Chernobyl - HBO

[just]

Anyone watching? I think it’s great and would love to chat more.

I’m also looking for a good historical play-by-play as I know they took liberties.

[mcsangel2]

We are behind, we've watched one episode. It's raising our anxiety through the roof. It's weird, because we remember it and yet for me, it was so remote, it didn't mean much to me. Not like people in Europe. I've read that Fukishima in 2011 was much worse.

[pugz]

Just binged the first 3 today! So good! I am all over wikipedia

[wildrice]

I am watching. It is very good, though I do find myself having trouble staying focused on it at points.

I had no idea radiation did the decomposing thing to bodies. I thought burns and cancer were basically your main issues. It is truly horrifying.

It's also scary how there is this huge disaster and the people in power are basically ignoring science. Sounds a little too familiar (though obviously this situation is much worse).

My H and I toured a ship yesterday that is nuclear. It was built in the late 50s and has way more protection and safety precautions than this plant did, almost 30 years later. It's crazy to me that they knew how to work more safely and just...didn't. Even suiting up before being out there fighting the fire! What a preventable tragedy.

[jennybee1018]

We've watched the first episode so far and it is intense! It is good but so awful all at the same time.

I was pretty young so I don't remember much about it and I just cannot believe that they were so set on keeping it a secret and ignoring the obvious facts right in front of them. I've been reading Wikipedia as well to get more details.

There is a podcast that goes with it called The Chernobyl Podcast - it's hosted by Peter Sagal from NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. I haven't started it yet but I think it will be helpful to learn their insights as they went about creating the show.

[firedancer10288]

I want to watch, but I live 10 miles from Peach Bottom and I’m afraid I’ll never sleep again!

[jeaniebueller]

There is also a podcast that accompanies the show, the creator talks about some of those issues. To be honest, this miniseries is almost like a horror movie. And for those of you who are nervous about watching it, the creator is not anti-nuclear energy, the thesis of the show seems to be about how incompetent the Soviet government was in the cover up and how the political climate made the situation so much worse.

[abs]

I'm not watching but I remember this very well. 7 year old me didn't understand the political aspect very well but I sure understood other parts.

Man in retrospect 1986 was a pretty crappy year.

[dancelnow]

May 21, 2019 5:51:32 GMT -5 firedancer10288 said:

I want to watch, but I live 10 miles from Peach Bottom and I’m afraid I’ll never sleep again!

Rest assured Peach Bottom is nothing like the Soviet design. And the people that work there have zero incentive to keep silent if something were to happen like in the Soviet Union. The things workers agreed to do are mind boggling.

The accompanying podcast definitely makes it clear the point of the series is to point out the danger of secrets and refusal to acknowledge science - so timely.

[Jalapeñomel]

Yes! But I’m a chem teacher, so I nerd out. Lol

[juliej]

We're definitely engrossed by it, keeping in mind the historical liberties that have been taken. I went on a summer mission trip in college and spent six weeks working with kids in camps around Kiev and even all the way to Donetsk and encountered many kids whose families were from Chernobyl/Pripyat.

[fuckyourcouch]

I’ve been obsessed with Chernobyl since I was a (weird) kid. I’ve been excited for this for awhile, and we’ve been enjoying it.
I didn’t know there was a podcast though!

[just]

ok I just binged all three episodes of the podcast - what a great companion to the show. Thanks for the recommendation.

[madDawg228]

I've been watching each Monday night. The British accents using the term Comrade make me chuckle.

I'm interested in what is historically in/correct in the miniseries. I've read conflicting reports on the three men who first went into the water to turn off the pipes. Some say they died right away, and some say they are still alive. Also, I wonder what happened to the miners. The overall death count seems to vary too. I really want to read and learn more about Chernobyl.

[Velar Fricative]

I want to watch this so badly but don’t have HBO. Off to see if there is a free trial I could sign up for.

[2curlydogs]

H and I considered it last night but weren't in the mood for anything quite so intense.

[phunluvin82]

May 21, 2019 10:38:19 GMT -5 madDawg228 said:

I've been watching each Monday night. The British accents using the term Comrade make me chuckle.

