How 'The Day After' Changed The Way Americans Considered the Dangers of Nuclear War

Summary

Podcast Title: All Of It
Host: Alison Stewart
Episode: How 'The Day After' Changed The Way Americans Considered the Dangers of Nuclear War
Release Date: June 12, 2025
Duration: Approximately 30 minutes

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of All Of It, hosted by Alison Stewart, the focus centers on the seminal 1983 television movie "The Day After" and its profound impact on American society's perception of nuclear war. The episode delves into how this groundbreaking film not only captivated over 100 million viewers but also influenced political discourse during the height of the Cold War.

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The Day After: A Cultural Milestone

Alison Stewart opens the discussion by highlighting the significance of "The Day After," a controversial movie that aired on ABC on November 20, 1983. The film depicted the harrowing consequences of a nuclear war, focusing on the devastation in a small Kansas town. Notably, President Ronald Reagan himself watched the film, describing it as "depressed" (02:11).

Interview with Jeff Daniels

Jeff Daniels, director of the documentary "Television Event," provides an in-depth look into the making of "The Day After." He reflects on the cultural context of the early 1980s, a period marked by heightened tensions and fear surrounding nuclear armament. Daniels questions how mainstream television, known for light-hearted shows like "Happy Days" and "The Love Boat," could present such a grave subject matter.

“What else can I. What else is out there?" [02:11]

Daniels explains that ABC Entertainment sought to boost ratings during the intense network wars by tackling a topic that resonated deeply with the American public. The film was envisioned not merely as entertainment but as a public service announcement, aiming to foster national dialogue about nuclear war's grim realities.

Political and Artistic Tensions

The collaboration between Hollywood and television presented unique challenges. Daniels recounts how Nicholas Meyer, known for directing "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," was initially hesitant but ultimately took on the role of director to lend prestige and gravitas to the project.

“They had to get the team together... Nicholas Meyer... was approached, and he was actually the fourth director approached.” [06:46]

The creative team faced the dilemma of balancing artistic integrity with television's ratings-driven demands. While the filmmakers aimed to present a raw and unfiltered portrayal of nuclear devastation, ABC sought ways to make the content more palatable for a broad audience, leading to compromises in the film's presentation.

Audience Reactions and Personal Stories

Throughout the episode, multiple callers share their personal memories and emotional responses to "The Day After." These anecdotes underscore the film's lasting impact on viewers across different demographics.

• Gail reminisces about watching the film with friends in various living rooms, reflecting on how technology and societal divisions remain unchanged since the 1980s. (12:04)

• Mark recalls a particularly memorable scene featuring a bucolic farm destroyed by a nuclear bomb, emphasizing the film's realistic portrayal and emotional depth. (17:11)

• James, whose father served in the US Air Force, discusses how the film altered his family's perception of the military and the Cold War, highlighting the film's role in bridging civilian and military understandings of nuclear risks. (20:26)

• Samantha Mathis shares a poignant memory of her mother's performance in the film, showcasing the personal sacrifices and emotional toll on actors involved in such a heavy narrative. (23:20)

President Reagan's Response

A significant portion of the discussion addresses President Reagan's reaction to "The Day After." Initially committed to a policy of "peace through strength," Reagan found himself grappling with the film's unsettling depiction of nuclear annihilation.

“The only time he actually mentioned the word depressed in his personal diaries was in response to watching the day after with his wife.” [26:34]

This reaction led Reagan to reconsider his administration's stance on nuclear armament, illustrating the film's tangible influence on national policy and leadership perspectives.

Making the Documentary: Television Event

Jeff Daniels elaborates on his documentary "Television Event," which explores the creation and legacy of "The Day After." He emphasizes the power of storytelling in fostering national conversations about dire topics.

“Being able to have these shared emotional experiences through storytelling, through art allows us to understand that we're not alone and that we can come together to meaningfully discuss whether we want this to be part of our reality.” [28:39]

Daniels highlights how the documentary not only revisits the historical context of the original film but also examines its enduring relevance in today's media-saturated and politically divided landscape.

