About this episode
This episode discusses the Chernobyl disaster, its implications, and features guest Mariana Budjeryn.
Subscribe now for early access, ad-free listening, and bonus content! In late April 1986, what should have been a routine test at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northeastern Ukraine turned into an epic disaster, the largest ever accidental release of deadly radiation. It contaminated the earth, exposed the rot in the Soviet system, and changed the course of history. To this day, Chernobyl is not only a place on a map. It's a symbol of death, destruction, and the terrible legacy of the USSR. Mariana Budjeryn is our guest. Mariana Budjeryn is a senior researcher with the Center for Nuclear Security Policy at MIT's Security Studies Program. She is the author of Inheriting the Bomb: The Collapse of the USSR and the Nuclear Disarmament of Ukraine . Further listening: When Ukraine Had Nukes w/ Mariana Budjeryn
People in this episode
Host: Martin Di Caro
Guest: Mariana Budjeryn
Topics covered
- Chernobyl disaster
- Soviet Union
- nuclear power
- radiation
- history
- Ukraine
Keywords
- Chernobyl
- nuclear disaster
- radiation release
- Soviet system
- Ukraine
- Mariana Budjeryn
- nuclear security
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Center for Nuclear Security Policy, MIT's Security Studies Program
Books & works: Inheriting the Bomb: The Collapse of the USSR and the Nuclear Disarmament of Ukraine
Places: Ukraine, Chernobyl
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