I'm interested in what is historically in/correct in the miniseries. I've read conflicting reports on the three men who first went into the water to turn off the pipes. Some say they died right away, and some say they are still alive. Also, I wonder what happened to the miners. The overall death count seems to vary too. I really want to read and learn more about Chernobyl.

I was wondering the same thing and I found this article from a year ago: www.businessinsider.com/chernobyl-volunteers-divers-nuclear-mission-2016-4 

TLDR: the popular mythology said they all died within weeks from acute radiation poisoning, but this guy Andrew Leatherbarrow tracked them down for his book about Chernobyl and found that one died of a heart attack in 2005, one was alive at least until 2015 but he couldn't manage to further track him, and one is still alive. 

I kind of want to read the guy's book now too... 1:23:40: The Incredible True Story of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

[ECB]

I'm watching. I like it. It's fascinating - in a frightening way- how quick and eager the men in power were to believe information that wasn't fully vetted.

[pugz]

What night do new episodes air?

[just]

May 21, 2019 11:41:37 GMT -5 pugz said:

What night do new episodes air?

Monday

[just]

Growing up in Ireland every household received iodine pills to take in case of a nuclear emergency. Most of the fear was a terrorist attack on a nuclear plant on the west coast of the UK.

[AAM2012]

Ugh to would love to watch this but our cable provider can’t come to an agreement with HBO...for like 5+ months!

[just]

May 21, 2019 17:01:31 GMT -5 AAM2012 said:

Ugh to would love to watch this but our cable provider can’t come to an agreement with HBO...for like 5+ months!

I get HBO Now for a month and just watch EVERYTHING on it in that month - at $15 it's cheaper than a movie ticket - and then cancel. I do the same with Hulu

Chernobyl is only 5 episodes long, so the last episode will air on June 3rd I'd guess, so you could treat yourself to it for a month then.

[pugz]

The podcast is really good!

[aliciabella]

I need to watch this! Coincidentally, it was the 40th anniversary of the Three Mile Island partial meltdown last month. Crazy.

[anelms]

FBI watchlist people are going to be flagging so many people for googling all this nuclear stuff. Lol

[Deleted]

I binged them all yesterday.

Am I the only one bugged by the woman with the firefighter husband who was like "eff it. I know the said not to touch him, but I'll hug him anyway...Screw it I know they said not to go behind the plastic, but what harm can it do" and lied about being pregnant. I guess maybe the point they're trying to make it that none of the effects were truly being communicated but it was just making me irrationally angry.

[hocus2]

May 22, 2019 15:39:35 GMT -5 @princessbubbleyum said:

I binged them all yesterday.

Am I the only one bugged by the woman with the firefighter husband who was like "eff it. I know the said not to touch him, but I'll hug him anyway...Screw it I know they said not to go behind the plastic, but what harm can it do" and lied about being pregnant. I guess maybe the point they're trying to make it that none of the effects were truly being communicated but it was just making me irrationally angry.

  She lied about being pregnant to give her husband peace which made sense to me. 

  Overall I found this narrative fit into the larger story about corruption and dysfunction.

[Deleted]

May 22, 2019 15:41:18 GMT -5 hocus2 said:

May 22, 2019 15:39:35 GMT -5 @princessbubbleyum said:

I binged them all yesterday.

Am I the only one bugged by the woman with the firefighter husband who was like "eff it. I know the said not to touch him, but I'll hug him anyway...Screw it I know they said not to go behind the plastic, but what harm can it do" and lied about being pregnant. I guess maybe the point they're trying to make it that none of the effects were truly being communicated but it was just making me irrationally angry.

  She lied about being pregnant to give her husband peace which made sense to me. 

  Overall I found this narrative fit into the larger story about corruption and dysfunction.

Oh ok. I thought she actually was given that she was vomiting in the middle of the night in that first episode. 

[hocus2]

May 22, 2019 15:42:51 GMT -5 @princessbubbleyum said:

May 22, 2019 15:41:18 GMT -5 hocus2 said:

  She lied about being pregnant to give her husband peace which made sense to me. 

  Overall I found this narrative fit into the larger story about corruption and dysfunction.

Oh ok. I thought she actually was given that she was vomiting in the middle of the night in that first episode. 

  I googled and now I think you were right she was pregnant and lied about it. They will probably make it clearer later.