Ep 121: Ordinary Heroes with Bernie Furshpan and guest Seth Shelden on hmTv

Episode 121 – “From Hiroshima to Hope: Seth Shelden’s Fight to Ban the Bomb”

How does a Brooklyn-born improv performer become the United Nations liaison for a Nobel-Prize-winning campaign to abolish nuclear weapons? In this powerful installment of Ordinary Heroes, host Bernie Furshpan sits down with Seth Shelden—law professor, activist, and General Counsel for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

In this episode you’ll hear:

• The high-school reading assignment (John Hersey’s Hiroshima) that rewired Seth’s worldview.
• A firsthand look at ICAN’s 2017 Nobel Peace Prize and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons—now backed by half of the world’s nations.
• Why international law often works through stigma and storytelling, not soldiers and sanctions—and how that strategy is succeeding.
• Seth’s blend of creativity and policy: how theater, music, and humor fuel his legal advocacy.
• A candid exchange on generational trauma, zero-sum thinking, and the moral imperative to choose cooperation over catastrophe.

Entrepreneurial optimism meets hard-nosed disarmament strategy in a conversation that proves ordinary people really can tackle humanity’s biggest threats. Tune in for an inspiring reminder that eliminating nuclear weapons might be the easiest existential crisis we face—if we decide to act together.

Transcript

Ep 121 – “Ordinary Heroes”
 Bernie Furshpan in conversation with Seth Shelden
 hmTv, Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County

Bernie Furshpan:
Hello, I’m Bernie Furshpan here at hmTv, broadcasting from the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center on Long Island. My series Ordinary Heroes has introduced you to many remarkable people, but today’s guest is truly extraordinary. Seth Shelden is a scholar, law professor, activist, performer—and, yes, he’s blushing while I read this list. He also serves as U.N. liaison and general counsel for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, better known as ICAN. Seth was part of the coalition that won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its work to prohibit and eliminate nuclear arms. Seth, welcome.

Seth Shelden:
Thank you, Bernie. That’s a very generous introduction.

Bernie:
ICAN’s mission is bold: persuading nations to stop developing, testing, producing, transferring, stockpiling, or threatening to use nuclear weapons. That’s a huge task—especially in today’s heated political climate. I understand your passion for this work began in high school after reading John Hersey’s Hiroshima. How did that book change you?

Seth:
Hiroshima broke through the sanitized version of World War II that most of us learn in U.S. classrooms. Hersey told the story from the perspective of people who actually endured the bombing, and that challenged the “official” narrative I’d absorbed. It made me realize how much of history—and security policy in particular—is really about storytelling. That one book set me on a different trajectory.

Bernie:
Storytelling is powerful. You went on to two Fulbright appointments—teaching law in Eastern Europe and then in Japan. Visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki in person must have deepened your commitment.

Seth:
Absolutely. Standing in Hiroshima for the first time connected all the dots. After returning to the U.S., I basically elbowed my way into ICAN, and it’s been a roller-coaster ride ever since.

Bernie:
Let’s talk numbers. In July 2017, 122 nations voted to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Where do we stand today?

Seth:
As of 2025, exactly half of the world’s states—98 countries—have either signed or ratified the treaty. That’s remarkable progress, considering the resistance from powerful nuclear-armed nations.

Bernie:
Who enforces the treaty?

Seth:
International law works differently from domestic law. There’s no global “police force.” Compliance is driven by political, legal, and moral pressure—the weight of global norms. Treaties stigmatize certain behaviors; over time, that stigma changes calculations and makes the offending behavior costly and unattractive. Think about biological or chemical weapons: once treaties banned them, no nation bragged about having them. We aim to create the same taboo around nuclear arms.

Bernie:
Critics argue nuclear weapons deter war. How do you counter that?

Seth:
Deterrence is an illusion rooted in luck, not strategy. We’ve had dozens of documented nuclear close calls—technical glitches, human error, geopolitical misreads. Eventually luck runs out. The humanitarian consequences of even a limited nuclear exchange would dwarf any notion of “security.”

Bernie:
Your activism draws on the arts as well—music, theater, improv. How do creativity and advocacy intersect for you?

Seth:
Law and art are both forms of storytelling in pursuit of truth. The arts remind us why we build legal structures in the first place—so human beings can flourish. Creativity keeps me grounded and helps translate policy into human terms that move people.

Bernie:
I’m a second-generation Holocaust survivor, and my parents lived with constant anxiety about global conflict. Did your family background shape your outlook?

Seth:
My parents instilled progressive values and a belief in social justice. Growing up in Canarsie, Brooklyn, I developed a thick skin and saw how zero-sum thinking—“if someone else gets something, I lose”—can poison communities. Activism taught me the opposite: the more we lift others, the more we all gain.

Bernie:
What gives you hope?

Seth:
Human-made problems have human solutions, and eliminating nuclear weapons is actually the easiest of our existential challenges. The only question is whether we do it before or after another catastrophe. I believe we can get there first.

Bernie:
Seth, you truly embody the spirit of an ordinary hero: someone using talent and tenacity to make the world safer. Thank you for sharing your journey and for the vital work you do.

Seth:
Thank you, Bernie. I’m honored to be here, and I admire the Center’s mission to connect history, tolerance, and human survival. Our causes are deeply linked.

Bernie (to audience):
Thanks for joining us on Ordinary Heroes. Stay tuned for future episodes celebrating people who prove that courage and compassion can move the world forward. Until next time—take care of one another.