Conclusion: The Enduring Legacy of Storytelling

Alison Stewart and Jeff Daniels conclude the episode by reflecting on the vital role of storytelling and media in shaping public consciousness and policy. The enduring legacy of "The Day After" serves as a testament to the profound impact that well-crafted narratives can have on societal attitudes and governmental decisions.

“These ways of storytelling allow us to understand things we would rather not talk about.” [28:39]

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Notable Quotes with Attributions and Timestamps

• President Ronald Reagan: "Depressed." (02:11)
• Nicholas Meyer: "Only you can prevent forest fires... and I didn't want you talking about how cute Smokey the Bear was, only you." (08:29)
• Brandon Stoddard: "Let's make something about nuclear war." (05:03)
• Alison Stewart: "Is it about understanding the fear that you feel can happen if these tens of thousands of bombs are brought out?" (13:16)
• Jeff Daniels: "The emotional aspect is what keeps us connected to our humanity." (22:01)

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Final Thoughts

This episode of All Of It masterfully intertwines historical analysis with personal narratives to illustrate how "The Day After" not only reflected but also influenced American society's engagement with the existential threat of nuclear war. Through insightful interviews and heartfelt listener contributions, Alison Stewart and Jeff Daniels underscore the enduring power of media to shape and reflect the cultural zeitgeist.

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Note: All timestamps correspond to the provided transcript and are indicative of the sections where quotes and discussions occur.

Transcript

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[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. This week, the music world lost two giants, Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone and Brian Wilson of the beach boys. Both were 82 years old. Coming up on tomorrow's show, we'll talk about their lives, careers and legacies with music journalist Alan Light. Plus, we'll want to hear what these two musicians meant to you. That's in the future. Now let's get this hour started with a film called television event. On November 20, 1983, more than 100 million Americans sat down on their couches and turned on ABC to watch a controversial movie that changed the course of the Cold War. The movie was called the Day After. It depicted what would happen if nuclear war broke out, focusing on the devastation of a small town in Kansas. The film starred Jason Robards, but otherwise was shot with mostly residents and extras from Kansas. Then President Ronald Reagan watched the film himself, and according to Reagan, the movie left him, quote, depressed. The Day after remains the most viewed TV movie in US History. A documentary screening now at the Film Forum goes beyond the scenes and tells the story of how the Day after was made, including interviews with ABC producers, the film's writers, directors and Reagan administration officials. The documentary is called Television Event, currently with daily screamings at the Film Forum. Its director is Jeff Daniels, who is with me now. Hey, Jeff.

[Jeff Daniels]

Hi, Alison. It's so great to be here.

[Alison Stewart]

How did ABC get a green light to develop a television movie about our nuclear holocaust in America?

[Jeff Daniels]

Exactly how? I think that was the question that I asked myself when I started looking into this television movie that I remember from when I was five years old in 1983. And you saw blankets, publicity everywhere. The bus stop that I had before getting to school, there was a huge poster of a mushroom cloud. I had questions, what is this? What does it mean? It wasn't really lost on me. So years later, I'm thinking, hold on a second. I remember this film. I remember the Day After. How on earth were would the makers of Happy Days, the Love Boat, Fantasy island, put nuclear war into the living room of American families?

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah. You had to think back to the 80s, just remind us what was the national discourse around nuclear weapons and nuclear war.

[Jeff Daniels]

This is where being a documentary filmmaker is interesting. I was five years old, so to speak. What I can speak to is the experience of being a child at that time and how I can understand that even at that age, this was a divided country. The talk around politics. Our family was not shy about talking about what was going on with Reagan, their opinions for or against. It was clear to me that this was a country that was having trouble speaking to each other. So to see a film like the Day after, really embrace this emotional connection so that the country could come together and actually discuss the same thing was significant and I thought worth remembering, especially now.

[Alison Stewart]

Listeners, were you one of the over.

[Caller]

100 million Americans who watched the Day after on ABC that night in 1983?

[Jeff Daniels]

I was.

[Alison Stewart]

I was 17. What do you remember about seeing it?

[Caller]

What emotions did you have? Give us a call. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. What about the movie had an impact on you? Did it change how you thought about the Cold War and nuclear weapons? Our Phone number is 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. What do you remember how it was talked about with your family or friends or at school? They had special screenings at school. Our phone number was 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. Why did ABC News think it was worth pursuing this project, given how people were feeling about the Cold War?

[Jeff Daniels]

So this was ABC Entertainment that was doing this project, and they didn't see it as a felt. I guess this was a time when ABC was trying to maintain high ratings. This was the middle of the network wars and anything that they could do to draw in an audience was a high priority. Luckily, they had someone like Brandon Stoddard. This is a person who brought Schoolhouse Rock to television. He had a bit of a midlife crisis, I think, at this time, and thought, huh, am I really going to make a TV movie called Dallas, Texas Cheerleaders 2? What else can I. What else is out there? And so the thought of what is on everyone's minds to a point where they almost don't want to think about it. And unfortunately, nuclear war was rearing its head in a major way. President Reagan was telling America something it seemed, it wanted to hear at that time, that the only way to have peace is through strength and to build more missiles to try and catch up on the Cold War and nuclear armaments. And that scared people to a point. Where they either couldn't stop thinking about it or they would rather not at all think about it. And that wasn't lost on Brandon Stoddard. He said, let's do this. You know, let's. Let's make something about nuclear war.

[Caller]

All right. You had Brandon Stoddard on board. Who else was involved?

[Jeff Daniels]

So then you had to get the team together, and that's. We had a lot of fun talking to the people behind the making of this film. They wanted to have a really good director, someone who could bring prestige to television. And so Nicholas Meyer, who had just come off of the Star Trek film, the Wrath of Khan, was approached, and he was actually the fourth director approached.

[Caller]

That was funny. He's like, yeah, he was number four.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

Yeah.

[Jeff Daniels]

Every other prestigious director from Hollywood said, television now. Yeah, yeah. Television is not. It was a very different animal back then. And so they got a lot of people together to write a script to get the film done. And the thing is that everyone who came on board was very energetic about making a statement about nuclear war. They wanted to make this as real as possible because they had an opportunity to speak to more people than they ever could. This is a time in television when you had more people watching network television than ever before or since.

[Caller]

We got a text here that Sundays, I was 12 at the time. I don't remember if I saw it live, but it almost didn't matter. We all knew about it, and it was terrifying. Let's listen to a clip from the film. This is where director Nick Meyer explains the motivation for the story. This is from television event.

[Nicholas Meyer]

I didn't want people talking about how well executed it was or how cool the special effects were. These were all cop outs. I wanted to make it like a public service announcement.

[Samantha Mathis]

Only you can prevent forest fires.

[Nicholas Meyer]

Only you can prevent forest fires. And I didn't want you talking about how cute Smokey the Bear was, only you. You had to get around the paradox, which is no one wants to think about nuclear war. They'd rather think about anything, then think about it. I just wanted the it.

[Alison Stewart]

So that sounds very high and mighty, but there had to be ratings involved as well.

[Jeff Daniels]

Yes, absolutely. I think that's the wonderful struggle that I saw here between Hollywood and television. You had this Hollywood director with this intention of trying to show America what nuclear war would. Surviving that nuclear war would actually look like. And then you had ABC who said, okay, how can we take the blood out of the picture, though? And there seems to be a lot of death around here. Can we minimize that can you imagine.

[Alison Stewart]

This text says I was 12 and a nerd. And I really wanted to watch the Day after because it was directed by Nicholas Meyer, who directed Star Treks 2, which is very cool to me. Then Day after changed the way I saw politics and war. Did the creative team, were they aware, I guess they were aware of Reagan politics. Did they take that into account, our.

[Caller]

Country'S politics at the time?

[Jeff Daniels]

They absolutely did. And I think that this is an interesting discussion around art. Is art that speaks to the human condition politically aimed, Is it really going in one way or the other? If you're criticizing the policies of a government that's, you know, that's around at that moment, Is there something more universal here? And so when I. I think that's why I saw this TV movie that needed to speak to the broadest audience possible in America during a time when it was so polarized. This. There's an opportunity to learn from, from this. How do they work together to. To care deeply but hold lightly in order to make something that is truly without further dividing the nation.

