About

In 2024, we are faced with a variety of existential threats: disease, conflict, climate change, state violence and the zombie-like return of many of the 20th century’s worst political tendencies. The psychological impact of these threats is considerable. This is not the first time we have been faced with such threats, of course. The stand-off of the Cold War trapped millions in the crosshairs of nuclear warheads and raised the possibility that any random moment on any unremarkable day could be their last. Because intercepting ICBMs was an impossibility at the time, there were two main responses from American and Canadian governments. First, there was a public push towards the exercising of emotional management. Second, massive bunkers were dug into the ground to try to ensure the survival of senior government officials and gold.

In 2023, the hosts of The Uncover Up and My Nuclear Life podcasts conducted a thought experiment. What would happen if a nuclear war broke out? Would emotional management techniques be effective? Was civil defence possible? What would it be like to survive the first wave of destruction in a bunker? To answer these questions, they filmed a documentary in the bowels of the “Diefenbunker” outside of Ottawa, Ontario, which will premiere at this year’s conference.

Featuring:
Professor Nathan Radke
Dr. Lee Kuhnle
Dr. Shelly Lesher

This event is part of the Humber Liberal Arts Conference. Learn more, here.

Nathan Radke

Nathan Radke is a Cultural Theory professor at Humber College, and completed his MA in Sociology at Lakehead University. He co-authored the 2018 textbook Ethnical Perspectives published by Oxford University Press.

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Lee Kuhnle

Lee Kuhnle is a college professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Humber College, a co-host of The Uncover Up podcast as well as a regular contributor to the Conspiracy Roundtable radio show on CFRB1010. He is a graduate of York University's social and political thought doctoral program. Lee researches broadly in the field of 'ideology critique,' focusing most recently on the role of conspiracy theories in liberal democratic political cultures. 

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Shelly Lesher

Shelly Lesher is a Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse (UWL) where she teaches undergraduate physics and conducts nuclear research. My Nuclear Life podcast is based on a class she taught at UWL about how physics impacts society, and society impacts physics. A version of this class was also taught as a seminar at Yale University. (via My Nuclear Life)

Read more about Shelly Lesher