Super Critical Podcast: Recent Episodes
Tim Westmyer
Podcast overthinking movies about nuclear weapons with policy analysis, quasi-science, pop culture debates, and too many puns.
In this episode, we were convinced by J. Robert Oppenheimer’s elevator pitch to join the Manhattan Project so we watched the movie Oppenheimer (2023). How well did Christopher Nolan capture the life and tribulations of the “father of the atomic bomb?” Does the movie blend the mix of history, science, and international drama in an entertaining way to stay in your seat for three hours? Is this the biggest nuclear war movie of our lifetimes – for those born after 1964 at least? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast), co-host James Sheehan (@JSheehanDC), and special guest Dr. Justin Anderson (@Atomic_Chess) answer these questions and more.
Before we pack our bags to camp out in the New Mexico desert for an indeterminate amount of time, we recommend: • Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, 2005 • Steve Sheinkin, Bomb (Graphic Novel), 2023 • Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, Trinity: A Graphic Novel of the History of the First Atomic Bomb, 2012 • Gregg Herkin, Brotherhood of the Bomb: The Tangled Lives and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller, 2002 • Oppenheimer (1980 TV mini-series) • The Social Network (2010 movie) • The Imitation Game (2014 movie) • Widespread Annihilation (game card), Flesh and Blood tabletop game (Dusk Till Dawn edition) • Los Alamos National Laboratory, “Plutonium and poetry: Where Trinity and Oppenheimer's reading habits met,” (Recommendations from Oppenheimer for further reading), July 14, 2021
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter/X @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we gassed up our Landmaster 16-wheeled RV and hit the open roads to the drive-in theater to watch Damnation Alley (1977). How did this post-nuclear war road trip movie challenge its characters with radioactive landscapes and killer cockroaches. Why did Jan Michael Vincent call all the nuclear ICBMs to launch? What would you do if the CD player on your RV breaks halfway thru your half-life road trip? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast), co-host James Sheehan (@JSheehanDC), and special guest Dr. Natasha Bajema (@WMDGirl) answer these questions and more.
Full movie (link working as of July 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4eIKx2LEPU
Before our RV converted to a boat in Detroit, we recommend: • Natasha Bajema, Rescind Order: A Highly Suspenseful Technothriller About Nuclear Weapons and Artificial Intelligence, 2020 book • natashabajema.com • RadioactiveRoadTrippinRR, YouTube channel • John Noonan, “In Nuclear Silos, Death Wears a Snuggie,” Wired, January 14, 2011 • The Day the Earth Caught Fire, 1961 movie • Thunder in Paradise, 1994 TV show • Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka, WarDay, 1984 book • Nitty Gritty Band rendition of Will the Circle Be Unbroken • Magic the Gathering, Armageddon card
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we count our blessings we survived a nuclear war long enough to watch the movie Five (1951) about a small group of people trying to rebuild civilization after radioactive fallout kills everyone else. This is the first movie showing a post-nuclear war story, so how did it do? Did it accurately portray radiation sickness or nuclear war dynamics? What did the five fingers say to the Red Button (spoiler: it is “slap!”)? Tim Westmyer (@Westmyer) and James Sheehan (@JSheehanDC) answer these questions and more.
Before we harested our atomic cornfields, we recommend: -The Last Man on Earth (TV series) -There Will Be Blood (2007 Movie) -Six String Samurai (1998 Movie) -Mad Max: Fury Road (2015 Movie) -12 Angry Men (1957 Movie) -How To Blow Up a Pipeline (2022 Movie) -On the Beach (1959 Movie)
Enjoy!
In this episode, we took in a double feature of The Core (2003) and Sunshine (2007), a pair of movies where nuclear weapons are deployed to locations far away from the Earth’s surface to save humanity. How could nukes respin the Earth’s core or reignite the sun? How does the role of “nukes as heroes” jive with the usual “nukes, aren’t those the baddies?” themes? Why does Cillian Murphy keep getting typecast as “tortured inventor of a weapon of mass destruction”: Robert Capa, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Scarecrow? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and new co-host James Sheehan (@jsheehandc) answer these questions and more.Before we leave the safety of Virgil’s atomic drill train, we recommend: -David Kagan, Sunstroke, 1993 book-Aniara (2018 movie)-Theodore Shabad, “Soviet Union Discloses Nuclear Blast that Put Out Fire in Gas Field,” New York Times, December 12, 1971-Blank Check Podcast - Sunshine-Ad Astra (2019 movie)-Trainspotting (1996 movie)We also recommend checking out:Anthony Kaufman, “Separating the Science from the Fiction in Sunshine,” Sloan Science and Film, November 15, 2007Jon O’Brien, “15 Years Ago, Danny Boyle Made the Most Scientific Space Thriller Ever,” Inverse, July 18, 2022Marcus Chown, “Review: Sunshine,” New Scientist, April 3, 2007“Actor Dustin Hoffman Lobbies for More Reality in Science-Fiction Movies,” News.com.au, March 30, 2009Michelle Ealey, “Did the Movie ‘The Core’ Get Anything Right?,” ScienceFiction.com, February 13, 2012Elmear Dodd, “Bad Science: The Core at 15,” HeadStuff, March 21, 2018Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.Enjoy!
In this episode, our phones were blowing up with alerts to watch Blowing Up Right Now (2019), a romantic comedy about a couple on the rocks forced to shelter in place during a nuclear missile crisis. How does the plot mirror the real life nuclear missile false alarm Hawaiian citizens experienced in 2018? Hoe does a nuclear war crisis look to the average person who can only get information from cable news and Twitter? What nuclear survival tips can we learn after 5 seconds of time on Google (asking for a panicked friend)? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and co-host Gabe answer these questions and more.Before we hunkered down inside our pillow fort fallout bunker, we recommend: •Danny Jolles, You Choose: The Full Interactive Comedy Special from Danny Jolles, Don’t Tell Comedy, YouTube, 2022•Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004 Movie)•False Alarm (2021 Documentary)•Daryll Kimball, “Nuclear False Warnings and the Risk of Catastrophe,” Arms Control Association, March 16, 2020•“Ladybug Ladybug,” Super Critical Podcast, Episode #21, 2018Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.Enjoy!
In this episode, we were fresh out of hydrogen so we need to watch Chain Reaction (1996) to learn how to make some more. How does this Cold Fusion adjacent movie draw on nuclear themes for its plot? Does the subplot about our heroes being framed as spies for China stealing national secrets have parallels to real life events? Did Evel Kinevil ever jump his stunt bike over a mushroom cloud? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and returning special guest Kevin answer these questions and more.
Before we powered the city of Chicago with our Nalgene bottle, we recommend: -The Fugitive (1993 movie) -The Saint (1997 movie) -Gary Taubes, Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion, 1993 -Eduro Life Media, “Impossible Climb Andler 2019 – Dirt Bike Graveyard – Hill Climb,” YouTube -David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, 2017
We also recommend checking out: • Josh Friedman, “I’m Your Friend, Eddie,” I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing (Blog), August 24, 2005 • Free Energy Suppression Conspiracy Theory, Wikipedia • Beth Laski, “Reeves, Davis Ring Up ‘Dead’ Cash,” Variety, January 8, 1995 • Tim Prokop, “Causing a Chain Reaction,” Movie (Aus), January/February 1997 • William J. Broad, “Spies vs. Sweat: The Debate Over China’s Nuclear Advance,” New York Times, September 7, 1999
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we watched a whopper, err WOPR of a movie in the 2008 direct to video-on-demand sequel to the classic nuke movie called WarGames: The Dead Code. What could go wrong when you put artificial intelligence back in charge of the nukes and the predator drones? How to do you convince a machine that nuclear war is not winnable? What happens when you don’t know what “The Dead Code” is and at this point you’re too afraid to ask? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and returning special guest Lucy Steigerwald (@lucystag) answer these questions and more.
Before we booked our flight to Montreal, we recommend: -WarGames (1983) -Miracle Mile (1988) -The Iron Giant (1999) -Natasha Bajemna, Rescind Order, 2020 -David Hoffman, The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy, 2009 -Future Man (2017-2020, Hulu TV Show) -Zachary Kallenborn, “Giving an AI Control of Nuclear Weapons: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?,” The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, February 1, 2022 -Hackers React to WarGames: The Dead Code, Alex Chaveriat, YouTube, July 28, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PghUBYY4fpE
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we found ourselves in the danger zone watching a surprise nuclear weapon plot in the fun movie Top Gun: Maverick (2022) where Tom Cruise needs to teach a crew of hot shot misfits to airstrike a uranium enrichment facility on the Death Star (kind of). Why did Top Gun sequel feel the need to raise the nuclear stakes in the plot? Any real life influence on the story related to airstrikes against similar nuclear facilities? Will this movie series ever run out of teambuilding activities to play on the beach sand? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and co-host/aviation guru Gabe answer these questions and more.
Before we request a tower flyby, we recommend: -Hot Shots! (1991 parody of Top Gun) -Amb. Wendy Sherman, Not for the Faint of Heart: Lessons in Courage, Power, and Persistence, 2018 -“Israel Admits Striking Suspected Syrian Nuclear Reactor in 2007,” BBC, Mach 21, 2018 -“Israeli Attack on Iraq’s Osirak 1981: Setback or Impetus for Nuclear Weapons,” National Security Archive, June 7, 2021 -“Top Gun – The Need for Speed,” LockheadMartin.com -“Tom Cruise Terrifies James in ‘Top Gun’ Fighter Jet!,” The Late Night Show with James Corden channel on YouTube, March 24, 2022 -“Actual TOPGUN, Dave Berke, Reacts to "TOPGUN: Maverick" with Jocko Willink,” Jocko Podcast channel on YouTube, June 3, 2022
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we investigated a distress beacon to find our new artificially intelligent WMD friend in the Star Trek Voyager episode “Warhead” (s5 e25 - 1999) where the crew picks up smart bomb hitchhiker hellbent on finishing his military mission. Why don’t all nuclear armed missiles have a self-destruct feature? How do you deter against a nuclear strike from a planet 80 light years away? How does the USS Voyager convince a nuclear bomb to stop loving itself and not explode? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast), co-host Gabe, and special guest James Sheehan (@jsheehandc) -- consultant working on trans-Atlantic cooperation and public diplomacy -- answer these questions and more.
Before we check out of sick bay, we recommend: -Russian Roulette, PBS, February 23, 1999 -Dark Star (1974 movie by John Carpenter) -“One,” Metallica, …And Justice for All (1989) -Meilan Solly, “The Japanese WWII Soldier Who Refused to Surrender for 27 Years,” Smithsonian Magazine -The Delta Flyers, Voyager Podcast -Jetrel, Star Trek Voyager (s1 e15, May 1995) -Sunshine (2007 movie) -Star Trek: First Contact (1996 movie) -Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons (2022), Wizards of the Coast
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we flipped our way through the pages of the Choose Your Own Adventure book, The Brilliant Dr. Wogan (1987), where a missing scientist might have a radiation neutralizer that can end the threat of nuclear war. How does the multiple ending and narrative freedom of this book genre help teach kids about nuclear dangers? What does this radiation neutralizer have in common with Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars program? When is the book report on this story due again (this might just be a reoccurring nightmare the podcasts hosts keep having well into their 30s)? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and returning special guest Kevin answer these questions and more.
Before we return the book to the library, we recommend: -Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018, Netflix) -Paul Lettow, Ronald Reagan and His Quest to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, 2006 -Timothy J. Jorgenson, Strange Glow: The Story of Radiation, 2016 -Pat Frank, Alas, Babylon, 1959 -Kate Moore, Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women, 2018 -57 North, mobile game published by Mighty Coconut -Brian Jacques, Redwall, book series 1986-2011 -Peter George, Dr. Strangelove (novelization), 1963
Thanks to pixabay.com for the sound effects used in the episode.
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we found a bootleg DVD in our stocking of the 1964 TV movie A Carol for Another Christmas, which retold the classic Christmas Carol story but with nuclear war. What was the public diplomacy mission of this pro-UN film? How does isolationism and international engagement theories suggest doing with the problem of nuclear weapons? Does the Ghost of Christmas Future know when the last two books in A Song of Ice and Fire come out? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and podcast co-host Gabe answer these questions and more.
