Episode 26: The Bomb Is Back!
Terminator 2: Judgment Day. We need Sarah Connor more than ever!
Back during the Cold War era, we were awash in stories about nuclear armageddon: either living through it, or trying to prevent it. And now, experts say the threat of nuclear holocaust is the worst it's been in over two decades. So how will pop culture respond? We talk about what a 21st century nuclear-war story might look like.
Citations, notes, etc.
"Pop Culture Is No Longer Full of Apocalyptic Nuclear Visions. That's Too Bad" (article in Washington Post by Charlie Jane Anders)
Jericho (TV series)
Fallout (video game series)
Godzilla (movie series)
Them! (1954 movie)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 movie)
Tom Lehrer (musician, comedian, mathematician)
“So Long Mom (A Song For World War III)” by Tom Lehrer
Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964 movie)
The Doomsday Clock at the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
“2 Minutes to Midnight” (Iron Maiden song)
“Trump Administration withdraws from nuclear weapons treaty” (USA Today)
“US nuclear weapons: first low-yield warheads roll off the production line” (The Guardian)
“Trump’s troubling nuclear plan” (Foreign Affairs)
The Interview (2014 movie)
On the Beach by Nevil Shute (1957 novel)
On the Beach (1959 movie)
The Terminator (1984 movie)
The Day After (1983 TV movie)
War Games (1983 movie)
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981 movie)
Real Genius (1985 movie)
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (1963 novel)
Hiroshima by John Hershey (1946 book)
Barefoot Gen by Keiji Nakazawa (manga)
Barefoot Gen (1983 anime film)
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) (organization)
The Strategic Defense Initiative, aka Star Wars
Prince (musician)
“Purple Rain” by Prince (song)
“1999” by Prince (song)
“War and Social Upheaval Cause Spikes in Zombie Movie Production” (article in io9 by Annalee Newitz)
Omega Man (1971 movie)
“Nuclear famine: climate effects of regional nuclear war” (article in International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War)
Battlestar Galactica (2003 miniseries)
The Americans (TV series)
“Google employee protest: Now Google backs off Pentagon drone AI project” (article in ZDNet)
Leigh Honeywell (activist)
The Peace War by Vernor Vinge (1984 novel)
“Nights Like This” by Kehlani feat. Ty Dolla $ign (music video)
Teknolust (2002 movie)
“Researchers spy signs of slavery from space” (article in Science)