please set me up the bomb
October 30, 2011 9:43 AM

Syllabus prep: Looking for pop culture artifacts (both U.S. and transpacific) centered around the nuclear bomb that *aren't* science fictional in nature.

The years of the course cover any decade of the Cold War and post-Cold War cultural milieu. Science fiction and fantasy is already well-covered, but I'm interested in including texts from other genres as well. Espionage, government procedural, and police procedural suggestions would be very welcome; bonus points for more exotic genres like romances, westerns, family melodrama, children's programming...

I already know about Atomic Cafe and will be showing that very early in the semester; Dr. Strangelove and Fail-Safe are also on the list for sure. The second and sixth seasons of 24 just occurred to me while I was writing this question as something that might be worth mentioning at the tail end of the course to exemplify the post-9/11 culture of the bomb. Most of the best texts I can think of for the weeks between are science fictional to one extent or another, but I'd really like a little more generic variety than I seem to be generating right now.

Thanks for anything you can think of!
posted by gerryblog to Education (22 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
In the memoir The Basketball Diaries. Jim Carroll writes a lot about the residual atom bomb paranoia his generation grew up with.
posted by hermitosis at 9:51 AM on October 30, 2011


If music's OK, the one album that I recall as being absolutely saturated with (specifically Reagan era) Cold War fear was U2's War (I remember sitting in my best friend's bedroom at the age of 14 listening to it and tearfully discussing, in all seriousness, what our chances were that we would live to graduate from college or whether Reagan was going to get us all killed). The song that addresses this most directly is "Seconds," but it's really the pervasive mood of much of the album.
posted by scody at 9:57 AM on October 30, 2011




how about the film many attribute to ending the cold war: the day after.
posted by sexyrobot at 10:03 AM on October 30, 2011


Frederick Wiseman's Missile
"MISSILE follows the 4315th Training Squadron of the Strategic Air Command at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where Air Force officers are trained to man the Launch Control Centers for the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Sequences include discussion of the moral and military issues of nuclear war; the arming, targeting and launching of the missile; codes; communications; protection against terrorist attack; emergency procedures; staff meetings and tutorial sessions."


Wiseman's observational style isn't always accessible to people much younger than I am--they seem to think he's boring, which I think is sad.
posted by Ideefixe at 10:18 AM on October 30, 2011


This is a good collection of 40-50s atomic bomb related songs.
posted by chrisulonic at 10:22 AM on October 30, 2011


With God on Our Side, by Dylan.
posted by Logophiliac at 10:35 AM on October 30, 2011


Since you asked about children's media, I immediately thought of Dr. Seuss' The Butter Battle Book. You might also take a look at Wikipedia's Nuclear weapons in popular culture article to see if anything is appropriate.
posted by RichardP at 10:56 AM on October 30, 2011


The Richland High School Bombers. The school sports logo is a B-17 with a mushroom cloud in the background.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:02 AM on October 30, 2011


Oh, of course, The Butter Battle Book! That's an awesome suggestion.

The others have been great too, this is very helpful...
posted by gerryblog at 11:16 AM on October 30, 2011


On The Beach (book) (movie)
posted by burden at 11:43 AM on October 30, 2011


http://www.amazon.com/Like-Atom-Bomb-Various-Artists/dp/B00019FWF8 this set also has some great linear notes, and http://www.amazon.ca/Atomic-Platters-Golden-Homeland-Security/dp/tracks/B000A5HJ86 this one is just iconic.
posted by PinkMoose at 12:20 PM on October 30, 2011


Moose by Michael Foreman is a children's book that may fit your needs.
posted by bq at 1:08 PM on October 30, 2011


Elaine Tyler May's Homeward Bound has an interesting discussion of ways in which the threat of women's uncontrolled sexuality was likened to the threat of nuclear war - specifically though artifacts like the bikini (named after Bikini Atoll, of course) and the "bombshell."
posted by kickingthecrap at 1:40 PM on October 30, 2011


Is music helpful? Sun Ra is one of my favorite things.
posted by jsturgill at 3:31 PM on October 30, 2011


We had When The Wind Blows in our school library. Looking back though it's not really a children's book, it's nightmare fodder.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 4:43 PM on October 30, 2011




Christmas At Ground Zero by Weird Al
posted by bq at 5:51 PM on October 30, 2011


Seven Days in May, is not really science fiction, more speculative and meant to function as a political thriller (it's both a novel and a film). Also in the not quite science fiction zone is On The Beach (also both a film and a novel).
posted by doctor_negative at 8:21 PM on October 30, 2011


On the Beach and The Day After were both already accounted for as "science fiction," but I hadn't thought of Seven Days in May. Thanks!
posted by gerryblog at 8:29 PM on October 30, 2011


Sculpture: The Atomium. "The peaceful use of atomic energy for scientific purposes embodied these themes particularly well and, so, that is what determined the shape of the edifice." Funny how you have to specify "peaceful" every time you talk about atomic energy, eh.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 9:09 PM on October 30, 2011


You'll find tons of music too, for instance Boris Vian's La Java des bombes atomiques, and a lot of Metal stuff, for instance a large part of Megadeth's oeuvre.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 9:16 PM on October 30, 2011


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