Super Critical Podcast Tim Westmyer

In this episode, we were convinced by J. Robert Oppenheimer’s elevator pitch to join the Manhattan Project so we watched the movie Oppenheimer (2023). How well did Christopher Nolan capture the life and tribulations of the “father of the atomic bomb?” Does the movie blend the mix of history, science, and international drama in an entertaining way to stay in your seat for three hours? Is this the biggest nuclear war movie of our lifetimes – for those born after 1964 at least? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast), co-host James Sheehan (@JSheehanDC), and special guest Dr. Justin Anderson (@Atomic_Chess) answer these questions and more.

Before we pack our bags to camp out in the New Mexico desert for an indeterminate amount of time, we recommend:
• Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, 2005
• Steve Sheinkin, Bomb (Graphic Novel), 2023
• Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, Trinity: A Graphic Novel of the History of the First Atomic Bomb, 2012
• Gregg Herkin, Brotherhood of the Bomb: The Tangled Lives and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller, 2002
• Oppenheimer (1980 TV mini-series)
• The Social Network (2010 movie)
• The Imitation Game (2014 movie)
• Widespread Annihilation (game card), Flesh and Blood tabletop game (Dusk Till Dawn edition)
• Los Alamos National Laboratory, “Plutonium and poetry: Where Trinity and Oppenheimer's reading habits met,” (Recommendations from Oppenheimer for further reading), July 14, 2021

Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter/X @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.

Enjoy!

In this episode, we gassed up our Landmaster 16-wheeled RV and hit the open roads to the drive-in theater to watch Damnation Alley (1977). How did this post-nuclear war road trip movie challenge its characters with radioactive landscapes and killer cockroaches. Why did Jan Michael Vincent call all the nuclear ICBMs to launch? What would you do if the CD player on your RV breaks halfway thru your half-life road trip? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast), co-host James Sheehan (@JSheehanDC), and special guest Dr. Natasha Bajema (@WMDGirl) answer these questions and more.

Full movie (link working as of July 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4eIKx2LEPU

Before our RV converted to a boat in Detroit, we recommend:
• Natasha Bajema, Rescind Order: A Highly Suspenseful Technothriller About Nuclear Weapons and Artificial Intelligence, 2020 book
• natashabajema.com
• RadioactiveRoadTrippinRR, YouTube channel
• John Noonan, “In Nuclear Silos, Death Wears a Snuggie,” Wired, January 14, 2011
• The Day the Earth Caught Fire, 1961 movie
• Thunder in Paradise, 1994 TV show
• Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka, WarDay, 1984 book
• Nitty Gritty Band rendition of Will the Circle Be Unbroken
• Magic the Gathering, Armageddon card

Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.

Enjoy!

In this episode, we count our blessings we survived a nuclear war long enough to watch the movie Five (1951) about a small group of people trying to rebuild civilization after radioactive fallout kills everyone else. This is the first movie showing a post-nuclear war story, so how did it do? Did it accurately portray radiation sickness or nuclear war dynamics? What did the five fingers say to the Red Button (spoiler: it is “slap!”)? Tim Westmyer (@Westmyer) and James Sheehan (@JSheehanDC) answer these questions and more.

Before we harvested our atomic cornfields, we recommend:
-The Last Man on Earth (TV series)
-There Will Be Blood (2007 Movie)
-Six String Samurai (1998 Movie)
-Mad Max: Fury Road (2015 Movie)
-12 Angry Men (1957 Movie)
-How To Blow Up a Pipeline (2022 Movie)
-On the Beach (1959 Movie)

Enjoy!

In this episode, we took in a double feature of The Core (2003) and Sunshine (2007), a pair of movies where nuclear weapons are deployed to locations far away from the Earth’s surface to save humanity. How could nukes respin the Earth’s core or reignite the sun? How does the role of “nukes as heroes” jive with the usual “nukes, aren’t those the baddies?” themes? Why does Cillian Murphy keep getting typecast as “tortured inventor of a weapon of mass destruction”: Robert Capa, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Scarecrow? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and new co-host James Sheehan (@jsheehandc) answer these questions and more.

Before we leave the safety of Virgil’s atomic drill train, we recommend:
-David Kagan, Sunstroke, 1993 book
-Aniara (2018 movie)
-Theodore Shabad, “Soviet Union Discloses Nuclear Blast that Put Out Fire in Gas Field,” New York Times, December 12, 1971
-Blank Check Podcast - Sunshine
-Ad Astra (2019 movie)
-Trainspotting (1996 movie)

We also recommend checking out:
Anthony Kaufman, “Separating the Science from the Fiction in Sunshine,” Sloan Science and Film, November 15, 2007
Jon O’Brien, “ 15 Years Ago, Danny Boyle Made the Most Scientific Space Thriller Ever,” Inverse, July 18, 2022
Marcus Chown, “Review: Sunshine,” New Scientist, April 3, 2007
“Actor Dustin Hoffman Lobbies for More Reality in Science-Fiction Movies,” News.com.au, March 30, 2009
Michelle Ealey, “Did the Movie ‘The Core’ Get Anything Right?,” ScienceFiction.com, February 13, 2012
Elmear Dodd, “Bad Science: The Core at 15,” HeadStuff, March 21, 2018

Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.

Enjoy!

In this episode, our phones were blowing up with alerts to watch Blowing Up Right Now (2019), a romantic comedy about a couple on the rocks forced to shelter in place during a nuclear missile crisis. How does the plot mirror the real life nuclear missile false alarm Hawaiian citizens experienced in 2018? How does a nuclear war crisis look to the average person who can only get information from cable news and Twitter? What nuclear survival tips can we learn after 5 seconds of time on Google (asking for a panicked friend)? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and co-host Gabe answer these questions and more.

Before we hunkered down inside our pillow fort fallout bunker, we recommend:
• Danny Jolles, You Choose: The Full Interactive Comedy Special from Danny Jolles, Don’t Tell Comedy, YouTube, 2022
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004 Movie)
• False Alarm (2021 Documentary)
• Daryll Kimball, “Nuclear False Warnings and the Risk of Catastrophe,” Arms Control Association, March 16, 2020
• “Ladybug Ladybug,” Super Critical Podcast, Episode #21, 2018

Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.

Enjoy!

In this episode, we were fresh out of hydrogen so we need to watch Chain Reaction (1996) to learn how to make some more. How does this Cold Fusion adjacent movie draw on nuclear themes for its plot? Does the subplot about our heroes being framed as spies for China stealing national secrets have parallels to real life events? Did Evel Kinevil ever jump his stunt bike over a mushroom cloud? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and returning special guest Kevin answer these questions and more.

Before we powered the city of Chicago with our Nalgene bottle, we recommend:
-The Fugitive (1993 movie)
-The Saint (1997 movie)
-Gary Taubes, Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion, 1993
-Eduro Life Media, “Impossible Climb Andler 2019 – Dirt Bike Graveyard – Hill Climb,” YouTube
-David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, 2017

We also recommend checking out:
• Josh Friedman, “I’m Your Friend, Eddie,” I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing (Blog), August 24, 2005
• Free Energy Suppression Conspiracy Theory, Wikipedia
• Beth Laski, “Reeves, Davis Ring Up ‘Dead’ Cash,” Variety, January 8, 1995
• Tim Prokop, “Causing a Chain Reaction,” Movie (Aus), January/February 1997
• William J. Broad, “Spies vs. Sweat: The Debate Over China’s Nuclear Advance,” New York Times, September 7, 1999

Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, Spotify, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube.

Enjoy!