Full movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbp1du33l0c
Before we get in our crash couches and jump the ship, we recommend: -Scrooged (1988 movie) -We’re Doomed! (2019 board game) -“Time Enough at Last” and “No Time Like the Present,” Super Critical Podcast episode #47
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we went interstellar with our intercontinental ballistic missiles to talk about nuclear weapons in two science fiction shows: The Expanse and Battlestar Galactica. How are nuclear weapons used as weapons (and themes) in these two stories? What would the impact of a nuclear weapon actually be against a space ship? When are we getting our Gaius Baltar and Paolo Cortázar buddy comedy? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and special guest Stefan Sasse (@StefanSasse), host of the Boiled Leather Audio Hour podcast, answer these questions and more.
Before we get in our crash couches and jump the ship, we recommend: -John McPhee, The Curve of Binding Energy: A Journey into the Awesome and Alarming World of Theodore B. Taylor, 1974 -Marco Fey, et al., The nuclear taboo, Battlestar Galactica, and the real world: Illustrations from a science-fiction universe, Security Dialogue 47 no. 4, 2016 - Neal Stephenson, Seveneves, 2015 -The Foundation (Apple TV) -Raised by Wolves (Apple TV)
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we watched the documentary False Alarm (2021) about that time in 2018 no one talks about anymore when the people of Hawaii received an erroneous warning on their phone that North Korea fired a nuclear armed ballistic missile and they had minutes to live. What was the reaction of people who received this ominous message? How does this ordeal stack up to Hawaiians’ long history of being on the short end of the nuclear arms race? Have there ever been a worse case of Textmergency/Textastrophe than this nuclear attack warning appearing on every cell phone in Hawaii? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and the documentary’s director Nick Lyell (@FalseAlarmFilm) answer these questions and more.
The documentary is streaming thru Vimeo On-Demand for the month of November 2021: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/falsealarm/311014137
Movie information: www.FalseAlarmFilm.com
Before we clear our nuclear notifications on our mobile phones, we recommend: -False Alarm (documentary 2021) -Super Critical Podcast episode #21 on Ladybug Ladybug (1963) -Alia Wong, “Pandemonium and Rage in Hawaii,” The Atlantic, January 14, 2018 -Sean Flynn, “The Real Story of the Hawaiian Missile Crisis,” GQ, April 2, 2018 -Noelani Goodyear-Kaopua, et al, A Nation Rising: Hawaiian Movements for Life, Land, and Sovereignty, 2014 -Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawaii (2008 documentary) -The Bomb (PBS 2015 documentary) -Solarpunk Futures (card game made by Nick Lyell and the Solar Punk Surf Club at thefuture.wtf)
In this episode, we called opened our nuclear launch code safes to pull out the DVD box for Crimson Tide (1995) about two leaders on a submarine butting heads about whether to launch nuclear missiles and possibly start and/or stop WWIII. How accurate did the film portray nuclear command and control launch procedures? What role do boomers play in nuclear deterrence? How does Captain Ramsey’s dog have such a keen sense of a person’s character? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and returning special guests Geoff Wilson of the Council for Arms Control and Nonproliferation (@NuclearWilson) and nuclear expert Will Saetren (@WillSaetren) answer these questions and more.
Note: Tim gets his wires crossed as he recommends a documentary (The Man Who Saved the World) that is actually about Soviet missile launch officer Stanislav Petrov instead of the Soviet naval officer Vasily Arkhipov who Geoff and Will talk about during the episode. The documentary is still excellent and it is scary how many examples of nuclear near misses there are that this mistake could happen.
Before we concur on the latest EAM, we recommend: -The Man Who Saved the World (2013 documentary) - -Jeffrey G. Lewis and Bruno Tertrais, “The Finger on the Button: The Authority to Use Nuclear Weapons in Nuclear-Armed States,” CNS Occasional Paper #45, February 2019 -Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew, and Annette Lawrence Drew, Blind Man’s Bluff: The Untold Story of Submarine Espionage, 2016 -Project Azorian -Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis, 2034: A Novel of the Next World War, 2021 -Robert Moore, A Time to Die: The Untold Story of the Kursk Tragedy, 2016 -Armageddon Letter, http://www.armageddonletters.com/
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we called our sommelier for advice on the best atomic alcohol to drink while watching the Alfred Hitchcock movie Notorious (1946) telling a spy romance story that discovers uranium ore stashed in a wine bottle owned by ex-Nazis hiding out in Brazil. How did Hitchcock introduce the first major atomic MacGuffin plot device so soon after the reveal of the Manhattan Project? What could a rogue element do with uranium ore hidden in a wine cellar? Why don’t the ex-Nazis hide the uranium in a bottle of Wild Turkey because nobody would ever want to look closer at that bottle. Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and co-host Gabe answer these questions and more.
Full movie online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LwPhO2qPcQ
Before we check out tea for poison, we recommend: -Rear Window (1954 movie) -The Boys From Brazil (1978 movie) -Uranium Glass (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_glass) -Casablanca (1942 movie) -“How Atomic Physics Helped Solve a Wine Fraud Mystery,” NPR, June 3, 2014 -Pitch Meeting series on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyXMyxkJQV4&list=PLRE-UFLEgWzBuOiqemhEI9b4gmmBbutnC)
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we put on our skis and telemarked our way to the winter lodge to watch the movie The Heroes of Telemark (1965) about a team of Norwegian resistance fighters sabotaging a heavy water plant during WWII to prevent Germany from getting closer to an atomic bomb. How close was Nazi Germany from building a nuclear weapon? What is the importance of heavy water in a nuclear program? What is more likely: that Tim builds a homemade nuclear device or Tim properly pronounces all these Norwegian names? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast), and returning special guest returning special guest Will Saetren (@WillSaetren) answer these questions and more.
Full movie online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axBiR8ZipPM
Before we synchronize our ticking clock time bombs, we recommend: -William Stephenson, A Man Called Intrepid, 2016 -Neal Bascomb, The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler’s Atomic Bomb, 2017 -The Final Countdown (1980 movie) -Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond (VR game with Norwegian heavy water plant level) -The Heavy Water War (2015 Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation show) -Norway Resistance Museum -Vemork Hydro Plant
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we put a crew together to seize a movie theater to watch the nuclear missile silo hostage taking movie Twilight’s Last Gleaming (1977). How easy is it to hijack a nuclear Titan ICBM launch site? What does the Vietnam War have to do with the logic of nuclear deterrence? Is “Twilight’s Last Gleaming” what they call the sparkly skin in those vampire movies? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast), Gabe, and returning special guest returning special guest Stephen Schwartz (@AtomicAnalyst), answer these questions and more.
Full movie online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMnX8Hd0TPQ
Before we disable our cutoffs and inhibitors, we recommend: -Kiss Me Deadly (1955 movie) also directed by David Aldirch -The Parallax View (1974 movie) -David Halberstram, The Best and the Brightest, 1972 -Defence of the Realm (1986 movie) -A Very British Coup (1988 TV series) -Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, South Dakota
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we looked at our calendars and realized it was finally the day to watch The Day After (1983). What would happen to a “middle of nowhere” city in Kansas in the event of a nuclear war? How did this TV movie impact the public dialogue about nuclear weapons? What about the movie scared Ronald Reagan so much he had to write about it in his diary (this is not a joke)? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and special guest David Craig (@Producing2Power), Clinical Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Southern California and author of an upcoming book - Before The Day After - answer these questions and more.
Full movie online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyy9n8r16hs&t=3840s
Thanks to everyone who pointed out that some of the movie's stock footage came from the documentary First Strike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlPEBROvR9w&t=74s
Before we start power up our ham radios with the rare car battery, we recommend: -David Craig’s book (Before The Day After)when it is available! -Dawn Strover, Facing Nuclear Reality: 35 Years After the Day After, December 2018 -Physicians for Social Responsibility, The Last Epidemic -Testament (1983) -Threads (1984) -Viewpoint episode that aired right after The Day After -Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, 1986 -Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb, May 2013 -That Certain Summer (1972) -Beth A. Fisher, The Reagan Reversal: Foreign Policy and the End of the Cold War, 2000
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we raised the periscope on our nuclear submarine to enjoy the story of On the Beach - both the movie (1959) and book (1957). What is the more likely ultimate catastrophe of a nuclear war: global nuclear fallout or nuclear winter? Why did the Eisenhower administration try to shut this movie down? If you read On the Beach while sitting on a beach, is that just tempting fate? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and special guest Joe Cirincione (@Cirincione), Distinguished Fellow at the Quincy Institute and recent president of the Ploughshares Fund, answer these questions and more.
Before we start our engines at the Australian Grand Prix, we recommend: -Beverly Gray, “The Continuing Relevance of ‘On the Beach,’” The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist, August 3, 2015 -Fallout (2013 documentary) -Collisions (2015 documentary) -Office of Technology Assessment, The Effects of Nuclear War, May 1979 -Warfare History Network, “One of America’s Most Legendary Generals Had a Terrifying Plan to Win the Korean War,” The National Interest, July 16, 2017 -Fail Safe (1964 movie) -Them! (1954 movie) -Seven Days in May (1964 movie)
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, the high school yearbook voted us “Most Likely to Join the Nuclear Club” after we watched the 1986 movie The Manhattan Project where student Paul Stephens builds a nuclear bomb with plutonium stolen from a secret government lab run by the guy dating his mom. How easy is it to build a homemade nuclear weapon? What motivates a brilliant scientist to devote their life to WMD? Do you enter a homemade nuclear bomb at the science fair under the project category of physics, chemistry, or psychopath? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and returning special guest Stephen Schwartz (@AtomicAnalyst) answer these questions and more.
Before we earn extra credit by weaponizing some anthrax in AP Bio class, we recommend: -Special Bulletin (1983 movie) -Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes game -“Fat Man and Little Boy,” The Simpsons, season 16 episode 5 -Science Fair (2018 documentary) -Ken Silverstein, “The Radioactive Boy Scout,” Harper’s Magazine, November 1998 -Ken Silverstein, The Radioactive Boy Scout: The Frightening True Story of a Whiz Kid and His Homemade Nuclear Reactor, 2005 -The Day After Trinity (1980 documentary) -WarGames (1983 movie) -“Nth Country Experiment,” Atomic Heritage Foundation, March 1, 2019
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we left the polling booth to watch the movie Deterrence (2000) about a president fighting a nuclear war against Iraq while stranded in a diner during a snowstorm on the campaign trail. Are nuclear weapons useful to deter chemical, biological, or conventional weapon attacks? Can anyone stop an irrational president from ordering a nuclear strike? Is there a connection between the diner’s famous greasy chiliburger and the IBS News station? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and co-host Gabe answer these questions and more.
Before we reach our positive control point, we recommend: -Kevin Pollak Chat Show (2009-2019) -Thomas Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict (1960) and Arms and Influence (1966) -The Contender (2002 movie)
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we scrambled our B-52s so we could watch the in-flight movie By Dawn’s Early Light (1990). What is the U.S. president to do once a nuclear war begins? Who is in command of the nuclear stockpile when POTUS is missing? Why is James Earl Jones always finding his finger on the nuclear button? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and special guest Sylvia Mishra (@MishraSylvia), doctoral researcher at King’s College London where studies nuclear strategy and emerging technologies, answer these questions and more.
Note: Tim mistakenly says in the episode that Tsar Bomba was not a deployable nuclear weapon. While it is not a really practical nuclear bomb (weight, yield size, requiring a HUGE parachute to slow decent long enough for plane to get away safely), it was still an air-dropped test that was deployable. Thanks to everyone who pointed out what we got wrong, nuke wise!
Before we reach our positive control point, we recommend: -Sylvia Mishra, “Directing Doomsday: Lessons Learned from Nuclear War in Film,” CSIS Next Generation Nuclear Network, July 8, 2020 -Fail-Safe, 1964 movie -Countdown to Looking Glass, 1984 movie -David Hoffman, The Dead Hand, The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy, 2010 -Daniel Ellsberg, The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner, 2017 -Christian Brose, The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare, 2020
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we got the family together over Zoom to watch the most depressing “Hallmark movie” of all time, Testament (1983). How can one Mom keep the family going after a nuclear attack cuts off their community? How accurately does the movie portray the horrors of radiation sickness? How does nuclear war turn ham radio operators into the most important people on the planet? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and returning special guest Lucy Steigerwald (@LucyStag), contributing editor to AntiWar.com answer these questions and more.
