Chernobyl - General Discussion

[Calamity Jane]

10 hours ago, Bannon said:

HBO oughta' give about 240 minutes to the story of the officer in the Soviet Rocket Forces who saved the world a few years prior to Chernobyl, when the Soviet missile launch warning system failed, and told him that sunlight aligned with high altitude clouds was a American nuclear ICBM attack. All the protocols called for a massive Soviet retaliatory strike, but this guy's instincts told him something wasn't right about what the computers were saying, so human civilization didn't end that day.

My son talks about this incident, which I was not familiar with. I would love to see it given a Chernobyl-style treatment. 

[shapeshifter]

9 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I don't bother with podcasts, but I'm considering making an exception for this.  Is it available on the HBO website?

I'm intending to listen to them. 

They are on YouTube now. Here's the first:

https://youtu.be/rUeHPCYtWYQ

[Anela]

23 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Apparently it's become popular with tourists to visit the exclusion zone, and the series has increased that popularity.  Not my cuppa, though.

It isn't mine, either. 

[Calamity Jane]

I'm sad and rather baffled that the Russian government is taking this series to be a negative commentary.  Yes, there were some idiots in positions of authority, but name me a country where that is not the case.  Yes, the government was far too secretive and paranoid, but that was a different time, a different country, a different government - so why be so offended?  

Mostly, to me, this series is a love song of praise to and awe at the almost unimaginable sacrifices all levels and sorts of people made to repair the damage of the exploded reactor.  As Craig Mazin says repeatedly in his commentary, "They did it anyway," even when they knew it was possibly a lethal risk - Shcherbina, Legasov, other scientists, the generals & other army people, the miners, the plant workers, the conscripted men and women who "liquidated" the problems.  It's breathtaking, heartbreaking, fills-me-with-faith-in-humankind stuff!  (And I don't often feel that way.)

I wish the current government would focus on that part, which in the end is the biggest message, not just the idiocy and denial that a much smaller group gave in to.   To put the blame on the CIA is mind-boggling - how on earth could they have made Bryukhanov, Fomin, and Diatlov make such a boneheaded series of decisions?  Made the grid in Kiev unable to allow the test to go forward as scheduled, and count on events playing out as they did?  It just does not pass the laugh test.  I suppose they'll try to lay it off on a bomb, which presents many others issues - also not credible.  

Anyway, I don't know when a TV show has made me think this hard, read so much, want to understand what happened as deeply as my not very scientifically trained mind can.  Much, much praise is due, and I hope it will get the awards it deserves.

[JennyMominFL]

9 hours ago, Anela said:

It isn't mine, either. 

Its on my bucket list!

[TexasGal]

On 6/7/2019 at 8:35 AM, Bannon said:

So I did some reading, and it appears that original cost cutting move was using uranium which was not as highly enriched, which meant putting graphite tips on the control rods was more attractive, since using the graphite with less enriched uranium in particular provides the operators with more detailed control of the reaction. However, it is then critical that the control rods, with the graphite on the tips, never be completely withdrawn from the core, because when they are, that space gets filled with water, and when the tips are eventually reinserted, that water is quickly displaced, and (for a lot of interconnected reasons which I cannot competently explain) puts you on the path to disaster.

I think in his explanation Legasov said that the graphite gets heated in a way the more preferable tip (which I now can’t recall what it would have been made of) doesn’t.  So when the graphite gets reinserted it heats the water into steam which causes the whole reactor to heat up even more.

Also, thanks to whoever pointed out that Fomin was played by the actor who played Harry Potter’s father.  I couldn’t place why he seemed familiar to me. 

[Calamity Jane]

7 minutes ago, TexasGal said:

I think in his explanation Legasov said that the graphite gets heated in a way the more preferable tip (which I now can’t recall what it would have been made of) doesn’t.  So when the graphite gets reinserted it heats the water into steam which causes the whole reactor to heat up even more.

Also, thanks to whoever pointed out that Fomin was played by the actor who played Harry Potter’s father.  I couldn’t place why he seemed familiar to me. 

