116: "The Day After"; Or, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, M.A.D. World

Apr 2 2024 • 59 mins

We all get mad about things sometimes, and during the Cold War, the U.S. government was mad about “M.A.D.”. That’s because “M.A.D.” “Mutually Assured Destruction” - was a global concern on everyone’s mind. And the fear that foreign countries (/cough/** Russia cough) would use nuclear weapons wasn’t only causing chaos in the Oval Office. Hollywood and TV studios were just as interested in it, because where there’s fear, there’s an audience. And one studio - and one movie in particular - took that fear of nuclear engagement and decided to make a movie that showed exactly how horrible things could get if those missiles started flying.

Rob teaches Ray and Daniel about the 1983 T.V. movie “The Day After,” which depicted the immediate and devastating fallout of a nuclear war; how Nicholas Meyer, the movie’s director, went behind ABC’s back in order to make film as realistic, and realistically graphic, it would be in reality; why Ronald Reagan himself said the movie made him “greatly depressed”; the fact that “The Day After” may have played a role in ending the Cold War; and how pieces of art and media, even if they’re fictional, have the power to change global politics.

If you like what we’re doing, please support us on Patreon, or you can subscribe to our bonus content on Apple Podcasts. And we’d love to find even more listeners, so if you have time, please leave us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you have any other thoughts or feedback you’d like to share with us, we’d love to hear from you - feel free to email us or send us a message on social media.