Week 11 Day 1 Discussion Question 1

In “Nuclear Menace in the Mass Culture of the Late Cold War Era and Beyond,” Paul Boyer and Eric Idsvoog conclude the following:

Whatever the level of trivialization, one thing was clear as the twenti­eth century ended. Neither the reality of nuclear danger nor the contin­ued presence of nuclear fear in American mass culture had disappeared with the end of the Cold War. Like the radiation-affected creatures in the science-fiction stories and movies of the 1950s, the cultural expression of that fear had simply mutated into sometimes bizarre new forms. (225)

In your response, discuss a specific example of “the continued presence of nuclear fear in American mass culture” after the end of the Cold War. 

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