What I have read says that the graphite displaces cooling water without dampening the flux as much as the boron does. The reactor is already in runaway mode when this would happen. This makes more sense to me because graphite is supposed to be a moderator, not an increaser. The effect would be amplified when almost all the rods go in at the same moment, not just some of them as would be normal. 

[Notwisconsin]

21 hours ago, Calamity Jane said:

It's breathtaking, heartbreaking, fills-me-with-faith-in-humankind stuff!  (And I don't often feel that way.)

Indeed, but most of the people weren't Russian, they were Ukranian or Beylorussian. The Russian government HATES Ukraine and has been recently fighting (verbally) with the Beylorussian dictator.

[Calamity Jane]

12 minutes ago, Notwisconsin said:

Indeed, but most of the people weren't Russian, they were Ukranian or Beylorussian. The Russian government HATES Ukraine and has been recently fighting (verbally) with the Beylorussian dictator.

True enough, but many were Russian too (at least some of the miners, conscriptees, scientists, etc.).  It seems odd their hatred of Ukraine and Byelorussia would override the pride they should take in those sacrifices. Humans are hard to figure sometimes. 

[zobot81]

On 6/7/2019 at 3:26 PM, proserpina65 said:

I don't bother with podcasts, but I'm considering making an exception for this.  Is it available on the HBO website?

Whatever your smart-device, you can search for it in the podcasts app.

Chernobyl HBO.

[Cheezwiz]

On 5/21/2019 at 6:01 PM, kieyra said:

Okay, as I’m typing this out even I’m not convinced, and I’m not sure I’m not romanticizing the whole thing. I guess I do want to believe that humanity would work together to prevent a catastrophe on this level, including making personal sacrifice ... but maybe I’m kidding myself.

I'd want to believe this too, but I'm not sure I do. I really feel North American society has become increasingly selfish, and I don't know if people would step up. During the Fukushima melt-down in Japan, elderly people banded together and volunteered to take part in the clean-up effort, because they felt they had already lived long lives. That kind of sacrifice for the greater good seems deeply ingrained in their culture though.

I'm having to work my way slowly through this show, as it's so difficult to watch. I've only made it through the first 2 episodes so far. Riveting but just horrifying. I was a teenager in the 80's, so as people have already mentioned, it's bringing back memories of the terrifying Threads miniseries. Radiation poisoning truly has to be one of the worst ways to die. As I've been watching it, I keep thinking that everyone who works in that kind of environment should just be given a supply of cyanide pills to take in the event of accidental exposure, so that they wouldn't have to suffer so horrifically. 

My knowledge of how nuclear plants operate is pretty much limited to episodes of the Simpsons, but I can't say that I'm in favour of nuclear energy at all. There is no way that humans (no matter how fastidious and responsible) should be in charge of something so awesome and terrible, so potentially destructive. **Madly googling to see where the nearest nuclear power plants are**

[marinw]

2 hours ago, Cheezwiz said:

My knowledge of how nuclear plants operate is pretty much limited to episodes of the Simpsons

I kept asking myself which character was most like Homer Simpson! 

On 6/8/2019 at 10:21 PM, Calamity Jane said:

Mostly, to me, this series is a love song of praise to and awe at the almost unimaginable sacrifices all levels and sorts of people made to repair the damage of the exploded reactor.

The show praised and acknowledged the workers, but didn't romantisize their sacrifice. I really respected that.

Edited June 10, 2019 by marinw

[pasdetrois]

Phenomenal series. It got me to watch after I initially resisted, knowing it would be very upsetting. I wish there was more quality television like this.

[Raulduke711]

First thing the show is amazing, the cinematography was superb, but that being said Russia is coming out with there on series blaming the CIA for the nuclear meltdown, which honestly I’m fine with, because if it were true and they found out a operative did cause the meltdown and said nothing or did anything about it, in my opinion that makes Russia look weak as a nation, because if you came into my country and did something like this, trust me I’d be over there immediately in retaliation. Because that’s exactly what would happen if it happened to America.

