Free learning from The Open University http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/world-history/the-atom-bomb-popular-culture --- By the end of the 1950s, public opinion about the bomb had started to shift. The cold war was escalating -- but some in the West were questioning nuclear weapons. "Ban the Bomb" messages which were starting to pop up in the cultural mix. In the run-up to the Cuban Missile Crisis, the US had tried and failed to invade Cuba, and the Soviets had kindly offered to put some nuclear missiles on the island. The US got mad, the USSR got madder. And M.A.D. -- Mutual Assured Destruction -- was tested to the limit. With the looming reality of Mutual Assured Destruction, popular culture in the 60s had faced the madness of atomic threat... and that was before the nuclear turmoil of the 80s. (Part 2 of 4) Playlist link - http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhQpDGfX5e7Btwe3J0E35uoJPAu5vegqz --- Study Arts and Humanities at the OU http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/qualification/arts-and-humanities/index.htm A327- Europe 1914-1989: war, peace, modernity http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/course/a327.htm ---

• published: 13 Dec 2013
• views: 867