UNLOCKED: Coping in the New Age of Nuclear Anxiety
Angry Planet17 Mar 2022

UNLOCKED: Coping in the New Age of Nuclear Anxiety

Russia is at war with Ukraine and Vladimir Putin is making vague nuclear threats. Both Russian and U.S. officials are, mostly, trying to dial things down. A Russian defense official said they don’t have their hands on the button and the Pentagon said it had canceled the test of a Minuteman missile. And yet … days later the U.S. head of Strategic Command said America needed to modernize its nuclear forces and reminded everyone that the test had been postponed and not canceled.


If all this is leaving you a bit anxious about the possibility of nuclear war, you’re not alone. To be clear, the possibility of nuclear war is still damn low … but that doesn’t always make the anxiety go away. Something that has always helped me deal with the threat of nuclear hellfire … is pop culture.


That’s what we’re gonna talk about today.


Here to help me with that is Jacqueline Bryk. Bryk is an analog Roleplaying Game personality, a nuclear policy dilettante, and a nuke wonk gadfly. She’s the writer of many fine games including the Ten Candles hack, Nuke: “A simple, stark game about slowly dying in a city hit by a nuclear weapon.”


Angry Planet has a substack! Join the Information War to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.


https://angryplanet.substack.com/subscribe


You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(494)

Will there be war in the South China Sea?

Will there be war in the South China Sea?

If you’re looking for a place on the globe likely to spark a world war, you could do worse than the South China Sea. The United States, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan all have claim...

20 Mai 201627min

Meet the women who went in with the Navy SEALs in Afghanistan

Meet the women who went in with the Navy SEALs in Afghanistan

It was just this year that U.S. women were officially allowed in combat roles. That’s officially. But in Afghanistan, American women were on the front lines on night raids with commandos, including th...

12 Mai 201626min

What makes Vladimir Putin so special?

What makes Vladimir Putin so special?

An economy in deep trouble. A scandal involving billions in off-shore bank accounts and shell companies. Seemingly endless military entanglements. Sounds like a recipe to bring down any world leader. ...

29 Apr 201630min

Like video games? You may be playing with government propaganda.

Like video games? You may be playing with government propaganda.

Video games are an industry worth tens of billions of dollars. Games make more money than Hollywood and the music industry combined. Video games can be great fun and even great art, but they can also ...

21 Apr 201624min

Who was pulling the strings when Ukraine unraveled?

Who was pulling the strings when Ukraine unraveled?

When Ukraine pulled itself apart in 2014, the world was confused over who was doing the pulling. Was the takeover of Luhansk, Donetsk and other regional capitals all part of a Russian plan, or a local...

14 Apr 201624min

Why the F-35 may not stink

Why the F-35 may not stink

This week on War College we're diving into the weeds on how weapons systems come into existence. Andrea Shalal, Reuters’ longtime aerospace correspondent, takes us through the steps. She also gives a ...

7 Apr 201630min

He had bin Laden in his sights, but no trigger to pull

He had bin Laden in his sights, but no trigger to pull

Just months before the Sept. 11 attacks, Scott Swanson was piloting an early version of the Predator drone over Afghanistan. Swanson and his team were looking for Osama bin Laden and it looked like th...

29 Mar 201634min

Caught in a draft: Where military service can last forever

Caught in a draft: Where military service can last forever

This week on War College, we’re talking about a secretive nation where everyone serves in the military – and not just for a year or two. In fact, once you get pulled into service in Eritrea, you could...

17 Mar 201633min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
i-retten
forklart
popradet
stopp-verden
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
det-store-bildet
fotballpodden-2
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-gukild-johaug
nokon-ma-ga
hanna-de-heldige
rss-ness
aftenbla-bla
e24-podden
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk