logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2024
31m 49s

CLASSIC: The Atomic Whoops: When the US ...

iHeartPodcasts
About this episode

During the height of the Cold War, both the US and the USSR constantly ran drills in anticipation of a possible nuclear conflict. While the Gregg family of Mars Bluff, South Carolina knew the Cold War was in full swing, they had no idea that they would become the first American family bombed -- accidentally -- by the US Air Force. Ben and Noel explore one of the most bizarre atomic slip-ups in American history in today's classic episode.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Aug 23
CLASSIC: The Strange and Spectacularly Disgusting Story of the Great Kentucky Meat Shower
On March 3rd, 1876, residents of Bath County, Kentucky were startled to see what appeared to be chunks and flakes of meat falling from the clear, cloudless sky. The rain, which only lasted a few minutes, captured national attention. People across the country proposed various theo ... Show More
35m 55s
Aug 22
The Ridiculously Energetic History of Energy Drinks!
This episode is brought to you by our favorite cohost: coffee. These days, if you stroll into any convenience store across the planet, you're going to run into a selection of energy drinks -- whether we're talking Red Bull, NOS, Monster, or our favorite pal, the humble cup of joe ... Show More
47m 1s
Aug 19
Japan is Overrun By Raccoons Entirely Due to a Single Cartoon
While the legendary Japanese raccoon dog -- or tanuki -- may look like a raccoon, it's a very different beast. However, these days Japan is home to actual raccoons: they're considered an invasive species, wreaking havoc across the country as they destroy temples, consume crops, a ... Show More
40m 57s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2018
John M. Curatola, “Bigger Bombs for a Brighter Tomorrow: The Strategic Air Command and American War Plans at the Dawn of the Atomic Age, 1945-1950” (McFarland, 2016)
Conventional wisdom has long held the position that between 1945 and 1949, not only did the United States enjoy a monopoly on atomic weapons, but that it was prepared to use them if necessary against an increasingly hostile Soviet Union.  This was not exactly the case, our guest ... Show More
51m 48s
Feb 2020
The Forgotten War | Part 4
Although the entire Cold War passed without shots being fired between the two superpowers, the Cold War was anything but bloodless. The Korean conflict marked the beginning of proxy wars, regional conflicts backed by the full military might of both the United States and the Sovie ... Show More
1h 4m
Nov 2021
Traitors | The Atomic Spies | 3
In September 1949, the world was shocked to learn that the Soviet Union had conducted its first nuclear weapons test, just four years after the United States dropped the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. U.S. authorities thought there was only one way the Soviets coul ... Show More
40m 22s
Jan 2018
The Cold War - The Nature of Risk | 4
Americans were desperate to find hope in the shadow of the bomb.Miracle cures, cheap energy, and even brand new atomic gardens: the wonders of the atom were ours to discover! Right? Eager to explore nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes, Americans instead found the resulting r ... Show More
35m 26s
Jan 2018
The Cold War - Nuclear Fear | 3
What is the United States to do when direct conflict with the Soviet Union promises almost certain annihilation? They turned to proxy wars and psychological warfare with the threat of nuclear weapons keeping both countries in check. Ever wondered how an atom bomb works? We’ll cov ... Show More
41m 56s
Jan 2018
The Cold War - Interview with Audra Wolfe and Patrick Wyman | 7
We’re closing out our series on the Cold War with two interviews with fascinating historians. First, we’re talking with Audra Wolfe, the author of Competing with the Soviets: Science, Technology, and the State in Cold War America, and the writer of this first six-part series of A ... Show More
44m 52s
Jul 2018
SYSK Selects: Did Reagan's Star Wars program win the Cold War?
Putting lasers in space to blast Soviet missiles out of the air was a very real part of Ronald Reagan's defense policy. While his "Star Wars" program was derided at home and abroad, historians are beginning to wonder if it didn't help win the Cold War after all. Learn more about ... Show More
35m 27s
Oct 2021
EP89: The History of Pinball, The Day a Soviet Nuclear Attack Submarine Rammed an American Aircraft Carrier and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
On this episode of Our American Stories, Jeremy Saucier of the Strong Museum of Play shares the long, and surprising, history of pinball--from its origins in French parlor games, to its prohibition, and then to its emergence as the immersive and popular game that it is today; The ... Show More
38m 12s