Before we go blow out the candles on our sad birthday cake, we recommend: -DVD extras for Testament, including “Testament at 20” -Cormac McCarthy, The Road (2006) -Airplane! (1980) -Carol Amen, “The Last Testament,” Ms. Magazine, August 1981, https://www.scribd.com/doc/59083080/Amen-Carol-The-Last-Testament-Ms-Aug-81 -The Day After (1983) -On the Beach (1959) -Threads (1984) -TheStagBlog.com, “Testament”
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we pulled an all-nighter to watch the thrilling movie Miracle Mile (1986) about star crossed lovers trying to escape Los Angeles at night before a possible nuclear attack. Why do we keep nuclear weapons in North Dakota? How long would you have before the missiles start landing in your backyard? Does Google Maps have a good escape route preprogrammed in the event of a pending nuclear war? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and Gabe answer these questions and more.
Before we answer this random payphone that is ringing nearby, we recommend: -Cloverfield (2008 movie) -10 Cloverfield Lane (2016 movie) -Six String Samurai (1998 movie) -La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, CA -Fred Kaplan, The Wizards of Armageddon, 1983 -Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, South Dakota -NORMS Restaurants
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we aced our foreign service exam and started our undercover mission to the movie Spies Like Us (1995). How well does this comedy deploy a Soviet road mobile nuclear missile for hilarious effect? Can you actually recall a nuclear missile once it is in the air? Doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor, doctor, and doctor. Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and Gabe answer these questions and more.
Before we open up the nuclear disarmament negotiation board game box, we recommend: -Fletch, 1985 -The Man Who Knew Too Little, 1997 -International Spy Museum -Nuclear War Card Game, 1965 -Steven Pomeroy, An Untaken Road: Strategy, Technology, and the Hidden History of America’s Mobile ICBMs, 2016 -Get Smart, 1965-1970 TV Show
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we leave our bunkers and march like atomic ants to the movie theater to enjoy the film Matinee (1993). What does this story about director Joe Dante’s love of B-movies monster flicks have to say about the Cuban Missile Crisis and its impact on kids living in Florida? How do you write an effective comedy about topics that are usually nightmare fuel? When can we equip our own home theaters with Atomovision? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and special guest Matthew Gault (@mjgault), VICE journalist and host of the War College Podcast (@War_College) answer these questions and more.
Before we turn up the Rumble-Rama setting on our seats, we recommend: -War College Podcast -Them (1954) and Blast from the Past (1999) -Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) -Barry Atkinson, Atomic Age Cinema: The Offbeat, the Classic, and the Obscure, 2014 -Matthew Gault, “How to Survive a Nuclear Bomb,” Vice, January 9, 2020 -L. Douglas Kenney, 15 Minutes: General Curtis LeMay and the Countdown to Nuclear Annihilation, 2012 -Adam Curtis, “To The Brink of Eternity,” Episode in the Pandora’s Box documentary series, 1992
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, school is out for nuclear winter break, so we binged the Netflix series Daybreak about high school students surviving post-WWIII. How well does a nuclear war plot mesh with a John Hughes teenage comedy? What is the connection between sunflowers and nuclear disarmament? Who in our high school yearbook was voted “most likely to depress everyone with a podcast about nuclear war movies”? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and special guest Cecili Thompson-Williams (@cecilitw), Executive Director of Beyond the Bomb (@BeyondtheBomb), answer these questions and more.
Before we decide which post-apocalyptic clique to join, we recommend: -The 100 (TV series) -BeyondTheBomb.org -Phineas and Ferb (TV series) -WarGames (1983 movie) -Night of the Comet (1984 movie) -Elizabeth King, “How Growing Up with the Threat of Nuclear War Shapes Kids’ Psyches,” TheCut, June 7, 2017
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we tried to get healthy during quarantine by watching an episode of the TV show Gilligan’s Island called “Pass the Vegetables, Please” where the castaways get super powers from eating crops grown from radioactive seeds. Can radiation actually help farmers? What would happen if you ate radioactive food? Is the Professor a stand-in for Dr. Oppenheimer of the Manhattan Project? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and Gabe answer these questions and more.
Before we our three hour tour sets sail, we recommend: -“HI FI Gilligan,” Gilligan’s Island, season 2, episode 10 -AtomicGardening.com -“JUGHEAD,” LOST, “season 5, episode 3 -Visiting Tangier Island -Archipelago tiki bar in Washington, DC
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode released on April 1, the show gets inverted and becomes the Super Critical Angle of Attack podcast to talk about the movie Air Force One (1997). Sure, the movie has some nuclear weapon plots, but how well did it accurately portray POTUS’s airplane? Did the movie do justice to flight physics? If aviation accident prone Harrison Ford is your pilot, would you have a bad feeling about this? New podcast host Gabe and special guest Tim Westmyer (@Westmyer) answer these questions and more.
Before we fired up the Air Force One fax machine, we recommend: -Countdown to Looking Glass, 1984 TV movie -Independence Day, 1996 movie -“The Air Force’s ‘Doomsday Plane’ is in the Shop,” DefenseOne, November 6, 2019 -On Board Air Force One, National Geographic documentary, 2009 -CBS News photo tour of Air Force One -National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton Ohio -Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, CA
Enjoy!
In this episode, we see how many scientists in the desert it takes to build an atomic bomb by watching the 1989 movie “Fat Man and Little Boy.” How did scientists and the military both collaborate and clash in the pursuit of the first nuclear weapon? What was the role of women scientists in this endeavor? Could you actually buy a condo in Manhattan even if you had the budget of the atomic bomb project? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and special guests/nuke experts Erin Connolly (@Erin_Conn17) and Kate Hewitt (@BlondNukeGirl) from Girl Security answer these questions and more.
Before we started eating our Pentagon cakes, we recommend: -Day One, 1989 TV Movie -Robert Serber, The Los Alamos Primer: The First Lectures on How to Build the Atomic Bomb, 1992 -Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, 1986 -Denise Kiernan, Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II, 2014 -John Hersey, Hiroshima, 1946 -Kate Brown, Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, And The Great Soviet And American Plutonium Disasters, 2015 -GirlSecurity.org -HighlyEnriched.com (coming soon)
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we make time to watch two Twilight Zone episodes that deal with both “time” and nukes: “Time Enough at Last” and “No Time Like the Past.” How would the development of thermonuclear weapons impact your reading habit? If you had a time machine, how would you prevent the WWII atomic bombings? Does every household need a 2-in-1 bank vault/fallout shelter to protect their loved ones and valuables? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast), Gabe, and returning guest Elliot answer these questions and more.
Before we update our reading list for the apocalypse, we recommend: -Twilight Zone episode “Walking Distance” -Last Man on Earth (TV show, comedy) -Black Mirror episode “San Junipero” -Arctic, 2018 movie -12 Monkeys, 1995 movie -H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, 1895 book -Dan Carlin, “Supernova in the East,” Hardcore History Podcast -Dan Carlin, “(Blitz) The Destroyer of Worlds,” Hardcore History Podcast -Star Trek episode “The City on the Edge of Forever” -Star Trek episode “Patterns of Force”
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we ring in the holidays with the Weird Al Yankovic song, Christmas at Ground Zero. What does this 1986 jingle tell us about nuclear war? How does Weird Al repurpose Duck and Cover propaganda footage from the Cold War for his holiday melody? Is “dreaming” about a white Christmas technically a nightmare if it is snowing radioactive fallout? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and returning special guest Kevin answer these questions and more.
Here is the song on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t039p6xqutU
Before the next song on the nuclear war playlist comes on, we recommend checking out: • We Will All Go Together When We Go, Tom Lehrer • Amish Paradise, Weird Al, 1996 • Santa with Muscles, 1996 movie with Hulk Hogan • The Night They Saved Christmas, TV movie 1984 • Running with Scissors, 1999 Weird Al • Bad Hair Day, Weird Al, 1996 • Blue Christmas, Willie Nelson
Here is a clip of Kevin playing the song on his ukulele: https://twitter.com/NuclearPodcast/status/1205942558058303488
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we explore what happens when someone with superhuman speed tries to finish the nuclear arms race in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987). How easy would it be for Superman to destroy the planet’s nuclear weapons himself? What happens with Lex Luthor decides to rearm the world? Is that a bird? Is that a plane? Is that… a giant wad of nuclear missiles flying toward the sun? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast), Gabe, and special guest Will Saetren (@WillSaetren), Project Lead in Nonproliferation at CRDF Global, answer these questions and more.
Before we visit Nuclear Man at the nuclear power plant tour, we recommend checking out: • Injustice: Gods Among Us (2013-2016 comics) • Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2016 documentary) • The Day the Earth Died!, June 1985, Superman no. 408 • Michael O'Hanlon, A Skeptic's Case for Nuclear Disarmament, 2010 • Watchmen (1986-1987 comics) • Eric Schlosser, Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety, 2013 • Keren Yarhi-Milo, Knowing the Adversary: Leaders, Intelligence, and Assessment of Intentions in International Relations, 2014
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we picked When the Wind Blows out of the children’s book bin to see what advise the 1982 graphic novel (and 1986 animated movie) have for surviving nuclear war in Britain. How easy was it to follow official government radiation survival guides during the Cold War? What was it like for the average family trying to make sense of nuclear deterrence? Will you ever be able to look at a baked potato again the same way after witnessing this story? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and special guest Sebastian Brixey-Williams (@seb_bw), Co-Director of the think tank BASIC, answer these questions and more.
Dramatization of the graphic novel available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=484h0mnU0-M
Before we give up waiting on the Powers that Be to arrive, we recommend checking out: -The Atomic Hobo podcast episodes on Meals on Wheels and When the Wind Blows -Protest and Survive (1980) -Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, (1987 cartoon show) -The Snowman (1982) -Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) -Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986) -CISD podcast episode “Setsuko Thurlow: Interview with a Hiroshima Survivor”, 2016 -BASIC Think Tank
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we explored the nuclear origin story of Godzilla. What famous nuclear test inspired the Godzilla franchise? How did Toho Studios and Hollywood handle the nuclear story over the ages? Will the “King Kong vs. Godzilla” movie have a cameo from Major “King” Kong from Dr. Strangelove? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and special guests Rachel Emond (@Rachel_Emond) and Geoff Wilson (@NuclearWilson) of the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation answer these questions and more.
Before we zipped up the rubber monster suit, we recommend checking out: -Godzilla: Final Wars (2004 movie) -Pacific Rim (2013 movie) -Cinemassacre’s Monster Madness (YouTube series) -Gojira (1954 movie) -Stranger Things (Netflix series) -Chernobyl (2019 HBO series) -Godzilla in Hell (2015 comic book) -Godzilla: Half Century War (2013 comic book) -Cloverfield (2008 movie) -Nukes of Hazard podcast
We also discussed the movie Shin Godzilla. Listen to it as a bonus feature on our YouTube channel.
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we lived #ShootYourShot and watched the movie Amazing Grace and Chuck (1987) where an NBA legend joins forces with a little league player to protest nuclear weapons. Could a child’s peaceful act of resistance against nuclear war inspire the world to Global Zero? What is the history of anti-nuclear weapon movements in the 1980s? If your chartered jet is exploded by an evil nuclear illuminate, is that technically a traveling violation? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and Pranay Vaddi (@PranayVaddi), a nuclear expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, answer these questions and more.
Before we assemble our Dream Team of professional athlete protesters, we recommend checking out: -Judith Vigna, Nobody Wants a Nuclear War, 1986 -Laura Yeager, “Talking to Your Children about the Threat of Nuclear War,” July 8, 2018 -“Talking Nukes with Kids,” Awful Library Books, November 9, 2017 -Vincent J. Intondi, African Americans Against the Bomb: Nuclear Weapons, Colonialism, and the Black Freedom Movement, 2015 -Celtic Pride, 1996 movie -Los Angeles Lakers: 2010 NBA Finals Series, DVD -“The Bear,” Things that Go Boom, Podcast s1e1 -Kobe’s Final Game, April 13, 2016 -Strobe Talbott, Deadly Gambits, 1984 -Peter Beinart, “Think Again: Ronald Reagan,” Foreign Policy, June 7, 2010 -Jacob Weisberg, “Ronald Reagan’s Disarmament Dream,” The Atlantic, January 1, 2016
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we plucked Six String Samurai out of the cult movie bin to talk about the zany nuclear plots of this post-apocalypse western Kung Fu musical mashup. How would the power of rock and roll unite the wasteland after a nuclear war? Would Las Vegas be a target during the Cold War? Can this version of Buddy Holly handle the overpressure of ruling Lost Vegas? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and Gabe answer these questions and more.
Before we our post-Bomb sanity snapped, we recommend checking out: • Fallout video game series, especially Fallout: New Vegas • Mariachi, 1992 movie • Red Elvises, band • Dick Dale, musician
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we figured out how an RBMK reactor explodes by watching the hit HBO show Chernobyl. What caused the nuclear power plant disaster? How did the Soviet leadership and the Russian people respond to the crisis? If vodka is really such a powerful medicinal wonder, can it be covered by your health care insurance? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and special guests Meghan McCall (@Nuclear_Ginger_) and Geoff Wilson (@NuclearWilson) answer these questions and more.
