About this episode

This episode discusses the Chernobyl disaster, its implications, and features an interview with 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
• nuclear disarmament

Keywords

• Chernobyl
• nuclear disaster
• radiation release
• Soviet system
• Ukraine
• nuclear security
• Mariana Budjeryn

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

More episodes of History As It Happens

• Where's Russia? · April 24, 2026 · 42 min
• What is Greater Israel? · April 21, 2026 · 50 min
• Giulio Douhet's Kind of War · April 17, 2026 · 36 min
• Bonus Ep! Goodbye, Orbán · April 15, 2026 · 5 min
• American Suez · April 14, 2026 · 57 min
• Martyrs and Survivors: The Iran-Iraq War · April 10, 2026 · 52 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the History As It Happens podcast page.