[proserpina65]

On 6/9/2019 at 7:08 PM, zobot81 said:

Whatever your smart-device, you can search for it in the podcasts app.

Chernobyl HBO.

I don't have a smart device.  😞 But I'll check YouTube.

 

10 hours ago, Raulduke711 said:

First thing the show is amazing, the cinematography was superb, but that being said Russia is coming out with there on series blaming the CIA for the nuclear meltdown, which honestly I’m fine with, because if it were true and they found out a operative did cause the meltdown and said nothing or did anything about it, in my opinion that makes Russia look weak as a nation, because if you came into my country and did something like this, trust me I’d be over there immediately in retaliation. Because that’s exactly what would happen if it happened to America.

Presenting lies as truth is one of the things which allowed the Chernobyl disaster to happen.

[Raulduke711]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

Presenting lies as truth is one of the things which allowed the Chernobyl disaster to happen.

I agree completely, but sad part is there going to tell lies regardless, that’s all they know how to do.

[FinnishViewer]

Quote

I don't have a smart device.  😞 But I'll check YouTube

It's also on Spotify, if you prefer using it.

[shapeshifter]

On June 10, 2019 at 3:09 AM, Cheezwiz said:

There is no way that humans (no matter how fastidious and responsible) should be in charge of something so awesome and terrible, so potentially destructive.

I personally can't imagine a rational argument against this^ ("There is no way that humans . . . should be in charge of something so . . . potentially destructive"), yet here we are.

Chernobyl happened—as was so clearly shown in the series—not because of a plot for it to happen, but because  of competing, self-centered interests. Most humans who exist today are here because baked into their DNA is a strong sense of self-interest. Something as quiet and invisible (until it isn't) as radiation does not trigger one's survival instinct until it is often too late. Even climate change is a more visible.

Ever since the Oklahoma City Bombing and similarly motivated acts world-wide of large-scale violence that target the innocent (aka terrorism)—which are arguably also a type of self-centeredness like we saw in the last episode of the men making decisions to run the test for reasons of personal gain over the merits of following safety protocols—I figure it's just a matter of time. 

Two of my three adult daughters chose careers in service to others, and yet they take vacations that consume amounts of fuel and energy with an environmental footprint that likely outweigh all their good works.

Anyway, yes. This times a thousand:

21 hours ago, pasdetrois said:

Phenomenal series. It got me to watch after I initially resisted, knowing it would be very upsetting. I wish there was more quality television like this.

Edited June 11, 2019 by shapeshifter

[Anela]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48580177?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbcnews&ocid=socialflow_twitter

[Macbeth]

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hayesbrown/chernobyl-selfies-instagram-craig-mazin

Craig Mazin responded to all those selfies people are doing at Chernobyl.

"Comport yourselves with respect for all who suffered and sacrificed."

This should go without saying.  Unfortunately it needed to be said.

[TexasGal]

Quote

This speech might seem dramatic, but like the rest of “Chernobyl,” it represents a sincere attempt to convey the inhumanity, willful ignorance and lies that defined the Soviet Union in the 1980s. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/06/12/kremlin-peddles-myth-russias-past-greatness-no-wonder-it-hates-chernobyl/?utm_term=.388ec35a6e13

[shapeshifter]

This bit of transcript from the second episode's podcast speaks to Craig Mazin's intent with regards to feminism in the Soviet Union as depicted through Emily Watson's composite character of Ulana Khomyuk, the nuclear physicist who investigated the incident:

Quote

The Soviet Union was, in many ways, very regressive in terms of, um, its gender politics. The power structures are almost entirely male, and the show reflects that. There's... you know, I don't know, probably 90 percent of the characters are male. That reflects the reality of what happened in the Soviet Union, but one area that they were fairly progressive in was science and medicine. There were probably a higher proportion of female medical doctors in the Soviet Union in 1986 than there were in the United States, and there were quite a few female academicians who worked in programs like nuclear science programs. So, I thought it was an important thing to show where the Soviets actually were kind of progressive in this regard. You'll see a lot of the doctors in the show... -...are women, because that reflected the reality. So, we invested a lot of this stuff into Emily's character, this sense of a check on Legasov,

--which is how I interpreted it.