Our special guests also have excellent podcasts on nuke topics to enjoy: -Meghan McCall's Press the Button -Geoff Wilson's Nukes of Hazard
Before we hug our dogs closer than normal, we recommend checking out: -Chernobyl, Podcast by Craig Mazin and Peter Segal -Chernobyl VR Project, The Farm 51 -The China Syndrome, 1979 movie -Adam Higginbotham, Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster, 2019 -Svetlana Alexievich, Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster, 2006 -David McMillan and David Baillargeon, David McMillan: Growth and Decay: Pripyat and the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, 2019 -Pandora’s Promise, 2013 documentary -Eric Schlosser, Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety, 2014 -Metro video game series
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we debated the virtues of nuclear disarmament and democracy over a couple of days this month, specifically Seven Days in May. Does the movie realistically portray disagreements between the military and civilian leaders over nuclear weapons? What would cause the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to attempt a military coup? How long before General James Mattoon Scott becomes the 40+ person running for president in 2020? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and special guest Stephen I Schwartz (@AtomicAnalyst) answer these questions and more.
Before we went fishing at Blue Lake, we recommend checking out: -The Manchurian Candidate, both the 1962 and 2004 movies -International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, www.icanw.org -Stephen I. Schwartz, Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Since 1940, 1998 -David F. Krugler, “This is Only a Test: How Washington, DC Prepared for Nuclear War,” 2007 -The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, https://thebulletin.org/ -Garrett M. Graff, “Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself – While the Rest of Us Die,” 2017
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we debate one of the most important questions in international relations and nuclear policy today: are the dragons in Game of Thrones more like nuclear weapons or conventional air power? Does George R.R. Martin deploy the dragons as analogs for nuclear weapons? Do dragons serve more of a conventional air power or close air support role in the story's military battles? Perhaps the dragons themselves aspire to be artists and bakers rather than being typecast as weapons of war? Tim Westmyer (@nuclearpodcast) and Dr. Michael C. Horowitz (@mchorowitz) answer these questions and more.
Before winter gets here, we recommend checking out: -Timothy Westmyer, “Dragons, Nuclear Weapons, and Game of Thrones,” The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2014 -Michael C. Horowitz and Matthew Fuhrmann, “Are ‘Game of Thrones’s’ Dragons the Equivalent of Nuclear Weapons? We Don’t Think So,” Washington Post’s Monkey Cage Blog, April 12, 2019 -Matthew Gault, “The Dragons in ‘Game of Thrones’ Aren’t Nukes, They’re an Air Force,” Motherboard, August 2017 -Michael Shurkin, “Dragons, Nukes, and Game of Thrones,” Scientific American, August 2017 -Reign of Fire, 2002 movie -War College, podcast episode titled “What Game of Thrones Teaches Us About Nuclear War, September 2017 -Citadel Dropouts, podcast by Laura Hudson and Spencer Ackerman -A Cast of Kings – A Game of Thrones Podcast, by Joanna Robinson and Dave Chen -Mallory Rubin’s writing and podcasts on The Ringer
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
We want to share with Super Critical Podcast listeners an episode of the Authors of Mass Destruction podcast run by Dr. Natasha Bajema. Her awesome new podcast helps writers and authors tell compelling fiction about nukes while getting the details right. Tim Westmyer was a guest on the podcast – along with Dr. Justin Anderson – to talk about the movie Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
We will still try to release a regular episode of the Super Critical Podcast in April 2019. We hope you enjoy this episode, which you can also find on the Authors of Mass Destruction podcast feed. Follow Natasha’s show on Twitter at @WMDgirl and @authorsmass.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we wanted to learn more about the mobile infantry, so we talked about Starship Troopers, both the 1997 movie and 1959 book. How does the story deploy tactical nuclear weapons in the war against the bugs? Why was the book’s author inspired to write a protest against the campaign to end nuclear testing? Who would Herman Kahn enjoy talking to more: Carl or the brain bug? Tim Westmyer (@nuclearpodcast), Will Saetren (@WillSaetren), and Geoff Wilson (@nuclearwilson) answer these questions and more.
This is the 12th in our Mini-Nuke episode series, where we overthink pop culture with a smaller slice of nukes than our usual full-sized episodes.
Before we take a walk down washout lane, we recommend checking out: -John Scalzi, Old Man’s War, 2005 -Joe Halderman, The Forever War, 1974 -Robocop (1987 movie) -Helldivers (video game) -The Day After (1983 movie) -Robert A. Heinlein, Expanded Universe, 1980
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, Spotify, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we convened a team of nuke nerd to play an Escape Room with a nuclear weapon scenario. Did it help (or hurt) to have a background in nuclear weapons policy? How accurate can an Escape Room capture the complexities of nuclear war? How many red buttons were pushed to the limit in the making of this episode? Tim Westmyer and special guest Will Saetren (@willsaetren) answer these questions and more.
Before we look for more clues, we recommend checking out: -BGNlab YouTube series by Scott Nicholson -Spin Master Games - Escape Room The Game - “Nuclear Countdown” -Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes - VR game
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we tuned the radio to the song 99 Luftballons (or 99 Red Balloons) by the band Nena and talked about its connections to nuclear weapons, the Cold War arms race, and anti-nuclear protests. How did the threat of intermediate range nuclear missiles in Europe inspire Nena to write this catchy dirge? What happens when early warning systems confuse 99 balloons for UFOs and nukes? What artist will win their Grammy with a song about the dangers of Gamma Rays? Tim Westmyer and returning special guest Will Saetren (@WillSaetren) answer these questions and more.
This is the 11th in our Mini-Nuke episode series, where we overthink pop culture with a smaller slice of nukes than our usual full-sized episodes.
Playlist of nuke songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAEmhqdLFs&list=PLXh-L52NGj3wWH92cBVAjeW-7giQ2B4vW
Before we hit shuffle on our nuke war mix to lament the death of the INF Treaty, we recommend checking out: -The Man Who Saved the World (2014 documentary) -Rush, “Distant Early Warning,” Grace Under Pressure, 1984 -No Nukes: The Muse Concerts for a Non-Nuclear Future (1979) -Jeffrey Lewis, The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States, 2018 -Eric Schlosser, Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety, 2014
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, Spotify, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we did the math about what happens when you add a missing nuclear weapon together with neo-fascists and an unassuming CIA desk analyst in the Sum of All Fears (2002). How can terrorists get their hands on a plutonium core? Why did Russia allow the United States so many inspections of its nukes? Why won’t America just let Jack Ryan finish writing his memo. Tim Westmyer, Gabe, and special guest Jon Duke (@VortexAeroMedia) answer these questions and more.
Before we nuke more insects to see what happens, we recommend checking out: -Peter Feaver, Guarding the Guardians: Civilian Control of Nuclear Weapons in the United States, 1992 -Cresson H. Kearney, “Chapter 13: Surviving Without Doctors,” Nuclear War Survival Guide, 1987, http://www.madisoncountyema.com/nwss.pdf -The Fourth Protocol (1987 movie) -Peter Hennessey, The Secret State: Whitehall and the Cold War, 2002 -War Book (2014 movie) -The Letter of Last Resort, BBC Radio 4, 2013, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0210spc
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we followed chirping sounds in the desert and discovered GIANT RADIOACTIVE ANTS in the movie THEM! (1954). What happens to insects exposed to radiation in the real world? How did nuclear testing and atomic monster movies change public opinion on nuclear weapons? Where was Ant-man when the people Alamogordo needed him to calm these killer atomic ants? Tim Westmyer and returning special guest Tim Collins (@WarAndCake), PhD candidate studying British nuclear history, answer these questions and more.
Before we nuke more insects to see what happens, we recommend checking out: -Jonathan Schell, The Fate of the Earth, 1982 -Barry Atkinson, Atomic Age Cinema: The Offbeat, the Classic and the Obscure, 2018 -Spencer Weart, The Rise of Nuclear Fear, 2012 --Richa Malhotra, “Ants Trapped in Nuclear Bunker are Developing Their Own Society,” NewScientist, September 5, 2016 -Gerard J. DeGroot, The Bomb: A Life, 2006 -Richard Rhodes, Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb, 1996 -Godzilla (1954 movie)
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we worked out our plutonium cores while watching the movie Mission: Impossible –Fallout. How easy is it for a rogue scientist – Norwegian or otherwise – to build a nuclear bomb if they got access to a plutonium core? Why do apocalyptic terrorist organizations seek nuclear weapons? When does Wolf Blitzer find time to report the news between all his movie shoots? Tim Westmyer, Gabe, and special guest James Finnegan answer these questions and more.
Before we nuke more insects to see what happens, we recommend checking out: -Ronin (1998 movie) -Fatman and Littleboy (1989 movie) -Matthew Gault, “Mission Impossible Fallout Missed its Chance to Tell a Good Story,” The National Interest, July 30, 2018 -C'était un Rendezvous (1976 movie) -Mythbusters, Episode 160 about Mission: Impossible Masks
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we place bets on the biggest fight in the cinematic universe: nuclear weapons vs. asteroids. What do the movies Armageddon, Deep Impact, and Meteor tell us about how planet Earth will defend itself against space rocks? How effective would nukes in these doomsday scenarios? How can we thank the dinosaurs for becoming oil so that the drill team in Armageddon learned the skills necessary to save us from another asteroid extinction event? Tim Westmyer and returning special guest Boris (@bmelnikov) answer these questions and more.
Before we decide to violate the Outer Space Treaty, we recommend checking out:
-“Chicxulub crater,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater -Vladimir Rubtsov, “The Tunguska Mystery,” 2009, https://www.amazon.com/Tunguska-Mystery-Astronomers-Universe/dp/0387765735 -“Space Weapons Earth Wars,” Rand Corporation, 2002, https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monograph_reports/2011/RAND_MR1209.pdf -Force Majeure (2014 movie) -Meteor Man (1993 movie)
Thanks to Brgfx for creating and hosting the meteor image graphic on Freepik.com used in the podcast thumbnail.
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we took a break from studying our nuclear attack plans binder to watch an episode from the TV show Madam Secretary called Night Watch (Season 4, Episode 22). What happens when the President gets the call that nuclear missiles are incoming to the United States? What systems are in place to prevent mistakes and accidents from signaling false reports? Why don’t they rename the Presidential Emergency Satchel to the Nuclear Skeeball? Tim Westmyer and special guest Jamie Withorne (@JamieWithorne) answer these questions and more.
Before we receive our text message notifying us about our all expenses paid trip to Mount Weather, we recommend checking out:
-Women of Mass Destruction at https://www.womenofmassdestruction.org/ -Fail-Safe (1964), Ladybug Ladybug (1963), WarGames (1983) -Matt Stevens and Christopher Mele, “Causes of False Missile Alerts: The Sun, the Moon, and a 46-cent Chip,” New York Times, January 13, 2018 -Terry L. Deibel, “The Death of a Treaty,” Foreign Affairs 81 no. 5, September/October 2002 -The Man Who Saved the World (2018)
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we stepped up to the bar and ordered a couple rounds of Atomic Alcohol. The podcast collected ten examples of nuclear themed wine, cocktails, and beer with names, history, or other interesting connections to nukes. Why do breweries and wineries go to the nuclear well so many times? Could a beverage change how you think about the atom? How many drinks can the podcast team have and still sound reasonably intelligent? Tim Westmyer, Gabe, and special guests Will Saetren (@WillSaetren) and Eric Gascho (@EricGascho) answer these questions and more.
Before the bartender announces last call for atomic alcohol, we recommend checking out: -Alex Wellerstein, “Beer and the Apocalypse,” Restricted Data, 2012 -Frank Kelly Rich, “Boozing with the Bomb: Alcohol in the Atomic Age,” Drunkard Magazine -Charlie Papazian, The Complete Joy of Homebrewing
Special thanks to: -Tori Mason at Forbidden Root for the cans of Atomic Child -Tony Fitzpatrick and Robert Finkel at Forbidden Root for the interview -@VortexAeroMedia for sending the bottles of Atom Splitter -William Henry at Nuclear Wine, Chris Kotiza at Nuclear Nugget, and Steve at Cit of Cambridge Brewing for answering my questions about their beer -Outro music by Slim Gaillard and His Quartette (1945
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we took the midnight train going anywhere... far away from the bad TV mini-series, Atomic Train (1999). Could a dangerous Russian nuke end up on a runaway U.S. train? What would a major city like Denver do to evacuate after a nuclear detonation? How can a movie with a runaway train, nukes, hazardous chemicals, Rob Lowe, and 50+ helicopters be so boring? Tim Westmyer, Gabe, and special guest Elliot answer these questions and more.
