In this episode, we followed chirping sounds in the desert and discovered GIANT RADIOACTIVE ANTS in the movie THEM! (1954). What happens to insects exposed to radiation in the real world? How did nuclear testing and atomic monster movies change public opinion on nuclear weapons? Where was Ant-man when the people Alamogordo needed him to calm these killer atomic ants? Tim Westmyer and returning special guest Tim Collins (@WarAndCake), PhD candidate studying British nuclear history, answer these questions and more.
Before we nuke more insects to see what happens, we recommend checking out:
- Jonathan Schell, The Fate of the Earth, 1982
- Barry Atkinson, Atomic Age Cinema: The Offbeat, the Classic and the Obscure, 2018
- Spencer Weart, The Rise of Nuclear Fear, 2012
- Richa Malhotra, “Ants Trapped in Nuclear Bunker are Developing Their Own Society,” NewScientist, September 5, 2016
- Gerard J. DeGroot, The Bomb: A Life, 2006
- Richard Rhodes, Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb, 1996
- Godzilla (1954 movie)
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