Edited June 14, 2019 by shapeshifter
add link

[raven]

One of my fave sites has trips to Chernobyl.  I would absolutely do this if it were within my budget.

Photographing Chernobyl in winter

Chernobyl by day, Kyiv by night (sold out!)

[shapeshifter]

Chernobyl made it to the finalists for "Best Cinematography" in the Annual Awards Show: The Primetimers.
GoT is probably going to sweep everything again this year, but Chernobyl has a shot: 
https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/94339-best-cinematography/
"Vote early and often," LOL.
  
  
  

ETA:
Now I'm at "Best Writing" and cannot decide between Chernobyl, Better Call Saul, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. 
No GoT in that category!

ETA again:
Of my top 3 for Best Writing, only our Chernobyl has a shot.
So, once again, "vote early and often," LOL.

Edited June 17, 2019 by shapeshifter

[Sharpie66]

My dad came up for Father’s Day yesterday. When he sat down on the couch, I asked if he had seen Chernobyl yet, and he hadn’t even heard about the miniseries, so we binged it. It took him a few episodes to really get into it, but by hour 4, he was riveted. He did tear up over the third ep and the firefighter’s death. He was a trainer at the local nuclear power plant, so he has a background there (his degree is in industrial instruction, not nuclear engineering, though). 

[Ruprecht]

I keep reviewing the show and one thing that jumps out at me is the use of "stupid". The way the actors say it and its use in the dialog make me thing calling someone "stupid" must be just about the worst thing you can say to someone in Soviet Union regardless of rank or education background. 

It's even in the spaces where the word isn't used. Fomin was able to use this fear of being thought to be stupid against the engineer who reported the dosimeter reading was at the max. He was so snide when he said "Tell me how an RBMK reactor can explode." Fomin tried that with Legasov as well. I love these little authenticities.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, Ruprecht said:

I keep reviewing the show and one thing that jumps out at me is the use of "stupid". The way the actors say it and its use in the dialog make me thing calling someone "stupid" must be just about the worst thing you can say to someone in Soviet Union regardless of rank or education background. 

It's even in the spaces where the word isn't used. Fomin was able to use this fear of being thought to be stupid against the engineer who reported the dosimeter reading was at the max. He was so snide when he said "Tell me how an RBMK reactor can explode." Fomin tried that with Legasov as well. I love these little authenticities.

I haven't rewatched, but this use of "stupid" sounds like an alternate way of either accusing or warning someone that they are not following the party line definition of "truth."

[cynicat]

I had no intention of watching this series and didn't even know I had HBO!  Then came an ugly, rainy weekend and wow.  I was able to binge watch this and I'm not sure I recommend it.  By the end I was nearly in a fetal position curled up on my couch.  So powerful. 

Of course it wasn't 100% accurate, I didn't expect it to be that way.  As was pointed out, it's not a documentary.  It's an artistic piece intended to cause a visceral reaction.  To me, that's exactly why they added the scenes of executing all the animals.  For whatever reason, that seemed to really hit a very raw nerve in many people and made it very real.

I couldn't help but be reminded of a book I once read, Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales, which discussed how accidents happen.  Gonzales states that it's a series of mishaps and coincidences that if happen independently would probably be fine.  It's the "perfect storm" of errors and coincidences that leads to catastrophe.  I saw Chernobyl as a perfect example of this.  

[izabella]

I wasn't planning to watch this because I didn't want to watch something grim.  But others recommended it, so I finally binge watched the whole thing.  It was compelling from start to finish.

I was really struck with how little the people living there knew about radiation exposure.  It made me wonder how little people know about it now.  And it made me wonder if people really understand how bad it would be if we, or any other government, decided to use nuclear weapons.  In the aftermath of the Cold War, I think we have become complacent and more ignorant of the devastation that would occur.

