was printed in the form of self-publishing and made him famous internationally, with the consistent result that HBO asked for his valuable help on the series. What is it like to face the chimney of Chernobyl? To walk in the footsteps of ordinary people who sacrificed themselves to save humanity? To finally carve out every possible and improbable detail of the tragic accident? We caught up with Andrew Leatherbarrow online to answer all of our questions. He didn't mince his words but answered, with radiant honesty, all our questions.
When and how did your interest in the nuclear accident begin?
The Chernobyl disaster has from time to time aroused the public's interest in various cases, as was done very recently with the HBO series. In my case now, a famous photo series by the Ukrainian Elena Filatova (p.s.: she traveled the region by motorbike between 2003 and 2005) was the first time that the subject piqued my curiosity. The idea of a city abandoned due to radiation seemed fascinating to me. I've been searching like crazy on Wikipedia for more information. As for the Russian video game STALKER set in the forbidden zone? I remember in 2007 I went early in the morning to buy it, the very first day of its release. Which is something I've never done before for another game. But I was compensated by the incredible atmosphere and faithful representation of the forbidden zone. After the Fukushima disaster, I started reading about Chernobyl again. When I finally made my trip there, everything was exactly as the video game had made me imagine.
Can you describe your feelings when you first encountered the sarcophagus covering the reactor?
In those parts of Ukraine everything is completely flat – vast swamps interrupted here and there by “patches” full of trees and fields. It was the middle of October; everything was cold and wet, the landscape was chilling as winter approached. Terrible isolation. I arrived in the area on an old, beautiful Soviet train. You could see the chimney and the sarcophagus piercing the horizon from afar. They were by far the tallest buildings in the area, whichever way you looked, for hundreds of kilometers. It is difficult for me to describe my feelings, perhaps they remind the reactions of those who are fascinated by Ancient Egypt and visit the Pyramids for the first time. I was speechless looking at this monolithic, poisonous, huge piece of rusted metal.
Some years ago you traveled to Pripyat. Have you ever felt that, even today, the inhabitants live in a living hell?
In a way, yes. I still didn't know that much about Chernobyl and I didn't realize that hundreds of employees and workers are still working in the factories. In fact, the whole area is a place where people shouldn't live. On the other hand, all this isolation has created an unparalleled natural beauty, where wild nature rages. Many people had lived there for generations before the accident, so they could not make the decision to leave their homes. Also, most of the radioactivity is gone, so in that sense, there are worse places on the planet.
Svetlana Alexievich won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature, among other things, for her book entitled Chernobyl (published by Pataki). Had you read this text before starting yours and, finally, were you intimidated by the possible comparisons?
I read it while I was writing mine, but not before as it contains very little information about the accident itself. There is no doubt that it is a very important text for understanding what exactly happened in the lives of ordinary people. Ultimately, however, as a collection of monologues about the day after the accident it differs greatly from any other text about Chernobyl.
What's it like to advise HBO on perhaps the most successful series of 2019?
My participation in the project started after the main researcher of the group, Craig Mazin, contacted me to give him some answers to some specific questions he had. Later, after I helped him, he invited me to go to the shooting in Lithuania. At first I thought it was a joke but, in the end, the trip turned out to be a wonderful experience: I saw up close the vast factory as well as the studio-simulation of the control room, where most of the series was filmed, and I got to hang out with the researchers, with the director and producers discussing the accident for hours. It was, in short, fantastic.
Your work was self-published in English. Do you think that's where the future of books in general lies?
This happened because eI wrote the book as a hobby and I didn't want anyone to dictate what it should be – yes, I know, it's not a classic non-fiction read but that was on purpose. In fact, because it is self-published I can correct it whenever and however I want. But certainly, the market is still in the hands of traditional publishers and this is, after all, the only way to reach a wider audience.
How long did it take you to come up with its title?
Too long! I wanted something unusual but not far-fetched, so one day I realized that the most critical moment was when the emergency button was pressed, so I decided that this particular time (sf: 01:23:40) was the most suitable title. I consider it an asset that no one understands exactly what it is about until they read the first few pages of the book.
Today, more and more readers are turning to testimonials instead of fiction. What is your opinion on this?
Is true; I used to read only fiction and mostly science fiction, but now I read almost exclusively non-fiction. I feel like I'm wasting my time when I'm not learning something new. I don't know exactly why, but I constantly want to discover more about our world. It strikes me that testimonials have become a trend. Perhaps, after all, readers will find reality more interesting than fiction.
Climate change is galloping and the planet is sending out an SOS. Is nuclear power the greatest threat or could it be used to save humanity?
Nothing of the two. It is no longer the ultimate threat and certainly causes less damage to the environment than lignite plants or other forms of industry. People dread Chernobyl-style nuclear disasters, but if one reads the statistics carefully one will see that there is a remarkably low accident rate. If nuclear fission were not so expensive, it might be an ideal solution - when, of course, it is used under draconian safeguards - along with wind and solar power. Maybe nuclear fusion could save us in the future, but we are still a long way from it.
Next plans?
Factory accidents (especially nuclear ones) fascinate me, so I've spent the last few years working on a book on the history of nuclear power in Japan, focusing on all the accidents that happened there up until the Fukushima disaster in 2011. disaster far greater than the general public thinks. I'm currently writing the last chapter of the book, which is coming out twice as long 01:23:40 and I hope it will be ready in early 2021.