The Movie That Scared Ronald Reagan Into Nuclear Détente

Angry Planet

Matthew Gault

War, Politics, Conflict, Government, History, News

4.3 • 882 Ratings

🗓️ 4 December 2023

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Forty years ago, a made for TV movie aired on ABC that changed the world. It was called The Day After, and it depicted life in Kansas and Missouri after a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union. More than 100 million people watched it when it aired. One of them was president Ronald Reagan.

“I ran the tape of the movie ABC is running on the air Nov. 20. It’s called “The Day After.” It has Lawrence Kansas wiped out in a nuclear war with Russia. It is powerfully done—all $7 mil. worth. It’s very effective & left me greatly depressed,” he wrote in his diary after watching an early screening in 1983. “So far they haven’t sold any of the 25 spot ads scheduled & I can see why. Whether it will be of help to the ‘anti nukes’ or not, I cant say. My own reaction was one of our having to do all we can to have a deterrent & to see there is never a nuclear war.”

This week on Angry Planet, we talk with David Craig about his new book Apocalypse Television: How the Day After Helped End the Cold War. More than just a “making-of” story, Craig’s book is a reminder of the transcendent power of art to change the world.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Love this podcast.
0:02.0	Support this show through the A-Cast supporter feature.
0:05.0	It's up to you how much you give and there's no regular commitment.
0:09.0	Just click the link in the show description to support now.
0:19.2	So this is the danger of having a conversation at 3 p.m. the day before Thanksgiving, right? Hey, this is what I'm at my best. I can't speak for the rest of you guys.
0:25.0	Well I'm just excited about the holidays coming up so I can actually get the work done that I needed to do during my weekdays.
0:31.0	It's been that kind of year. There's a meme going around that says
0:36.0	growing up means convincing yourself that next week it'll get easier.
0:39.7	I like the one where it's just like a stick figure and he's like I just need to get through this week.
0:47.4	I just need to get through this week as this big cloud just keeps growing and growing. And you know know you get to next week and it's it's never better.
0:57.6	Well a big cloud growing and growing sounds like a transition to me.
1:01.2	Yes! What a lovely segue can you introduce yourself to the people. like a transition to me. Yes.
1:02.6	What a lovely segue.
1:03.6	Can you introduce yourself to the people and tell us about the book we are here to discuss?
1:08.0	My name is David Craig.
1:10.4	I'm a clinical professor at USC and the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
1:15.0	I'm a visiting scholar right now at Harvard and the Berkman-Kline Center and the Institute for Rebooting Social
1:21.0	Media, and I'm the author of Apocalypse Television how the day after
1:26.3	helped end the Cold War.
1:28.0	Fantastic. Oh by the way I'm Jason Fields if I remember right and Matthew Galt is the other guy you're on the mic.
1:35.6	They know who we are at this point.
1:37.2	So I love you you kind of you blind me. I think after seeing some of the other one of the other things I'd written about in Vice and I was so excited I didn't know this book existed and I was so excited to get a copy of it because this is one of my favorite favorite
	...

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