Journey Through Time

Who were the bio-robots, the 3,000 young reservists drafted in to fight the radiation? Why was an absurdly inadequate, yet enormous, structure built at pace to contain the fallout? Could trust be restored between the US and the USSR after the latter lied about the explosion? 

Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga look at how the nuclear fallout ate away at the very core of the Soviet Union. 

Email: [email protected] 

X: @ThroughTimePod

Blue Sky: @ThroughTimePod

Instagram: @JourneyThroughTimePod

Social Producer: Emma Jackson

Assistant Producers: Alfie Rowe, Alfie Norris 

Producer: Alice Horrell

Head of History: Dom Johnson

Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
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What were the two "nightmare scenarios” that would have led to enormous damage in the weeks following the explosion? What happened when three heroic men waded into radioactive water to stop much of Europe becoming uninhabitable for centuries? How did army reservists fight to contain the nuclear fallout in a mission named ‘The Battle of Chernobyl’? 

David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell explore the terrifying consequences that the soviets narrowly avoided in the weeks following the explosion. 

Email: [email protected] 

X: @ThroughTimePod

Blue Sky: @ThroughTimePod

Instagram: @JourneyThroughTimePod

Social Producer: Emma Jackson

Assistant Producers: Alfie Rowe, Alfie Norris 

Producer: Alice Horrell

Head of History: Dom Johnson

Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
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Who were the doomed firefighters, first on the scene after the Chernobyl explosion? What forced the Soviets to come clean about the disaster? How did the USSR sacrifice Belarussian farmers to stop nuclear rain falling on Moscow? Why did this secret take 13 years to come out? 

Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga look at the immediate aftermath of the Chernobyl meltdown. 

Email: [email protected] 

X: @ThroughTimePod

Blue Sky: @ThroughTimePod

Instagram: @JourneyThroughTimePod

Social Producer: Emma Jackson

Assistant Producers: Alfie Rowe, Alfie Norris 

Producer: Alice Horrell

Head of History: Dom Johnson

Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
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Why was reactor four two years overdue a critical safety test? What happened in the seconds and minutes leading up to the explosion? Who was the first victim of the Chernobyl disaster? 

David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell recall the fateful events leading up to the meltdown in reactor four on the night of the 26th April 1986. 

Email: [email protected] 

X: @ThroughTimePod

Blue Sky: @ThroughTimePod

Instagram: @JourneyThroughTimePod

Social Producer: Emma Jackson

Assistant Producers: Alfie Rowe, Alfie Norris 

Producer: Alice Horrell

Head of History: Dom Johnson

Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
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How did a routine safety test turn into the worst nuclear disaster in history? How did Soviet secrecy, impossible targets, and corner-cutting set the stage for Chernobyl? Why did the disaster begin long before 1986, and end with the unravelling of the Soviet Union itself?

Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga trace the political and historical failures which led to the fateful Chernobyl nuclear disaster. 

Social Producer: Emma Jackson

Assistant Producers: Alfie Rowe, Alfie Norris 

Producer: Alice Horrell

Head of History: Dom Johnson

Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices