Chernobyl’s Death Toll | The Deep Dive

Yes, I do watch a lot of Adam Curtis documentaries. How could you tell? Today we’re talking about Chernobyl! Its death toll, the confusion around the number, how Chernobyl helped cause the fall of the USSR, how it helped create the conditions for the modern day situation Ukraine finds itself in, general political intrigue, and how a lot of these conversations have to be had in the context of nuclear power’s crucial role in avoiding catastrophic climate change. This’ll be a fun one at parties! Reference Sheet (I promise it’s more intuitive than first impressions give): Patreon: Twitter: haha still no! TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - I. Intro 2:04 - II. How To Solve A Problem Like Chernobyl 24:49 - III. I wish I knew, because no-one seems interested in trying (because politics ruins everything) 30:28 - IV. Our Friend, The Atom 54:20 - V. Chernobyl’s Forgotten 1:11:37 - VI. Secrets of the Peaceful Atom 1:28:00 - VII. The New Climate War 1:37:24 - VIII. Tomorrow’s Ghosts 1:45:32 - Credits This video was months in the making and came out at, shall we say, a time. I’ve put a link to a Ukrainian compiled list of credible charities where you can help support Ukraine in any way you can. I’ve donated to Sunflower of Peace, but others are linked below. I’ve also linked a fundraiser for Save the Children’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund. They’re a BBB accredited charity and have a 4 star rating from Charity Navigator so you can be confident your donation will get to people who need it most. Please give what you can. Also if you live in the UK or Ukraine go buy some Atomik Vodka. It’s very nice and proceeds go to good causes. I’m not sure if you’ll still be able to get it in a timely manner. The apples used to make the vodka are grown in Narodychi which is, at time of writing, occupied by the Russians: The Podcast I was shilling: BIG CREDITS: Huge thanks to Tordmule who reached out and offered their music from their album white; heat. The video really wouldn’t have been the same without their music. Show them some love at their bandcamp here: Atumnmnmn - as always - for their wonderful music: Kevin MacLeod - the OG: RBMK-5000 for uploading high quality archival footage around the accident and wider Soviet Nuclear Power sector; as well as translations: Студія Peredova who made the really cool KGB classification video: Ukrainian Historian Eduard Andryushchenko (KGB Files on YouTube) for their video highlighting some of the things in the KGB archives, and their exhaustive work translating some of them into English as well as linking the full dossier of declassified KGB material. Their channel is here: Art3mis 444 - this video is so damn funny and it deserved to take off years ago. Go and watch it! Everyone who read a section from “Voices From Chernobyl“ The factcheckers who took time to review the video so I wasn’t entirely off base, and people at British Library who were able to get access to and translate the Ukrainian/Russian documents, as well as old news articles from the time And, of course, my lovely Patreons who believe in what I do enough to give me money to occassionaly put these kindsa things out.