Season 2 feels like a milestone because there are a lot of podcasts with only a handful of episodes. This podcast won’t be counted among them, which feels like an accomplishment. I’m also excited for the stories this season. I think there’s more depth to them. They’re also a bit longer, and I think that’s for the better.
But back to the episode. Reactions fascinate me. All of them. Emotional responses to feeling slighted or being in love. Chemical and physical reactions to things and people under intense heat and pressure. Or how my wife, Hallease, reacts to a roach in our apartment: with shocking speed and excessive amounts of insecticide.
Then there are nuclear reactions in space (I know, it’s a rough segue, but just humor me). There’s no need to wonder about that since the U.S. government performed such an act on July 9, 1962 (though the Soviets were conducting their own tests as well). It was called ‘Starfish Prime,’ whose purpose was to discover the effects of a nuclear blast in higher elevations and lower space. The subsequent explosion: temporarily altered the planet’s magnetosphere, disrupted power to Hawaii, created an artificial aurora borealis that cast the sky blood-red across the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to New Zealand, and created a temporary radiation belt around Earth’s lower orbit that damaged Telstar the AT&T communications satellite (a first of its kind). There’s an interesting write-up in Smithsonian Magazine and some interesting footage on YouTube.
This episode is called “The Fate of the Caliphur.”
Smithsonian Write Up:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/going-nuclear-over-the-pacific-24428997/
YouTube Footage: https://youtu.be/KZoic9vg1fw
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CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
How Does This End? is a StumbleWell Production with original written works by Christopher Narvaez. This episode was recorded and edited by Christopher Narvaez with the final soundcheck by Hallease Narvaez. Our cover art for season 2 is designed by Edgar Lushaju, check out his work on Instagram @drawhapa. The music is from Epidemic Sound. Try it out for free on your next project: http://share.epidemicsound.com/s8W7c
