Super Critical Podcast - Overthinking Nuclear Pop Culture

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 Secre

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,

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/

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 Yor

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 th

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.

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.