20th Century Popcast is a podcast that tries to understand the present by living in the past. Each week hosts Bob and Tim take a sociological look at the pop culture of the '80s and '90s. Its a ruining of their childhood that hopefully explains how they became adults.
RETRO SHOCK: "Seriously ... not the Jake Gyllenhaal movie." (1983) No graphic image struck more graphic fear into Tim's childhood than the atomic stalk of a mushroom cloud. And no program better illustrated this phobia than the 1983 tv movie THE DAY AFTER. So, following last weekend's text to the brink, he's returning to ground zero for a horrifying re-watch.
00:00:00 - PRE-EMPTIVE WARNING - hey its John Cullum .. I guess
00:00:38 - BUNKERIN’ DOWN - Tim is solo in this current predicament / “99 Luftballooons”
00:02:30 - NOVEMBER 20th 1983 - Content warning for “The Day After”
00:05:14 - MIRACLE MEYER - Wait …now we’re talking Star Trek?
00:09:09 - MUSHROOM CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF IMMOLATION - Stoking Tim’s fears again and again
00:17:43 - IT COULD NEVER HAPPEN HERE - except that it could totally happen here
00:20:29 - 12,478 DAYS AFTER - and Good Memory/Bad Memory / “Is There Something I Should Know”
00:24:51 - HOPE FLATLINES - brought to you by gloom, despondence and Almond Joy
00:29:36 - ANSWER DURAN DURAN ALREADY - small town targets and the murmur of war
00:35:32 - FLASH … AHHHHHHH - and the nuclear mystique
00:41:57 - CELEBRITY HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE - pushing the button, then and now
00:47:44 - GOOD REALITY/BAD REALITY - and a slightly mis-remembered Bloom County
00:51:54 - CLOSINGS - Contacts, plugs and no catch phrase / “Ask”
00:53:26 - SPECIAL FEATURES - our decimated sponsor
Look at the film though the recent eyes of journalist Sean O'Neal's A.V. Club retrospective HERE.
Watch ABC newscaster Ted Koppel host the original post show discussion that aired immediately following THE DAY AFTER including butcherer of peace Henry Kissinger, archetect of the Vietnam War Robert Mcnamara and humane voice of reason Carl Sagan HERE.
See how they devastated Lawrence and Kansas City in this behind the scenes segment HERE.
Skip all the humanity and just witness the inhumanity of the nuclear strike scene of the film HERE.
And ruin the rest of your day by viewing the film in full HERE.
The use of audio and video clips linked from YOUTUBE are for educational purposes and without the expressed permission of their legal holding companies. All rights remain with with their original distributor.
This episode of 20TH CENTURY POPCAST was recorded by ZENCASTR, a high fidelity podcast recording platform that records multiple guests from multiple zip-codes all as if they were in the same room. Log on for studio quality recordings NOW! (exclamation point also provided by ZENCASTR)
MUSIC FEATURED IN TODAY’S EPISODE:
“99 Luftballoons” performed by Nena off the 1983 debut album of the same name ... NENA.
"Is There Something I Should Know"" performed by Duran Duran and originally released as a single in 1983 and later added to the U.S. re-release of their 1981 self-titled debut.
"Ask" performed by The Smiths, originally released as a single on Tim's 11th birthday in 1986 and later included on the 1987 compilation LOUDER THAN BOMBS.
The use of these songs are for entertainment purposes and without the expressed permission of the recording artist.
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Follow ROBERT CANNING @rhcanning on TWITTER. Read his web-comic at EXAGGERATEDLIFE.wordpress.com and his music blog at superultramegamix.wordpress.com.
Follow TIM BLEVINS @subcultist on TWITTER and as SUBCULTISTon INSTAGRAM.
20TH CENTURY POPCAST will return next week with an insightful and detailed look at the AIDS epidemic ... or "Joanie Loves Chachi."