[Caller]

It's interesting making a movie for tv. Now it seems sort of similar, TV and movie, you know, it's one in one one way, one one other way.

[Alison Stewart]

But back in the 80s, it was.

[Caller]

Very different the way you made a movie for tv.

[Alison Stewart]

What did it mean to make a.

[Caller]

Movie for TV as opposed to a film?

[Jeff Daniels]

It meant that you needed to keep people watching, you needed to keep everything bright and, and alive. And this seemed to go against every intention of the artists who were working on this film, on this TV movie. Trying to draw people in with intrigue that's personal, or things that are involved with, you know, people's personalities or their great acting ability or the great special effects that you can have. All the people behind this film felt that is going to detract people from the main message, which is, this is what nuclear war looks like. This is what surviving, quote, unquote, nuclear war looks like. They felt that that emotional impact would really draw audiences in. And it turns out they were right.

[Caller]

Let's talk to Gail, who is calling in. Hi, Gail. Thank you so much for calling in.

[Gail]

Hi.

[Caller]

Hi, Gail. Hey.

[Gail]

Hi. Love your show. Hello. You know, it's funny, it seems to be in the air, thinking about the early 80s, you know, and it was such a different time. For example, my life at that point. I had just graduated from college. I was working as an actor or trying to. And living in a tiny little place in the village with my then boyfriend, now husband. And we did not have a television set, but we scheduled an appointment, a date with friends, you know, in a different part of the village to sit in their living rooms and watch this show. It just strikes me that, you know, the technology has gone so far since then, and yet here we are still worried about the same things, and here we are still so divided really, about the same things in this country.

[Caller]

Gail, thank you so much for calling. This text is interesting, and you might have the answer for it. It says, what I remember most is Jesse Helms, or was it another Republican saying he would organize a boycott against all of the sponsors.

[Jeff Daniels]

What happened there was a thought that this film was a threat to Ronald Reagan's strength peace through strength policy, that it would make people afraid of anything nuclear, and that that was putting the US In a bad position to try and essentially outscare the Soviet Union. And this, you know, it started this very interesting conversation in America about what strength means. Is it about understanding the is it about actual strength and, you know, massive buildup of nuclear weapons and bigger and better weapons, more sophisticated, or is it about understanding the fear that you feel can happen if these tens of thousands of bombs are brought out? How can you the world would not be the same way ever again. What is that risk there? And trying to embrace that fear, I think was something that this TV movie allowed the US to do, regardless of what you thought was right.

[Alison Stewart]

We are speaking to Jeff Daniels. He's the director of the documentary television event at tels. The story of the making of the television movie the Day after, which controversially aired in 1983 on ABC. The doc is screening now at Film Forum. Were you one of the 100 million people who watched the Day after on ABC? What do you remember about the experience? Our Phone lines are open. 2124-3396-9221-2433, WNYC. After the break, we'll talk about the filming. Stay with us. This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. My guest is Jeff Daniels. He's the director of the documentary television event. It tells the story of the making.

[Caller]

Of the television movie the Day after, and it aired on ABC. This text says, I was 10 when the day after aired, and I grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, where it's partially set. My gym teacher was an extra. The movie was terrifying to watch. I saw the documentary last weekend and it was equally chilling to see shots of familiar hometown landmarks with missiles overhead and the destruction. The clip from the trailer of the radio operator saying, this is Lawrence, Kansas Is anybody out there? It's still seared into my memory. Why did they decide to shoot in Lawrence, Kansas?

[Jeff Daniels]

Lawrence, Kansas is geographically the center of the continental United States. So I think that the thought was, how can we get into this middle American idea of town, city life. You had Kansas City nearby, you had Lawrence, which is a college town. I think that they wanted to try and hit, you know, this is television. They were trying to hit the largest audience and they were able to speak to, you know, it's a, a relatively diverse cast crew as well that was in this film. So I think that they were trying to really cast a wide net. And interestingly, there was a study done on what the effects of nuclear war would actually look like. That was done by the Carter administration and that used a college town as a example of what would happen. And the writer and director used that guide almost page for page and to play that out and show what nuclear war would look like.

