Does Fear Sell? The Limits of Scare Tactics in Nuke Movies

Van (the lesser half of the Bang-Bang Podcast) also hosts another show called The Un-Diplomatic Podcast. While there’s not normally a lot of crossover between the two, in the latest episode, Van spoke with anti-nuke expert Emma Claire Foley, who has an essay out about Trump-era nuke stuff in The Baffler magazine.

In the above short clip from that episode, they talk about the role of film and pop culture in raising critical consciousness about the danger of nuclear weapons. Convincing audiences that nuclear war can happen, or scaring audiences about how bad nuclear war could be, might not be as productive as we all long assumed.

Short clip above, full video episode below. The audio is wherever you get podcasts. Bang-Bang!