TEOTWAWKI 1, Nuclear Weapons II: In The Shadow of the Bomb

Vasili Arkhipov. Stanislav Petrov. Are the names familiar? They
should be: these people saved the world by refusing to use
nuclear weapons under incredible circumstances of extraordinary
pressure.

Even if you trust every head of state in every country that has
nuclear weapons - and even if you feel confident that all future
heads-of-state in nuclear-armed countries can also be trusted -
there's still the possibility of nuclear accidents. Over time,
this possibility becomes a probability. One of the scariest
things about nukes is the number of times our species has almost
annihilated itself by accident.

We discuss these accidents, and more, in this episode. What's
life like for a species living in the shadow of the bomb?

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