The Day the World Almost Ended

About this episode

The episode explores how a misunderstanding during the Cold War nearly led to nuclear conflict.

Send us Fan Mail What if the end of the world wouldn’t begin with a decision… but with a misunderstanding? In Drawn to the Stars, a single moment of uncertainty triggers a chain reaction that leads to nuclear war. It’s fiction—but it may be closer to reality than we’d like to admit. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union came dangerously close to nuclear conflict more than once. Not always because of aggression—but because of fear, miscommunication, and systems that wer...

People in this episode

Host: Nathan Olli

Topics covered

• nuclear war
• miscommunication
• Cold War
• fear
• fiction
• history

Keywords

• nuclear conflict
• misunderstanding
• Cold War
• fear
• miscommunication
• Drawn to the Stars

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: United States, Soviet Union

Books & works: Drawn to the Stars

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