Before the atomic train conductor yelled “all aboard,” we recommend checking out:
-Threads (1984 TV movie) and Special Bulletin (1983 TV movie) -The Stand (1994 TV mini-series) -Michael Krepon, “Moving from MAD to Cooperative Threat Reduction,” Stimson Center, December 2001, https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/93680/Report41.pdf -Unstoppable (2010 movie)
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we did a deep dive on the nuclear plot of The Hunt for Red October (1990). Is bigger necessarily better for the Red October? Just how bad would it be if the United States could no longer tracker Russian submarines? How easy is it for a cook to hotwire a submarine launched ballistic missile? Tim Westmyer and special guest Boris take a break from their vacation in Las Vegas to answer these questions and more.
Before we listened for the pings of a slot machine (hopefully more than just a single ping), we recommend checking out:
-Douglas Waller, Big Red: Three Months On Board a Trident Nuclear Submarine, 2001 -Pavel Podvig, Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces, 2004 -Run Silent, Run Deep, (1958 movie) -Russian Naval Blog, “Even The Russians Know They Suck, Part I,” February 7, 2010 -Tom Clancy, The Bear and the Dragon, 2000
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we loaded up our DeLorean with plutonium and popcorn so we could talk about the heavy nuclear plot of the movie Back to the Future. How safe was the nuclear time machine? Why was Doc Brown cavorting with Libyan terrorists? Does the Mr. Fusion come in as many colors as a Kitchen-Aid mixer? Tim Westmyer and returning special guest Kevin answer these questions and more.
This is the tenth in our Mini-Nuke episode series, where we overthink movies with a smaller slice of nuclear weapons plot than our usual full-sized episodes.
Before we activated our time circuits, we recommend checking out: -Back in Time (documentary), 2015 -Malfrid Braut-Hegghammer, Unclear Physics: Why Iraq and Libya Failed to Build Nuclear Weapons, 2016 -Rich Handley, A Matter of Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Lexicon, 2012 -Back to the Future: The Game (2010), Tell Tale Games -DeLorean (documentary), 1981
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we did some atomic tourism, first to the Nuclear Test Site and then on the emotional journey that is the 1994 melodrama, Blue Sky. How does a mild mannered nuclear test site scientist navigate radioactive cover-ups and family crises? What was it like visiting the former nuclear test site in Nevada? How do you convince your friends it would be more fun to record a podcast in a hotel room than to wander the Las Vegas Strip? Tim Westmyer and special guest Clark answer these questions and more.
Before we get on our horses and ride off into the mushroom cloud, we recommend checking out: -Radio Bikini, Documentary (1998), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVwzhGtzDuI -Michael Harris, The Atomic Times: My H-Bomb Year at the Pacific Proving Ground (2010) -Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV) -Raphael Honigstein, Das Reboot: How German Soccer Reinvented Itself and Conquered the World (2015)
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this April 1st edition of the Nuke Cage Podcast, we rage about the multitude of movies where Nic Cage takes on nuclear, chemical, biological, and conventional weapons in a post-Cold War security environment. How accurate are the movies Face/Off, The Rock, Next, and Lord of War? Why has Nic Cage done so many of these films? Can we make Nic Cage an honorary NEST member already? Tim Westmyer and Tristan Volpe answer these questions and more. Follow the podcast @NukeCage and Tristan @ TeeAndersVolpe.
Before we go looking for some VX rockets, we recommend checking out: -Super Critical Podcast, www.supercriticalpodcast.com -Jonathan Tucker, War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda (2007) -In Time, movie, 2011 -Gregory Koblentz, Living Weapons: Biological Warfare and International Security (2011) -Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley, Barriers to Bioweapons: The Challenges of Expertise and Organization for Weapons Development (2014) -W. Seth Carus, Bioterrorism and Biocrimes: The Illicit Use of Biological Agents Since 1900, August 1998, https://fas.org/irp/threat/cbw/carus.pdf -W. Set Carus, Defining “Weapons of Mass Destruction,” Occasional Paper 8, January 2012, http://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/occasional/cswmd/CSWMD_OccationalPaper-8.pdf
In this episode, who watches the Watchmen? Spoiler alert: we did and got super critical about the nuclear war plots of the Watchmen comics and movie. What will keep us from moving the Doomsday Clock to midnight? How would the Cold War play out if Nixon had a walking nuclear superhero? Does Dr. Manhattan make house calls? Tim Westmyer and special guest Luis Navarro answer these questions and more.
Before we meditate our way through the multiverse, we recommend checking out: -Doomsday Clock Timeline, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, https://thebulletin.org/timeline -Richard Bensam (editor), Minutes to Midnight: Twelve Essays on Watchmen (2011) -H. Bruce Franklin (editor), Countdown to Midnight: Twelve Memorial Stories about Nuclear Warfare (1984) -Atomic Café, documentary, 1982 -Command and Control, documentary, 2016 -Zero Days, documentary, 2016 -Captain America: Nomad, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomad_(comics)
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we stormed The Man in the High Castle television show to explore nukes in a world where Germany and Japan won World War II. What difference would a Nazi nuclear bomb have made in the war? How would Japan go about getting their own nuclear weapon in secret? Who is Joe Blake and why should we care? Tim Westmyer and special guest Tim Collins answer these questions and more.
Follow Tim Collins, PhD candidate studying British nuclear history, on Twitter @WarAndCake.
Before we meditate our way through the multiverse, we recommend checking out: -Superman: Red Son (2003) -Wolfenstein video game series (especially the reboots) -Lawrence Freedman, The Evolution of Nuclear Strategy (1981) -Transcript of Surreptitiously Taped Conversations among German Nuclear Physicists at Farm Hall (August 6-7, 1945), http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/pdf/eng/English101.pdf -That Mitchell and Webb Look, “Are We the Baddies?,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JOpPNra4bw
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we compared the Hawaii ballistic missile threat false alarm in real life and the 1963 film, Ladybug Ladybug. What does an elementary school do when the nuclear attack warning bell goes off? How did Americans respond to similar false alarms during the Cold War? What happens when it is North Korea’s turn to experience an IT problem? Tim Westmyer and Gabe answer these questions and more.
Full movie available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3Io7O_V08E
Before we start our long walk uphill to home after school, we recommend checking out: -Episode #14: Twilight Zone – The Shelter, Super Critical Podcast -Alice L. George, Awaiting Armageddon: How Americans Faced the Cuban Missile Crisis (2004) -Force Majeure, 2014 movie -“Bart’s Comet,” The Simpsons, Season 6, Episode 14 (February 5, 1995)
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we passed the nuclear test of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. How did Indiana Jones end up facing down a nuclear mushroom cloud? Can a lead-lined fridge serve as a decent fallout shelter? Is Indiana Jones an immortal superbeing? Tim Westmyer, Gabe, and special guest Alex answer these questions and more.
This is the ninth in our Mini-Nuke episode series, where we overthink movies with a smaller slice of nuclear weapons plot than our usual full-sized episodes.
Before we locked the fridge door, we recommend checking out: -Nightbreaker (1989 TV movie) -Doom Towns: The People and Landscapes of Nuclear Testing, A Graphic History (2016) -Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory YouTube page on nuclear tests -The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (TV Show)
Credit to Karl Golden on YouTube for his awesome metal cover of the Indiana Jones theme.
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we pondered the nuke plot mysteries of HBO's The Leftovers, especially season 3. How easy is it for a random French sailor to launch a nuclear missile? Can forcing the president to kill one person make them think twice about starting nuclear war? What the heck was the departure anyway? Tim Westmyer and Joel answer these questions and more in Joel’s last episode as a regular co-host.
This is the eighth in our Mini-Nuke episode series, where we overthink movies with a smaller slice of nuclear weapons plot than our usual full-sized episodes.
Before we departed, we recommend checking out: -“Buttons, Not Buttons,” Radiolab Podcast, December 12, 2014, www.radiolab.org/story/buttons-not-buttons/ -Bruno Tertrais, “The Last Nation to Disarm? The Future of France’s Nuclear Weapons,” The Nonproliferation Review 14 no 2, 2007, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10736700701379344 -LOST -Nash Bridges
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we paid our respects to the late Roger Moore and all the times he stopped a nuclear war by watching the movie Octopussy. Could a rogue Soviet commander trick Europe into disarming its own nuclear weapons? Why did the United States have so many nukes in Europe? How easy is it for James Bond to disarm a nuke while wearing clown makeup? Tim, Gabe, and returning special guest Alex answer these questions and more.
Thanks to our listeners for dealing with the November 2017 hiatus of episodes while Tim moved into a new place and barely survived holiday family visits.
Before our M gives us another mission, we recommend checking out: -James Bonding Podcast, Earwolf, http://www.earwolf.com/show/james-bonding/ -Amy Woolf, “Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons,” CRS Report, February 21, 2017, https://fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL32572.pdf -License to Kill (1989)
Also check out the sources below to learn more about the subjects in this episode – you can also access these links on our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com. -James Bond disarming the bomb, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vPUsPcUYDQ -Awesome Soviet conference table, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x99njmZxaMA -Hans Kristensen and Robert Norris, Worldwide Deployments of Nuclear Weapons, 2014, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, September 1, 2014, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0096340214547619 -Michaela Dodge, “U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Europe: Critical for Transatlantic Security,” Heritage Foundation, February 18, 2014, http://www.heritage.org/defense/report/us-nuclear-weapons-europe-critical-transatlantic-security#_ftnref7 -William Arkin, “America’s Nuclear Weapons in Europe Are the Nuclear Elephant in the Room,” Vice News, March 31, 2016, https://news.vice.com/article/american-nuclear-weapons-in-belgium-kleine-brogel -Nader Elhefnawny, James Bond's Evolution: From Casino Royale to Spectre, 2015, https://books.google.com/books?id=q92nCgAAQBAJ -David Williams, “Why Octopussy is the Best (and Possibly Worst) James Bond Film, GQ, February 2015, http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/louis-jourdan-octopussy-james-bond-007-kamal-khan-roger-moore -Lukas Hechenblaickner, Alexander Walter, Verena Kastenhuber and Michael Hoffman, “The Nuclear Menace in James Bond Movies,” Atoms for Europe Blog, https://atomsforeu.hypotheses.org/group-e-popular-culture
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on iTunes, Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay Music, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we wandered into the wasteland and played the Fallout video game series. What does this particularly popular post-apocalypse tell us about life after nuclear war? Is the video game series realistic in how it portrays nuclear devastation? How much can you mix together comedy and utter bleakness before you go a little insane? Tim and special guest Lucy Steigerwald answer these questions and more.
Follow Lucy on Twitter at @LucyStag and her Apocalypse Project at www.TheStagBlog.com.
Before our Rad count gets too high, we recommend checking out: -Metro 2033 video game series -Lovely Umayam, “Why the Excitement Over Post-Nuclear-War Game Fallout 4?” The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, November 4, 2015 -Eileen Welsome, The Plutonium Files: America’s Secret Medical Experiments in the Cold War, 1999 -Walter M. Miller Jr, A Canticle for Liebowitz, 1960 -Neil Shute, On The Beach, 1957 -Robert McCammon, Swan Song, 1987 -Jericho, CBS, TV Show
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources from this episode. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on iTunes, Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay Music, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we decide to break the ice and watch the Star Trek movie First Contact. Is global thermonuclear war a necessary prerequisite for realizing the utopian vision of Star Trek? How did a Titan II ICBM help humanity go where no man has gone before? Why did Zefram Cochrane get a statue before Lily Sloane? Tim, Gabe, and special guest Manu Saadia (author of Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek) answer these questions and more.
You can follow Manu Saadia on Twitter @Trekonomics. We greatly enjoyed his book, Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek (May 2016).
(Tim edit on 9/18: There was an encoding error in the original podcast file. It should be fixed now)
Before we get noticed by some Vulcans, we recommend checking out: -F. White, The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution, 1998 -Disaster at Silo 7, TV Movie,1988 -Command and Control, Documentary, 2016 -Peter Brannen, The Ends of the World: : Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions, June 2017 -The Next Generation, “The Best of Both Worlds,” Season 3, Episode 26, June 1990
Also check out the sources below to learn more about the subjects in this episode – you can also access these links on our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com.
