Joe McCarthy, the Hydrogen Bomb, and Ten Fateful Months That Kicked Off the Cold War

History Unplugged Podcast · Sep 28, 2023 · 40m

There’s a good argument to be made that the entire trajectory of the Cold War was set off by ten fateful months of American and global history, between the first Soviet atom bomb test in the late summer of 1949 and the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950. The following events then all occurred in rapid succession: the dawning of the Taiwan question, the rise of Senator Joe McCarthy, the birth of NATO, the hydrogen bomb, and the origins of the European Union.

To look at these fateful months is today’s guest, Nick Bunker, author of “In the Shadow of Fear.” At the time, Sir Winston Churchill…