[Razzberry]

Wow, great television!  Thought provoking, emotional, educational, and entertaining to boot.  A lot of the technical stuff was over my head but I do have a better understanding now of how it all works. 

That they still claim only 31 deaths and are even trying to blame the CIA makes me wonder if anything has really changed though.

Loved seeing Watson and Skarsgard together again.

[izabella]

5 minutes ago, Razzberry said:

That they still claim only 31 deaths and are even trying to blame the CIA makes me wonder if anything has really changed though.

The US was claiming only 64 deaths in Puerto Rico after the hurricane for the longest time, and only changed it when forced to by reports from many news media outlets much, much later.  The US also did not want to attribute any deaths to our response, or lack thereof, and just wanted to count the immediate deaths.  And the US did not want to acknowledge that even all the immediate deaths couldn't be reported due to lack of electricity or phones or ability to move around the island.  So, no, nothing has changed, not in Russia/Soviet Union, nor in the US.  Some will always try to minimize and cast blame elsewhere for tragedies, instead of learning from them and trying to do better.

Edited June 20, 2019 by izabella

[Razzberry]

 Nah. I'm aware of the controversy regarding the hurricane Maria death count and am cynical as hell but disagree that it's business as usual in any disaster to deliberately fudge the numbers.  For every Maria, I can name 100 natural or man-made US disasters where this just isn't the case, so obviously circumstances other than state policy were in play. 

[shapeshifter]

Surprise, surprise. Chernobyl  won for "Favourite Drama Show" in the Annual Awards Show: The Primetimers, and got Runner-Up for "Best Cinematography" (forums.primetimer.com/topic/94586-and-the-2019-winners-are-this-time-with-gifs).

And since GoT is something I have trained myself to ignore/tune out, in my mind Chernobyl also won for "Best Cinematography."

[theschnauzers]

What makes its successes  surprising is the fact that it premiered so late in terms of the  primetimers nominations and voting rounds that many might not have even heard about it.

[shapeshifter]

2 minutes ago, theschnauzers said:

What makes its successes  surprising is the fact that it premiered so late in terms of the  primetimers nominations and voting rounds that many might not have even heard about it.

Evidentally we voters have short memories. LOL

[marinw]

11 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

And since GoT is something I have trained myself to ignore/tune out, in my mind Chernobyl also won for "Best Cinematography."

I nominated Chernobly for that category! I am a photographer and not a film maker, but I know great lighting and composition when I see it. 

Edited June 25, 2019 by marinw

[raven]

On 6/24/2019 at 6:18 PM, shapeshifter said:

Surprise, surprise. Chernobyl  won for "Favourite Drama Show" in the Annual Awards Show: The Primetimers, and got Runner-Up for "Best Cinematography" (forums.primetimer.com/topic/94586-and-the-2019-winners-are-this-time-with-gifs).

[Danny Franks]

I'm a bit late to the party for this. Just watched the first episode and was impressed with the implacable sense of dread and catastrophe that hung over it.

I was surprised they went almost right into the explosion and fire, rather than building to it over the course of the opening hour, but it worked well. The complete denial of what was becoming obvious seems very typical of the Soviet Union - "what you say can't be happening, because we've been told it can't happen". Hypernormalisation, as Alexei Yurchak called it. The state tells you something so often that you simply can't countenance anything else being true, even when all the evidence tells you it is.

And the paranoia and secrecy of the Soviet power structure came across really well - Don't tell the people, don't tell the world, stop anyone from leaving. Signing the death sentences of thousands, but it's the security of the whole that is more important.

The cast was interesting. Some familiar faces and some new ones (although it was hard to tell, under the period facial hair and then under the grime and dirt of the disaster).

When you look at the photos from Pripyat, it's some of the eeriest stuff you can see. A whole city, abandoned at once. Buildings, personal belongings, furniture, all abandoned when it was evacuated. The Soviet world, preserved far better than any museum could.

Time to binge the rest of the show, and the podcast....