Thanks to TrekCore.com for some of the sound effects used in this episode.
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on iTunes, Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay Music, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we sat down with North Korea to conduct a podcast about The Interview (2014). Is North Korea’s nuclear weapon program a laughing matter or something to worry about? How does the Kim family stay in power? How to do you show ‘em what your worth when fireworks are banned in your city? Tim Westmyer and special guest Gabe answer these questions and more.
This is the seventh in our Mini-Nuke episode series, where we overthink movies with a smaller slice of nuclear weapons plot than our usual full-sized episodes.
Before we look to see if our tourist trip to North Korea had refundable airfare, we recommend checking out: -Arms Control Wonk podcast and blog -Barbara Dimmick, “Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea,” 2009 -North Korea Economy Watch -Team America: World Police
I'll put up more resources in the coming days here and on show's website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we went to the children’s section of the library to read The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss. Does this 1984 book have anything to tell us about the dangers of the Cold War arms race? What is the right age to start talking to your kids about nuclear war? Why wasn’t there a Goosebumps book about nuclear winter? Tim, his sister Diana, and his 7-year old nephew Jairus answer these questions and more.
Before we fly/hop away in our Utterly Sputter, we recommend checking out: -Ellen Goodman, “Dr. Seuss and the Bomb,” New York Times, April 24, 1984 -“The Butter Battle Book,” Turner Network Television, YouTube, 1989 -Dr. Seuss, “Oh, The Places You’ll Go,” 1990 -Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, “Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb," 2012 -Patricia Brennan Demuth, “What Was D-Day,” 2015 (Thanks for the recommendation, Jairus!)
Also check out the sources below to learn more about the subjects in this episode – you can also access these links on our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com.
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on iTunes, Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay Music, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this extra long episode, we ruined all our sweaters by pulling at the 1984 TV movie, Threads. What would nuclear war look like to average people in an average city in the United Kingdom? How did the British plan to survive a nuclear attack? How do you mind the gap when the gap is a 100-meter crater at a radioactive ground zero? Tim and his special guest co-host Tim Collins (@WarAndCake) answer these questions and more.
Before we the news anchors switched to local sports and the weather, we recommend: -When the Wind Blows, 1986 -The books of Jonathan Schell, including Fate of the Earth, The Abolition, and The Gift of Time -Nate Jones, Able Archer 83 : The Secret History of the NATO Exercise That Almost Triggered Nuclear War, 2016 -Peter Hennessey, The Secret State: Preparing for the Worst 1945-2001, 2010 -The Letter of Last Resort, BBC Radio 4 Saturday Drama
Also check out the sources below to learn more about the subjects in this episode – you can also access these links on our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com.
Thanks again to Tim Collins for being a guest on the podcast. He is a Ph.D. candidate at King’s College London studying early British nuclear history and you can follow him on Twitter @WarAndCake.
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on iTunes, Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay Music, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we tuned our TV dial to watch the 1983 TV movie, Special Bulletin. How would local broadcast news cover a nuclear terrorism incident? How would the federal government and the news media handle this crisis? WWWBD (What Would Wolf Blitzer Do)? Tim and Joel answer these questions and more.
Before the news anchors switched to local sports and the weather, we recommend: -Countdown to Looking Glass, TV movie,1984 -Peter Kuran, How to Photograph an Atomic Bomb (VCE, 2006) -One Day in September, documentary, 1999
Also check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources related to the topic of this episode.
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on iTunes, Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay Music, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we sought shelter in the Twilight Zone and watched the 1962 episode, “The Shelter.” What was the deal with everyone building fallout shelters in the 1960s? Would you share a cozy shelter with friends and neighbors who neglected to build one? What should you prioritize in your shelter: food, water, medicine, a surround sound system, or a Jacuzzi? Tim and Joel answer these questions and more.
Before we double lock our fallout shelter door, we recommend: -Nukes of Hazard, Hosted by Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation -“Bart’s Comet,” The Simpsons (February 5, 1995) -Twilight Zone Podcast, Hosted by Tom Elliot
For more resources on the topics in this episode, you visit our website at SuperCriticalPodcast.com.
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on iTunes, Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay Music, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we explored the history of nuclear weapons as told by the movie Jaws (1975). What happened to the USS Indianapolis after it delivered parts for the Little Boy atomic bomb? Could Jaws actually be the Godzilla of the sea? Tim and special guest Mike answer these questions and more.
This is the sixth in our Mini-Nuke episode series, where we overthink movies with a smaller slice of nuclear weapons plot than our usual full-sized episodes. For the short nuke scene discussed in the movie, watch it on YouTube here: https://goo.gl/les03N
Before we start looking for a bigger boat, we recommend checking out: -“Nuclear Shark,” Shark Week, Discovery Channel, 2016 -“USS Indianapolis,” Atomic Heritage Foundation, http://www.atomicheritage.org/history/uss-indianapolis -“Open Water,” Lionsgate, 2003 -“Open Water 2: Adrift,” Lionsgate, 2006 -“Deep Blue Sea,” Warner Bros, 1999
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we teamed up to discuss the portrayal of nuclear weapons in the 2016 superhero movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Just how easy is it to nuke a moving target in space? Do nukes still pack a punch for today’s movie audiences? Why can’t Superman and Batman just talk about their feelings? Tim and Joel answer these questions and more.
This is the fifth in our Mini-Nuke episode series, where we overthink movies with not enough nuclear nonsense for a full-sized episode but nonetheless demand over thinking. For the short nuke scene discussed in the movie, watch it on YouTube here: https://goo.gl/wKDQnt
Before we recharged our alien cells using solar radiation and/or sunflowers, we recommended checking out: -Frank Miller, The Dark Knight Returns, 1986 -Matthew Gault, “How the U.S. Military Could Kill Superman Kryptonite… and Lots of Nukes,” WarIsBoring.com, May 31, 2016 -300, Legendary Pictures, 2007
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we built a Death Star and made Alderaan pay for it! While waiting for the check to clear, we overanalyzed the Death Star as a stand-in for nuclear weapons throughout the Star Wars movies but especially in Rogue One (2016). How much did the franchise borrow nuclear weapon imagery? What similarities are there in the strategies for using either nuclear weapons or Death Stars? Will the Empire ever consider investing its resources more into galactic poverty reduction and less into overly vulnerable battle stations? Tim and Joel answer these questions and more.
We also play a round of the classic game: Is This a Star Wars Name or Someone Who Invented Nuclear Weapons? (Trademark pending…)
Before we go rogue, we recommend reading: -Tim Westmyer, “Death Star: Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, January 4, 2017 -Cass Sunstein, The World According to Star Wars (2016) -Chris Taylor, How Star Wars Conquered the Universe (2015)
Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we prepared for Judgment Day by watching all of the Terminator movies (1984-2015/forever). How did the franchise end up with some of the most iconic imagery of nuclear weapon use? Should we be worried about artificial intelligence taking over our nuclear command and control systems? Why does Skynet seem to put out more models of terminator than Apple does iPhones? Tim, Joel, and special guest Alex answer these questions and more.
Before we say “hasta la vista… baby,” we recommend reading: -Jerome Shapiro, Atomic Bomb Cinema, 2001 -Bruce Blair, Strategic Command and Control, 1985 and The Logic of Accidental Nuclear War, 1993 -Joe McGovern, “‘The Terminator’ at 30: An Oral History,” Entertainment Weekly, July 17, 2014
Check out these resources and more on our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com.
Special thanks to Alicia Dressman (@thedelphivision) for suggesting the episode hook with the quote by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin.
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we had a lot of time on our hand after being marooned on another planet, so we watched the 2015 science fiction/comedy The Martian. How dangerous are plutonium fueled Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators? Does cosmic radiation doom Matt Damon life on Mars? Why does every Mars movie need an impossible sandstorm? Tim and special guest host Gabe answer these questions and more. We also hear from Chris Mariasola who breaks down the maritime/space law in the movie for us.
This is the fourth in our Mini-Nuke episode series, where we find movies that do not have enough nuclear nonsense for a full-sized episode but nonetheless demand over thinking.
Before we fulfill our Iron Man fantasies, we recommend checking out: - Timothy Jorgensen, Strange Glow: The Story of Radiation (Princeton Press, 2016) -the documentary “To Mars by A-Bomb: The Secret History of Project Orion,” BBC, 2003, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYoLcJuBtOw -George Dyson, Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship (Henry Holt and Co, 2002) -Marshall Savage, The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps (Little, Brown and Company, 1992)
Also check out the sources below to learn more (you can also access these links on our SoundCloud and Facebook pages): -Chris Marisola, Lawfareblog.com, https://lawfareblog.com/contributors/cmirasola -Rhett Allain, “The Science in The Martian Isn’t Perfect, but That’s Okay,” Wired, September 23, 2015, https://www.wired.com/2015/09/science-martian-isnt-perfect-thats-ok/ -Rhett Allain, “How That Spinning Spacecraft From The Martian Would Work,” Wired, August 25, 2015, https://www.wired.com/2015/08/spinning-spacecraft-martian-work/ - Sarah Fecht, “Realism Makes ‘The Martian’ One of the Greatest Sci-Fi Films of All Time,” Popular Science, September 30, 2015, http://www.popsci.com/realism-makes-martian-one-greatest-sci-fi-films-all-time -“ Sandstorms, Explosions, Potatoes, Oh My: 'Martian' Takes Its Science Seriously,” NPR, September 27, 2015, http://www.npr.org/2015/09/27/443192327/sandstorms-explosions-potatoes-oh-my-martian-takes-its-science-seriously -Rod Adams, “‘The Martian’s’ RTG Science Includes Jarring Errors,” Atomic Insights, July 6, 2013, http://atomicinsights.com/martians-rtg-science-errors/ -Ron Turner, “The Radiation Threat to ‘The Martian,’” ANSER, 2015, http://www.anser.org/docs/The_Radiation_Threat_to_the_Martian.pdf -Terry Dunn, “Dissecting the Technology of 'The Martian': Electrical Power,” Tested.com, September 9, 2015, http://www.tested.com/science/540836-dissecting-technology-martian-electrical-power/ -“The Science Behind 'The Martian' - Staying Warm on Mars,” Oak Ridge National Laboratory, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPwhMUfbuh0 -Gary L. Bennett, “Review: The Martian,” Federation of Scientists, 2015, https://fas.org/nuke/space/martian.pdf -Dave Mosher, “NASA’s Plutonium Problem Could End Deep-Space Exploration,” Wired, September 19, 2013, https://www.wired.com/2013/09/plutonium-238-problem/ -Project Orion, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion) -Steve Spaleta, “Project Orion Nuclear Propulsion – 1950s Tests (video), Space.com, December 14, 2014, http://www.space.com/28009-project-orion-nuclear-propulsion-1950s-tests-unclassified-video.html
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we took advantage of the new world-wide federal holiday to watch the sci-fi action blockbuster Independence Day (the good one from 1996). How effective are nuclear weapons against 15 mile wide spaceships? Are aliens keeping tabs on Earth’s nuclear stockpiles? How did Jeff Goldblum write a computer virus that works on alien technology? Tim and Joel answer these questions and more.
