It’s September 26th. This day in 1983, a lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Air Defense Forces determined that an alert about an incoming nuclear attack was, in fact, a computer glitch, likely preventing a series of retaliations by the USSR and the USA.
Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how Petrov made his decision, what could have gone wrong, and why the policy of “mutually assured destruction” invited such perilous scenarios.
Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommended later this week.
Find out more at thisdaypod.com
This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.
Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories.
If you want to support the show directly, you can do so on our website: ThisDayPod.com
Get in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Our website is thisdaypod.com Follow us on social @thisdaypod
Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia
400 Episodes! (pt 1) w/ Jacob Feldman
The Jekyll Island Secret Meeting (1910) w/ Jacob Goldstein
Jaywalking (1923) w/ Doug Gordon
Trotter Confronts Wilson (1914)
Denver Rejects The Olympics (1972)
The GOP Reckoning Report (2012)
The Colored Conventions Movement (1830)
Election Day Special: Reporting The Results w/ Jad Abumrad
Mid-Terms Week: NJ Voter Intimidation (1981)
Mid-Terms Week: The First Blue Wave (1826)
Mid-Terms Week: 1946 Changes Everything (1946)
Mid-Terms Week: I'm Not A Witch (2010)
Polling Week: Let's Get Thermostatic w/ Harry Enten
Polling Week: The Red Wave (1994) w/ Harry Enten
Polling Week: Harry Reid's Upset (2010) w/ Harry Enten
Referendum Week: Prop 13 (1978)
Referendum Week: The Badass Grandmas of North Dakota (2018) w/ Joshua Graham Lynn
Referendum Week: Direct Democracy In Action (1778) w/ Joshua Graham Lynn
Mid-Term Favorites: The Murkowski Write-In (2010)
Mid-Term Favorites: Paul Wellstone Plane Crash (2002)
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
This Day in History Class
Up First
Criminal
Ear Hustle
Song Exploder