[outofbounds]

This series was terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. I don’t know shit about how nuclear reactors work but the way they dumbed it down was excellently done. Jared Harris definitely deserves an Emmy.

I get it was important to the story to show the fallout but I honestly had such a hard time with episode four and the animal killing. I fast forwarded through most of it because I just can’t. 

The most disturbing thing was the conversation when they’re trying to figure out how to clear the roof off after two robots failed and one of them asks if the US has offered anything and Scherbina (I think) responds no and that Russia wouldn’t take their help even if they had. I grew up during the Cold War but holy shit! You just unleashed this shit into the air and things are so bad you wouldn’t accept help from a country you hate even if they had a solution?!?!  I mean I know that’s how the world works but...I mean...damn. That really drove the point home.

My brother and I took Russian in high school. One of only two schools in the US that had an exchange program. My brothers class was slated to go to Russia for the trip in 1987. The State Department kept delaying the trip. My brother said they were watching “the cloud” closely and when it blew the other way they cleared the kids to leave. I was 11 when this went down so the seriousness of it was lost on me back then but talking to him about it now, he was just like “I guess it wasn’t a big deal.”  When I ended up going in 93, Russia was collapsing and they were afraid of a coup. We had to get special permission from Clinton to go. Both times my parents let us go! I think I need to have a discussion with my parents. 

[shapeshifter]

10 minutes ago, outofbounds said:

but I honestly had such a hard time with episode four and the animal killing. I fast forwarded through most of it because I just can’t. 

The most disturbing thing was the conversation when they’re trying to figure out how to clear the roof off after two robots failed and one of them asks if the US has offered anything and Scherbina (I think) responds no and that Russia wouldn’t take their help even if they had. I grew up during the Cold War but holy shit! You just unleashed this shit into the air and things are so bad you wouldn’t accept help from a country you hate even if they had a solution?!?!  I mean I know that’s how the world works but...I mean...damn. That really drove the point home.

Your words, @outofbounds, "That really drove the point home," also succinctly explain why they did the episode with the animal killings. It drove home a lot of points that I cannot readily put into words.
  
  

15 minutes ago, outofbounds said:

My brothers class was slated to go to Russia for the trip in 1987. The State Department kept delaying the trip. My brother said they were watching “the cloud” closely and when it blew the other way they cleared the kids to leave.

Has your brother has ever had cancer? Or did they give them "thyroid pills"?  I am shocked that they let the children approaching child-bearing age go anywhere near there. 

[outofbounds]

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Has your brother has ever had cancer? Or did they give them "thyroid pills"?  I am shocked that they let the children approaching child-bearing age go anywhere near there. 

No. He’s totally fine. I don’t believe he was given Iodine pills or anything. He was mostly in Moscow and Leningrad (St Petersburg now) and I guess Chernobyl was far enough away that they didn’t think it was a concern. I do remember the state department delaying the trip though. I remember my mom and dad discussing it but the conversation was very “it’s so far away”. I think my parents probably suffered from the same thing Lyudmilla did which was that they just didn’t understand the danger. My mother was super protective of us so I believe if she’d been alarmed she would’ve raised questions.

Personally because things like this are downplayed so much by the governments when they happened people think it’s survivable. I mean I knew radiation was bad for you but I had no idea your body literally melted. This show did a lot to open my eyes. So much so that I am in total awe that people now visit Chernobyl and take selfies in front of the reactor sarcophagus. HELL NO! I am never going near a nuclear reactor. 

[theschnauzers]

outofbounds , what you relate was part of the global concern that existed at the time about how deep and widespread the radiation issue could become because the actual scope of the disaster had been concealed by Soviet authorities at the highest levels. This series brought home that fact with the sheer economic, scientific, medical, and political impacts, the end of the Soviet Union was inevitable.

it’s not a surprise how concerned US authorities were and how the lack of information years later led to unnecessary risks. The only good thing about this mess was the changes made before the Fukujima tsunami, earthquake, and meltdown took place, and made the unmanageable a little less possible to compare to.