Before Elvis left the building, we recommend reading -Michael Rogin, Independence Day, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Enola Gay, (British Film Institute, 1998) http://www.worldcat.org/title/independence-day-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-enola-gay/oclc/39547508 -James Harris, “The Oral History of the President’s Speech in ‘Independence Day,’” Complex Media, June 23, 2016, http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2016/06/presidents-speech-in-independence-day-oral-history -Kim Zetter, Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World’s First Digital Weapon (Crown publishers, 2014)
Also check out the sources below to learn more (you can also access these links on our SoundCloud page):
-Robert Kennedy, “A Rocket Scientist’s Reaction to Independence Day,” The Ultimax Group White Paper, 1996 http://www.ultimax.com/whitepapers/1996_3.html -Kelly Fonda, ““You Want to Blow Up the White House?”: An Oral History of the Film Independence Day, We Minored in Film, April 28, 2015, https://weminoredinfilm.com/2015/04/28/you-want-to-blow-up-the-white-house-an-oral-history-of-the-film-independence-day/ -Janet Burns, “16 Earth-Shattering Facts About ‘Independence Day,’” MentalFloss, July 3, 2016, http://mentalfloss.com/article/76231/16-earth-shattering-facts-about-independence-day -Joe Skrebels, “Independence Day Director Roland Emmerich Mocks Marvel Movies,” IGN, June 28, 2016, http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/06/20/independence-day-director-roland-emmerich-mocks-marvel-movies -ID4 Deleted Scenes, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rf3eB5bFe4 -U.S. Air Force Capt. Robert Salas - UFO's Are Real, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjbhq4P_sZI -Eric Julien, The Iron Skeptic, http://www.theironskeptic.com/articles/julien/julien.htm -Kim Zetter, “An Unprecedented Look at Stuxnet, the World’s First Digital Weapon,” Wired, November 3, 2014, https://www.wired.com/2014/11/countdown-to-zero-day-stuxnet/ -Andrew Futter, “The Dangers of Using Cyberattacks to Counter Nuclear Threats,” Arms Control Today, July/August 2016, https://www.armscontrol.org/ACT/2016_07/Features/The-Dangers-of-Using-Cyberattacks-to-Counter-Nuclear-Threats -“'Independence Day' Producer Finally Explains Infamously Inept Hacking Scene,” Yahoo Movies, December 8, 2014, https://www.yahoo.com/movies/independence-day-producer-explains-hacking-scene-104676447332.html -Jakob Nielson, “Excessive Interoperability in Independence Day,” NN Group, December 18, 2006, https://www.nngroup.com/articles/independence-day-interoperability/ -Russ Wellen, “Alienating Aliens: Do Nukes Make Them Go Ballistic?,” HuffingtonPost, May 25, 2011, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/russ-wellen/alienating-aliens-do-nuke_b_414394.html -Atomic Bomb Test – Survival Towns, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr76hNngqts -Teapot Apple 2 Nuclear Test, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztJXZjIp8OA
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Thanks to bensound.com for some of the background music used in this episode.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we got political and watched the infamous “Daisy” commercial run by the Lyndon Johnson for President campaign against Sen. Barry Goldwater in 1964. What was it like before political ads went so negative? Why was this ad so creepy and yet so effective in portraying the country’s nuclear anxieties? Why didn’t this child actor win an Oscar? Tim and Joel answer these questions and more.
Before we pick off the last petal on our flower, we recommend reading -Robert Mann, Daisy Petals and Mushroom Clouds: LBJ, Barry Goldwater, and the Ad that Changed Politics Forever (LSU Press, 2011) -Bombs Away, documentary by University of Virginia Center for Politics, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChDe9XmbglE
Also, go vote! Find out where here: https://www.rockthevote.com/get-informed/elections/find-your-polling-place/
Also check out the sources below to learn more (you can also access these links on our SoundCloud page): -Clinton Campaign, “Silo,” October 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lha5Gk-yCbw -Clinton Campaign, “Daisy Ad,” October 31, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNKAlt-mrWM -Johnson Campaign, “Peace, Little Girl,” September 1964, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDTBnsqxZ3k -Johnson Campaign, “Ice Cream Girl,” September 1964, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-VzZQGWOqA -Johnson Campaign, “Atomic Bomb – Test Ban,” 1964, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1B2re9Tz_8 -Johnson Campaign, “Pregnant Lady,” 1964, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUO0PqJMsTg -Zack Beauchamp, “The Clinton team found the star of the most famous political ad in history to pound Trump,” VOX, October 31, 2016, http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/31/13477678/clinton-ad-daisy -Robert Mann, “‘How the “Daisy” Ad Changed Everything About Political Advertising,” Smithsonian, April 13, 2016, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-daisy-ad-changed-everything-about-political-advertising-180958741/?no-ist -Robert Mann and Zack Stanton, “LBJ’s Ad Men: Here’s How Clinton can Beat Trump,” Politico, May 29, 2016, http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/2016-johnson-lbj-campaign-1964-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-political-ads-daisy-213925 -Julian Zelier, “Return of the 'Daisy' ad can't revive politics of the 1960s,” CNN, October 31, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/31/opinions/clinton-daisy-girl-cant-bring-back-1960s-zelizer/ -Barry Goldwater, Remarks on Senate Floor on LTBT, September 19, 1963, http://wopsr.net/goldwater-on-limited-nuclear-test-ban-treaty/ -Ross Rosenbaum, “An Unsung Hero of the Nuclear Age,” Slate, February 28, 2011, http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_spectator/2011/02/an_unsung_hero_of_the_nuclear_age.single.html
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we flipped over the Monopoly board to make room to play the dark comedy Nuclear War Card Game from 1965. Does having a background in nuclear policy help win a card game about nuclear war? Will the horrors and intensity of nuclear weapons translate to a card game? Can three loving couples survive three hours of pretending to nuke each other? Tim and his elite team of board game competitors answer these questions and more.
Before we decided this game was too dark and switched to playing Candy Land, we recommend checking out the sources below about the unique and fun history of the Nuclear War Card Game (you can also access these links on our SoundCloud page).
-Photos of the game and the cards at “Nuclear War,” Flying Buffalo, http://www.flyingbuffalo.com/nucwar.htm -“Nuclear War Card Game,” BoardGameGeek.com, https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/713/nuclear-war -Dennis McLellan, “Nuclear War Game Bombs Its Way to Success: Fantasy Card Competition Breeds Some Fallout From the Controversial Topic,” Los Angeles Times, April 18, 1986, http://articles.latimes.com/1986-04-18/news/vw-442_1_nuclear-war-card-game - Lana Polansky, “Nuclear War: A Game of Chance,” Paste, October 14, 2014, https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/10/nuclear-war-a-game-of-chance.html - Matt Keeley, “ ‘Nuclear War’ Turns 50: A Fun Game About Human Extinction,” UnicornBooty, October 26, 2015, https://unicornbooty.com/nuclear-war-turns-50-a-fun-game-about-human-extinction/ -“MPs Seek Ban on Nuclear War Board Game Described as ‘Disgusting and Offensive,’” Ottawa Citizen, March 3, 1984, https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19840303&id=H68yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Te8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=1472,1208483 -“Nuclear War,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_War_(card_game)
Thanks to Douglas Malewicki for inventing the game and for Flying Buffalo for publishing it!
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this special episode, we venture out of our cozy fallout bunker to watch the 1999 romantic comedy, Blast from the Past.
This is the second in our new series within the podcast -- Mini-Nuke episodes -- where we find movies that do not have enough nuclear nonsense for a full-sized episode but nonetheless demand over analyzation.
Tim and a special guest -- his sister, Diana -- delve into the history and use fallout shelters. Ranging from the overkill shelter in the movie to the more modest versions you'd find in backyards during the Cold War, this episode tells you everything you need to know to protect yourself from radioactive fallout -- just not what to do if you get stuck in one for decades.
Photos of Tim's trip down into a fallout shelter are up on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.545103975696196.1073741829.437574689782459&type=1&l=be98d22e4f
Before your fallout shelter doors automatically lock for 35 years, be sure to check out these sources: -James Daniel, "Survive the Apocalypse in Style," DailyMail, September 6, 2013, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2414497/Most-luxurious-bunker--The-1970s-Cold-War-Era-Home-built-26-feet-underground.html -Eli Segall, "Mysterious group buys underground doomsday house in Las Vegas," VegasInc, April 4, 2014, http://vegasinc.com/news/2014/apr/04/mysterious-group-buys-underground-doomsday-house-l/ -Andrew Taylor, "Underground home was built as Cold War-era hideaway," Review Journal, June 20, 2013, http://www.reviewjournal.com/view/downtown/underground-home-was-built-cold-war-era-hideaway -"Underground Homes," New York World's Fair, 1964, https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidelevine/sets/72157618339078546/with/3539303026/ -Life Magazine, "How You Can Survive Fallout," September 15, 1961, https://books.google.com/books?id=nVQEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=life+magazine+fallout+1961&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiz2eGv7o3PAhVFND4KHS4ZCXcQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q&f=false -F-86 Nuclear Sabre, http://oppositelock.kinja.com/f-86f-nuclear-sabre-215665108 -Janet Maslin, "After Decades in a Bomb Shelter, a Family Learns the Only Fallout Is Social," New York Times, February 12, 1999, http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9406E0DB103AF931A25751C0A96F958260 -"Blast from the Past: Building Elden Underground," CinemaReview, http://www.cinemareview.com/production.asp?prodid=471 -UndergroundBombShelter.com, http://undergroundbombshelter.com/radiation-fallout.htm -Civil Defense Museum, http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/cdmuseum2/shelter.html -David Dunlap, "Civil Defense Logo Dies at 67, and Some Mourn Its Passing," New York Times, December 1, 2006, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/01/washington/01civil.html?_r=0
We aim to have at least one new full-sized episode every month and Mini-Nuke episodes on a regular basis. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, or YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this special episode, we suppress our emotional sides and explore the logic behind the 2016 science fiction adventure movie, Star Trek Beyond. This is the first in our new series within the podcast -- Mini-Nuke episodes -- where we find movies that do not have enough nuclear nonsense for a full-sized episode but nonetheless warrant some over analyzation.
We go into needless detail about Spock's radioactive jewelry gift to Uhura, which also doubles as a handy tracking device. This plot device has real life inspiration in Trinitite or atomsite glass, a glass byproduct of nuclear detonations in the desert that were the latest fashion trend before they started giving people nasty burns.
Before we jump on ebay looking for our own atomic jewelry, be sure to check out these sources: -Dan Carlson, "The Story of Vokaya: Beyond a Fan’s Wildest Dreams," Star Trek Minutiae, July 29, 2016, http://www.st-minutiae.com/cafe/archives/2016/07/vokaya.html -Vokaya, Memory Alpha, http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Vokaya -Mitch Higgins, "Radioactivity of Trinitite," YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fISzSUBkaC8 -Steven L. Kay, "Trinitite Varieties," Nuclearon, http://www.radiochemistry.org/documents/pdf/trinitite_nuclearon_061608.pdf -Nelson Eby et. al., "Trinitite—the atomic rock," Geology Today, Vol 26 no. 5, September/October 2010, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2451.2010.00767.x/abstract -Marion Fasel, "Exclusive: Jewelry Details for Star Trek Beyond," The Adventurine, http://theadventurine.com/culture/movies/exclusive-jewelry-details-for-star-trek-beyond/
Thanks to Martin Pfeiffer (@NuclearAnthro) and Stephen Schwartz (@AtomicAnalyst) for the following sources: -"Atomic Jewelry," The American Horologist magazine, May 1946, http://elgintime.blogspot.com/2014/12/atomic-jewelry.html?m=1 -Jon Michaud, "James Acord, Alchemist for the Nuclear Age," The New Yorker, JANUARY 19, 2011, http://www.newyorker.com/books/double-take/postscript-james-acord-alchemist-for-the-nuclear-age -Advert for 1940s Atomsite Jewelry, https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/da/8e/9f/da8e9ffcd802f6f0b8200a8c9e03c3ac.jpg
We aim to have at least one new full-sized episode every month and Mini-Nuke episodes on a regular basis. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, or YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we maxed out our conference call lines while debating the 1964 drama-thriller movie, Fail-Safe. What happens when you can't recall your own nuclear bombers en route to Moscow? How many air planes can you knock out of the sky with a nuclear bomb? How do you convince your enemy that accidents -- even nuclear ones -- do happen? The podcast hosts and special guest/TCM guru Victoria answer these questions and more.
Before our podcast's phone line melted in a fireball, we recommended reading L. Douglas Keeney, 15 Minutes: General Curtis Lemay and the Countdown to Nuclear Annihilation (St. Martin's Griffin, 2012) and two articles at the National Security Archive (see links below).
Other sources to check out include -- you can also access these links on our SoundCloud page: -William Burr, "The Air Force versus Hollywood," National Security Archive, January 15, 2010, http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb304/index.htm -Christopher Bright, "Cold War Air Defense Relied on Widespread Dispersal of Nuclear Weapons, Documents Show," National Security Archive, November 16, 2010, http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb332/ -Photos of SAC HQ, http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nukevault/gallery/image04.htm, http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nukevault/gallery/image03.htm, http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nukevault/gallery/image02.htm -Steve Weintz, "Dreaming of Genie, America's Anti-Aircraft Nuke," War is Boring, March 2, 2014, https://warisboring.com/dreaming-of-genie-americas-anti-aircraft-nuke-df20fe88facd#.clto29h6f -Bob Raichle, Alaska's Cold War Nuclear Shield," Nike Historical Society, 2012, http://nikemissile.org/ColdWar/AlaskaColdWar/alaska_cold_war.shtml -Richard Oulahan, "Doomsday is Better as a Farce," LIFE, October 30, 1964, https://books.google.com/books?id=o0gEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=true -Ari Schulman, "Doomsday Machines: Fail-Safe was Flop, but Much Smarter about Nuclear War than Dr. Strangelove," Slate, October 7, 2014, http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/10/fail_safe_50th_anniversary_sidney_lumet_s_nuclear_war_movie_is_better_than.html -Sharon Ghamari, Review of Technical Accuracy in Fail-Safe, Strategy Page, https://www.strategypage.com/moviereviews/default.asp?target=Fail%20Safe -"Revisiting Fail-Safe," Fail-Safe Special Edition DVD, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZdz2HXCgig -B-58 Hustler, Federation of American Scientists, May 29, 1997, http://fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/bomber/b-58.htm -Wm. Robert Johnston, MULTIMEGATON WEAPONS: The Largest Nuclear Weapons, April 6, 2009, http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/nuclear/multimeg.html#U1 -Stiletto, Transformers Wiki, http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Stiletto_(BW)
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, or YouTube.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we leave our boring jobs and become Jason Borne Bureaucrats, because we watch the 1997 action-thriller, The Peacemaker. How easy is it to steal a Russian nuclear warhead? What the heck does SS-18 mean? Is it really a good idea to try and stab a plutonium core and smash it with a gun? We answer these questions and more.
