Super Critical Podcast - Overthinking Nuclear Pop Culture

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