Edited July 1, 2019 by theschnauzers

[Danny Franks]

Second episode. Finally,  an authority figure who is willing to ask for evidence before making his mind up. Gorbachev came off well in this episode. Clearly wanting the problem to go away, but still taking the potential scale of the disaster seriously, and making the tough decisions when he had to.

The instinctive fear of failure or of disappointing your superiors was visceral and, as I understand it, part of the daily existence of officials in the Soviet Union. Instantly trying to shift blame to your own subordinates, trying to come up with any believable lie that will get you off the hook.

This was so telling:

"Evacuate Pripyat, it's only three kilometres away."

"That's my decision to make."

"Then make it."

"I've been told not to."

It's incredible, and terrifying, that a nuclear reactor had exploded, but no one knew it.

Seeing Shcherbina realise the depths of the disaster was chilling. He'll be dead in five years, probably of some horrible cancer. Children in Germany are being kept indoors because of the threat, while Soviet citizens just a couple of miles away are being kept in the dark.

The blue glow from the ionized air was interesting. I didn't know you could actually see nuclear fallout. And I didn't know what the iodine tablets did. It's nice to learn things.

And then there was the briefing about what could happen even if they managed to extinguish the fire. Talk about humanity meddling with things it shouldn't have!

[Danny Franks]

Episode three. The miners and their casual insolence felt a little incongruous to me. Maybe they were that disrespectful of people who could have them killed, maybe they weren't, but it rang false after seeing how cowed everyone else has been.

I like that the military guy isn't being portrayed as heartless or cold. He volunteered to get the accurate radiation readings in the lead covered truck, and in this one he was sympathetic to the miners when they said it was too hot, but felt he was doing them more good by minimising the risks of the dust.

Christ, the effects of radiation sickness are horrific. I've seen pictures before, but they were in black and white, and had the graininess you expect from old photos. Seeing it in full colour and high definition - skin sloughing off, sores and necrosis, was shocking. I guess it shouldn't be, when you realise that the radiation is actually breaking down the cellular cohesion of the body.

Jared Harris could have gone big and heroic, but he plays Legasov with wonderful restraint and control. It's a really effective performance. All the performances have been restrained and sombre, which is fitting.

The evacuations show some of the 'benefits' of living in an authoritarian society - the government knew exactly who lived where, and exactly how many people they needed to move. And they had the absolute control to do it efficiently.

[Cheezwiz]

8 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

the effects of radiation sickness are horrific. I've seen pictures before, but they were in black and white, and had the graininess you expect from old photos. Seeing it in full colour and high definition - skin sloughing off, sores and necrosis, was shocking. I guess it shouldn't be, when you realise that the radiation is actually breaking down the cellular cohesion of the body.

The thing that is so horrifying to me is that doctors can't even administer medication to ease the pain, because the patients veins collapse. They couldn't even administer a merciful fatal dose of morphine if they wanted to - patients simply  suffered until they died. I thought the treatment of the animals that were hunted down and shot was much kinder than what the human victims had to endure.

[marinw]

A little late to to the Podcast, but I am listening to it now. Thanks to all those here who let me know about it.

[cynicat]

On 6/30/2019 at 3:50 PM, Danny Franks said:

It's incredible, and terrifying, that a nuclear reactor had exploded, but no one knew it.

They knew.

[Danny Franks]

50 minutes ago, cynicat said:

They knew.

The people on the ground fighting the fire, and the people in working in other parts of the plant, didn't know for some time.

[Umbelina]

This is very good.  What the show got right, and what it got terribly wrong:

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/what-hbos-chernobyl-got-right-and-what-it-got-terribly-wrong

[Brn2bwild]

On 5/20/2019 at 11:47 PM, Anela said:

I made the mistake of watching that, three or four years ago. Never again. I haven't watched the last two episodes of this show, because of that one nightmare that I had. That movie was horrifying, which was the point, I know. I just wish that I'd never seen it.

Jumping in belatedly.  I never saw The Day After, but this reminds me of Testament, which messed me up.

Edited July 4, 2019 by Brn2bwild