[Caller]

Let's talk to Mark, who's calling in from Union County, New Jersey. Hi, Mark, you're on the air.

[Mark]

Hello. Yes. Remember I was a teenager in my twenties then. And the scene that stayed with me is there's a bucolic farm where the nuclear bomb is underneath. Underneath the farm and maybe North Dakota. It's away from Kansas, I believe. Anyway, you're getting the prep of what's coming. What's coming? They're threatening, we're threatening. And then you show this farm and the viewer knows that the bomb is nearby and you just hear the ground opens up and you hear whoosh. And there goes an American bomb headed for Russia. And you know what's coming next. And it's so long ago, but I'll never forget that scene. It's so well done. And Robards was excellent as always.

[Caller]

Yeah, we should say that Jason Robard stars in this film. He got on board in an interesting way. Would you share that story?

[Jeff Daniels]

Certainly, yeah. He was sitting next to Nicholas Meyer on a plane on Eastern Airlines. And Nicholas Meyer was, you know, just regular chit chat on Hollywood. What are you up to? What are you doing? And Nicholas Meyer explained this film about nuclear war and said, hey, you know, there are no agents around. How about I take advantage of the moment and say, would you like to star in it? And Robard said, well, beat sign in petitions. So plenty of plenty of work being done in Hollywood. This was the time of the anti nuclear movement. America was alive with these protests and there are short films being made at this time. It was very much part of the.

[Alison Stewart]

Zeitgeist let's talk to Nina, who is calling us from the Upper west side. Hi, Nina. Thank you so much for calling all of it.

[Nina]

Hi, I'm excited to call. I have two very vivid memories of the film. One was when Jane Alexander played her husband's voice on the answering machine and then took the batteries out to use in a flashlight.

[Jeff Daniels]

It was a very emotional scene that was tested.

[Nina]

Underplay. Underplayed.

[Jeff Daniels]

Yeah. That was.

[Nina]

Was when Jane Alexander wrapped her little boy in his marimecco quilt and buried him.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Jeff Daniels]

Tragic. There were a number of other films made at this time, and Testament was one of those slow burner films that showed the day to day life of an American family as they go through the days following a nuclear attack in a suburban town. It's just heartbreaking. And that came out at the same time as a television event. It's unfortunate that you didn't have 100 million people watching Testament. But, you know, it hit me too, when I saw Testament. That was.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's talk to James. Hey, James, thanks for calling all of it.

[James]

Hi. My father was in the US Air Force and we were actually stationed in Germany at Air Force headquarters at Ramstein Air Force Base. Before that, I was actually born in Japan. We were stationed at Yokota Air Force Base. And we watched the day after on afrts, the American Army Radio Television Service. And it changed our family's relationship not just with the military, but how it was portrayed. But we. We were evacuated regularly into nuclear fallout shelters as a drill. So seeing the movie and how it impacted, quote, unquote, regular American people's lives. When we moved back to the States, this was a part of, like our family conversation of what would we do if this happened in 85, 86? And it had a very deep impact with my understanding of the Cold War and my father's relationship to it and the military and the whole presentation, it's terrifying that we need to be having these conversations still, but we need something like this in our zeitgeist that connects the American military and the American civilian population with understanding what the risks really are.

[Jeff Daniels]

Thank you.

[Caller]

Thank you so much for that eloquent statement. You know what I thought was interesting in the film is they showed the graphic diners or the scene designers showed sketches of what it looked like. And there was a Japanese woman who peered over their shoulders and she said, yes, it does look like that. It broke my heart.

[Jeff Daniels]

To see this town of Lawrence, Kansas, this small college town city that was completely taken over by Hollywood. You had people all over the place. Looking at storyboards and trying to recreate what a tent city would look like. And yeah, there was this moment where a Japanese woman who was either at Nagasaki or Hiroshima said, this is absolutely what it looks like. And I think it's brought up quite a lot for people who are even in the film then, speaking to them now, the trauma that they went through, seeing their entire town turned into a post apocalyptic nightmare, it was quite affecting for them and it stayed with them now. And, you know, I hope that making a film like this allows people to talk about this so that we understand the importance that the emotional argument has in otherwise political conversations, conversations about power, about science, you know, it's. The emotional aspect is what keeps us connected to our humanity.

