The U.S. Almost Nukes Itself (1961)

It’s December 25th. In 1961, on the night of January 23rd, a bomber carrying two massive nuclear weapons broke up in the sky over eastern North Carolina. The bombs came crashing to the ground and an investigation later revealed that they had gone through several of the steps required for detonation.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the near-disaster, how many times the U.S. has come close to this sort of incident, and the big “what if” at the heart of this story.

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Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Julie Shapiro and Audrey Mardavich, Executive Producers at Radiotopia