EP49: An Interview with John McEuen

Recently, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the minute hand of the "Doomsday Clock" to 90 seconds to midnight. Since 1947, the clock has been a symbol of existential dread. But has it outlived its purpose?

This is a short one. It's a show update for the new YouTube series on the alternate end of the Cuban Missile Crisis on this 60th Anniversary. And a little speculation on how things might have been. I have lots to share on the new channel https://www.youtube.com/@coldwarvault  The new series is just a start. Come see what I'm building there and subscribe.  And come to Patreon.com/coldwarvault for more material, early releases and a direct line to my ear.  --DJ

The final installment of the series on cinema of nuclear war brings us to the uncertain world of the "aftermath." From immediate effects to decades after, who knows what the world after a nuclear war will be like? Movies of the Cold War have made an attempt to figure it out. 

In the third episode of this series of nuclear war on film, we look at the moment the missiles land and how it was depicted through the decades of the Cold War--from survival to hopeless destuction.

This is the second part of a series about the films of the Cold War. This time we go beyond escalation to launching the war. What kinds of glitches and mistakes might have caused the balloon to go up and how it was represented in the movies.

In this series we'll break down the greatest films of the Cold War and see each phase of a conflict through the lens of the movies. The first episode is "escalation." What do films have to say about the period leading up to the war? What lessons can be learned about the fears of the public and the intentions of the filmmakers? This is episode 1 of a four part series. 

We start with whales and end with aliens on this episode of the Cold War Vault. By exploring geophysicist Maurice Ewing's contributions to the national defense in submarine warfare, we will go on a journey that takes us to the darkest depths, to Roswell, New Mexico, and on to other unsolved mysteries of the skies and the seas.

John McEuen was a founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and in 1977 was invited on a musical tour of the Soviet Union. On this episode, John McEuen recounts some stories about the tour and thoughts on what the Soviet Union was like in those days.

Recently uncovered documents reveal how close the 1958 Taiwan Crisis came to going nuclear. Important context to have in the current world.

An interview with author Ann Hagedorn about an early Cold War espionage ring and the American-born spy who escaped to the Soviet Union--but only after stealing secrets from the Manhattan Project. Sleeper Agent by Ann Hagedorn was released on 20 July 2021.