Apologies for the audio issues in this episode. We went mobile from our usual podcast studio and we think some of the wires got frayed in the process. The problem was identified and vaporized. There is some great content in this one so hopefully everyone will enjoy it.
Before we jump in the pool to wash off our radioactive debris, we recommend reading Leslie and Andrew Cockburn's One Point Safe (Doubleday, 1997) and John McPhee's The Curve of Binding Energy: A Journey into the Awesome and Alarming World of Theodore B. Taylor (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994). And have fun on NukeMap (http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/)!
Other sources to check out include: -Ben Travers, "Is 'The Peacemaker' George Clooney's Calamity? Not Quite," PopMatters, September 26, 2010 (http://www.popmatters.com/review/131263-the-peacemaker/) -Janet Maslin, "The Cold War Is Back, Nuclear Bombs and All," New York Times, September 26, 1997 (http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E05E4DA1F3BF935A1575AC0A961958260) -Various press clippings on Jessica Stern's website (https://jessicasternbooks.com/about/the-peacemaker/) -Props from the movie (http://www.golive.com.au/action/action-films-1990s/the-peacemaker/nuclear-bomb-prop-from-the-peacemaker) -ABC News, "Secret Government Team Fights to Negate Nuclear Threat," June 11, 2005, (http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/LooseNukes/story?id=1200558&page=1) -Mirage Gold - Official After Action Report (http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb2, February 1995, 67/16.pdf) -Robert Windrem, "Spy Satellites Enter a New Dimension," NBC News, August 8, 1998 (http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3077885/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/spy-satellites-enter-new-dimension/) -Federation of American Scientists, "R-36M / SS-18 SATAN," (http://fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/icbm/r-36m.htm) -Pavel Podvig, "The Window of Vulnerability That Wasn’t," Russian Forces Blog, June 27, 2008 -Raphael Minder, "Even Without Detonation, 4 Hydrogen Bombs From ’66 Scar Spanish Village," New York Times, June 20, 2016
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, Facebook.com/SuperCriticalPodcast, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, or www.youtube.com/channel/UCLkSAcA8FdC0yyLjxVhjWmw.
In this episode, we are still unaware of what the other half of the battle is, but we do know some things about the 2013 action movie, G.I. Joe: Retaliation. How can a villain trick the world into global nuclear disarmament? Does the U.S. military really have plans to steal Pakistan's nuclear weapons? Does The Rock action figure come with a kung-fu grip? We answer these questions and more.
If you don't want to watch the full movie, you can watch these key scenes on YouTube ("Might be a better option than the whole movie."-Tim): -The Atomic Summit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1tGCDeOi2o -Project Zeus Demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlrA-vPOGVQ -Pakistan's Nukes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4UwbdmTQik
Before we parachute out of our exploding helicopter, we recommend reading Richard Garwin's paper on "Space Weapons: Not Yet" presented atPugwash Meeting No. 283 on May 14, 2003 (http://fas.org/rlg/030522-space.pdf)and Jeffrey Goldberg and Marc Ambinder's article on "The Pentagon's Secret Plans to Secure Pakistan's Nuclear Arsenal" in The National Journal from 2011 (http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/the-pentagons-secret-plans-to-secure-pakistans-nuclear-arsenal/)
Other sources to check out include: "The Rock Knew About Osama Bin Laden's Death Before You," The Village Voice, May 2, 2011, http://www.villagevoice.com/news/the-rock-knew-about-osama-bin-ladens-death-before-you-who-knew-what-when-6720191 -Rob Lammie, "Brief History of G.I. Joe American Hero," Mental Floss, July 4, 2015, http://mentalfloss.com/article/62636/history-gi-joe-real-american-hero -"GI Joe Retaliation Tungsten Rod Drop," Reel Physics, May 21, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTYOc8b776E -Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, Q&A Podcast, February 20, 2016, http://www.theqandapodcast.com/2016/02/deadpool-q.html -Eric Adams, "Rods from God," Popular Science, June 1, 2004, http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2004-06/rods-god -Colin Johnston, "Rods from God: A Terrifying Space Weapon?," Astronotes, September 27, 2010, http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/rods-from-god-a-terrifying-space-weapon.html -Space Weapons, Earth Wars, a RAND Study prepared for the USAF in 2002 by Bob Preston, Dana Johnson, Sean Edwards, Michael Miller, Calvin Shipbaugh, www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/p…11/RAND_MR1209.pdf -"Fallout Poster," Civil Defense Museum, http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/artgal/youcan.html -War Plan Red, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Plan_Red
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, Facebook.com/SuperCriticalPodcast, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLkSAcA8FdC0yyLjxVhjWmw.
In the second part of our two part Star Trek marathon, we continue to boldly overanalyze what no one had deemed necessary to overanalyze before: the nuclear nonsense in the fail Star Trek spin-off pilot, Assignment: Earth. Why did countries think it was a good idea to put nuclear weapons in space? What does it look like when a nuke goes off in the vacuum of space? Is it still okay these days to name your cat Isis? With the continued help of our special guest and Star Trek enthusiast Gabe, we answer these questions and more.
Before we attempt a gravitational slingshot maneuver around the sun to travel back in time, we recommended reading Outer Space in World Politics, an edited volume organized by Joseph Goldsen in 1963, especially the chapter by renowned nuclear deterrence scholar, Thomas Schelling, on "The Military Use of Bombardment Satellites." Also, check out Space Weapons, Earth Wars, a RAND Study prepared for the USAF in 2002 by Bob Preston, Dana Johnson, Sean Edwards, Michael Miller, Calvin Shipbaugh, http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monograph_reports/2011/RAND_MR1209.pdf.
Other sources to check out include: -Space Nuclear Weapon Test, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKvvrNrCOnw -Space Nuclear Weapon Detonation EMP Electromagnetic Pulse, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpTvqLfvLKU -The Unexpected Effects of Nukes in Space, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRhStl7SQnM -Minuteman 1 ICBM Air Launch, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It7SQ546xRk -ICBM Basing Modes, ArmsControlWonk, June 12, 2012, http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/205397/icbm-basing-modes/ -Robert Richardson, "Rocket Blitz From the Moon," Collier's Weekly, October 28, 1948, https://www.unz.org/Pub/Colliers-1948oct23-00024
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, Facebook, GooglePlay, YouTube, or SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com.
In this episode, we boldly overanalyzed what no one had deemed necessary to overanalyze before: the nuclear nonsense in the acclaimed Star Trek episode, The City on the Edge of Forever. How close was Nazi Germany to actually building an atomic bomb? Could one person convince America to stay out of WWII? Will Captain James T. Kirk ever catch a break in his love life? With the help of our special guest and Star Trek enthusiast Gabe, we answer these questions and more.
Before we beam back aboard the Enterprise, we recommended reading Jeremy Bernstein’s called Hitler’s Uranium Club: The Secret Recordings at Farm Hall (Copernicus Books, New York, 2001) and Mark Walker German National Socialism and the Quest for Nuclear Power (Cambridge University Press, New York, 1989).
Other sources to check out include: -James Tiberius Kirk, "Khaaaaannn!," Captain's Log, The Year 2285, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRnSnfiUI54 -Mark Walker, “Nazi’s and the Bomb,” NOVA, November 8, 2015, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/nazis-and-the-bomb.html -Klaus Wiegrefe, “The Third Reich: How Close Was Hitler to the A-Bomb?” Spiegel, March 14, 2015, http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/the-third-reich-how-close-was-hitler-to-the-a-bomb-a-346293.html
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, Facebook, iTunes, GooglePlay, YouTube, or SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com.
In this episode, we eject from our aircraft and land on John Woo's 1996 slow-motion action opera, Broken Arrow. What happens when a disgruntled Air Force pilot decides to steal from his employer? Does an underground nuclear explosion set off an EMP? Is it really that easy for nuclear bombs to fall out of airplanes? We answer these questions and more.
Before we find the nukes we are looking for, we recommend reading Dr. Stephen Younger's The Bomb: A History (HarperCollins, 2009) and James Mahaffey's Atomic Accidents: A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters, (Pegasus, 2014).
Other sources to check out include : -Footage of underground nuclear tests: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSjratvNGmo -USSR Gas Well Blow Out = Nuclear Bomb Puts Out the Fire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iB9QYaSVEo -Rob Coppinger, "NASA plans 'Armageddon' spacecraft to blast asteroid," FlightGlobal, August 3, 2007 -William Broad and David Sanger, "As U.S. Modernizes Nuclear Weapons, ‘Smaller’ Leaves Some Uneasy," The New York Times, January 11, 2016 -Ed Pilkington, "US nearly detonated atomic bomb over North Carolina – secret document," The Guardian UK, September 20, 2013 -William Broad, "Nuclear Option on Gulf Oil Spill? No Way, U.S. Says," The New York Times, June 2, 2010 -Tom Harris, "The Nuclear EMP Threat," How Stuff Works -Review of Broken Arrow, Entertainment Weekly, February 16, 1996
We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, iTunes, Facebook, GooglePlay, YouTube, or SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com.
In this episode, we play a nice game of chess. After five minutes of that, we put on the 1983 Cold War movie and techno-horror story, WarGames. Can a country "win" a nuclear war? Could a faulty computer actually lead to WWIII? How did ICBM silo missileers keep themselves occupied before there were portable DVD players? We answer these questions and more.
Before we go back to DEFCON 5, we recommend reading Eric Schlosser's Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety (Penguin Books, 2014). Other sources to check out include : -"WarGames: A Look Back at the Film that Turned Geeks and Phreaks into Stars," Wired, July 21, 2008 -"In Nuclear Silos, Death Wears a Snuggie," Wired, January 14, 2011 -"A Year Later: Responding to Problems in the ICBM Force," The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, February 12, 2015 -"The Reagan Presidency: Every Night at the Movies," Los Angeles Times, April 28, 1991
We aim to have a new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, Facebook.com/SuperCriticalPodcast, or SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com.
In this episode, our mission -- we chose to accept -- is to talk about the nuclear nonsense in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Can you nuke a city to save a city? Why is there always an "abort the launch" button? Would the Nuclear Football deflate if it is in Siberia? We answer these questions and more.
Before the podcast self-destructed, we recommended Bruce Blair's The Logic of Accidental Nuclear War (Brookings, 1993) and Alexi Arbatov's The Equation of Security (2000). Other sources to check out: -"The Russian Nuclear Button," Foreign Policy, May 27, 2010 -"Adventures of the 'Nuclear Briefcase,'" Strategic Insights, Vol. III no. 9, September 2004 -"Cold War Doctrines Refuse to Die," Washington Post, March 15, 1998
We aim to have a new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, Facebook.com/SuperCriticalPodcast, or SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com.
[For new listeners starting the podcast at episode #1, welcome! Also, I promise that the audio quality improves once we get better equipment and learn how to do this right!]
In this first episode of our podcast, we go undercover with the 1994 action spy comedy (masterpiece?) True Lies. What does this movie tell us about nuclear terrorism? Can a nuclear warhead really be confused for a snow cone maker? Why wasn't Tom Arnold at least considered to play the new James Bond? We explore these questions and more.
Books recommend in this episode: On Nuclear Terrorism by Michael Levi (Harvard Press, 2007), Atomic Obsession by John Mueller (Oxford Press, 2012), and Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe by Graham T. Allison (Holt, 2005).
We aim to have a new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, Facebook.com/SuperCriticalPodcast, or SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com.