Super Critical Podcast

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!