The Cold War - Nuclear Fear | 3
American History Tellers
Audible
4.6 • 19K Ratings
🗓️ 3 January 2018
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What is the United States to do when direct conflict with the Soviet Union promises almost certain annihilation? They turned to proxy wars and psychological warfare with the threat of nuclear weapons keeping both countries in check. Ever wondered how an atom bomb works? We’ll cover it in Episode 3 including the scientific concepts, the arms race and the problem of ensuring complete and absolute control over these weapons.
For more information on the subjects and themes discussed in the episode, see the book “Raven’s Rock” by Garrett Graff. It goes into great detail about the secret plans our government made to ride out a nuclear holocaust.
Eric Schlosser’s “Command and Control” examines the ways the nuclear arsenal was required to function at 100% — and what happened the few times it didn’t.
“Command and Control” was also made into a riveting documentary film.
Finally, Audra Wolfe’s book, “Competing with the Soviets,” was crucial to our overall understanding of the Cold War.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, prime members, you can listen to American History Tellers add free on Amazon music, download the app today. |
| 0:15.0 | Imagine that it's Wednesday, October 24th, 1962. It's early evening and dark. |
| 0:23.0 | Your commute to the suburbs feels longer this time of year, especially tonight. |
| 0:28.0 | Your radio is broken and your desperate to get home to catch up on the news. |
| 0:32.0 | Client meetings all day, while the nation's on the brink of war. |
| 0:36.0 | Martini Ford, you make it a double. |
| 0:39.0 | You head to the living room and flip on the TV. You're both eager and anxious to see the news. |
| 0:44.0 | Two nights ago, the entire country learned from President Kennedy that the Soviet Union had placed missiles in Cuba. |
| 0:51.0 | Nuclear missiles, and they could reach the United States in minutes. |
| 0:54.0 | In response, Kennedy said, the United States was establishing a naval quarantine around the island. |
| 1:01.0 | And the Soviets had announced that they would run the blockade. |
| 1:04.0 | Today, no one knows what's going to happen. |
| 1:07.0 | This is a special report from CBS News. |
| 1:11.0 | Good evening, this is Walter Cronkite. |
| 1:14.0 | It's CBS News headquarters in New York. |
| 1:16.0 | That's it's beginning. This day looked as though it might be one of armed conflict. |
| 1:21.0 | The tension, the real threat of nuclear war, feels like a physical presence. |
| 1:27.0 | You can feel it in your neck, in your shoulders, and has a gnawing pain in your gut. |
| 1:32.0 | Your family joins you on the couch in hopes that the most trusted voice on television has reassuring news. |
| 1:38.0 | The good news? The United Nations has a plan to de-escalate the crisis. |
| 1:43.0 | But CBS correspondence in Washington, New York, and the Pentagon suggest this crisis in Cuba cannot be confined to the Caribbean. |
| 1:51.0 | Last year, the Soviets put up a wall separating West Berlin from the rest of Soviet occupied East Berlin. |
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