[Caller]

Let's talk to Samantha, who is calling in. Hi, Samantha, thanks for calling, all of it.

[Samantha Mathis]

Hey, longtime listener, first time caller. Yeah, Samantha Mathis here. I'm just coming in late to the conversation, but I realized as you were talking that you're talking about the day after, which my mom. Mom was in. And I had to pick up the phone and call. This was a really important project for her to be a part of. Her name was Bibi Besh and she played a woman on a farm. And I was probably 14 or 15 when this aired on television. And I just remember how deeply rocked I was by the movie. And her performance of. She was making a bed, wasn't she? Making a bed, trying to make order of life in the midst of the impending doom. And it just rocked me. And as a kid of the 70s and 80s, I mean, it was such a prevalent part of our childhood of the fear of nuclear war. So I'm really looking forward to seeing your doc.

[Caller]

I think you see in the documentary that she had to do the scene twice.

[Jeff Daniels]

Yeah, we actually really look a lot at Pebe Besh's performance and it starts the film out as well. The Scream.

[Samantha Mathis]

Oh, my God.

[Alison Stewart]

Wow.

[Jeff Daniels]

Yeah. You know, her scream that she has and discussion of people who are on the set at that time saying, you know, that there's nothing worse than hearing a mother's scream at a time when there's no hope. Incredible what your mother brought. And it brought the director, Nicholas Meyer, to reflect quite emotionally on what she gave the film, her acting ability and emotionally and what she had to give. It's incredible.

[Caller]

Thanks so much for coming.

[Gail]

Oh, my.

[Samantha Mathis]

Well, I really look forward to seeing it. Hopefully when I go off the air, someone can tell me the details. But yeah, I remember very clearly when she had that scene to do. And she honestly Talked about imagining my death and what that would do to her.

[Jeff Daniels]

Wow. I'd love to hear more from you. Absolutely.

[Caller]

Samantha, thank you so much for calling in. I wanted to ask about the president who saw the movie. His administration wanted to talk to you about the movie. We actually do. I have him here. I have the. The.

[Jeff Daniels]

The.

[Caller]

There it is. My remarks before, the day after. These are from the presidential library where he talks about having seen the movie, how important the movie is. Also. We sort of uphold the United States stance, but it could change a little bit what happened with the Reagan administration in this film.

[Jeff Daniels]

Ronald Reagan was from Hollywood. He understood the power and impact that good storytelling could have. And with television at a time when you could get an audience of 100 million people watching the same thing at the same time, he knew that this could be a threat.

[Alison Stewart]

There's this line from Ed Meese to Kevin Hopkins. It says, you and the President should view this film if you have not done so already at the earliest possible date. No review can adequately prepare you for the impact of the movie.

[Jeff Daniels]

So I think, considering that the Reagan administration saw this as something that could really ruin their plan to try and build more missiles in order to, in their mind, prevent a nuclear war from happening, which, you know, historians may say, well, it worked. They thought, what can we do about this movie? And so watching this movie as an actor and being affected by it, as he said in his diary, I think the only time he actually mentioned the word depressed in his personal diaries was in response to watching the day after with his wife. And so it hit him, and he started to ask questions he hadn't before. He was not a part of any of the briefings on the effects of nuclear war, on the state of what would happen, what we should do in the event of a nuclear war, suddenly he was interested. He was listening for the first time and heard things such as, well, you know, we feel like the fallout in America would be about 150 million dead if we won. Won a nuclear war. He mentioned that in his diary as well and said, this is crazy.

[Caller]

Let's hear from Christine calling in from Westchester.

[Alison Stewart]

Hi, Christine.

[Gail]

Hi. I remember watching the movie. I was in college.

[Alison Stewart]

You know what, Christine?

[Caller]

Unfortunately, your phone is cutting out. I'm going to say what you told our screener, and then I'll ask you a question and we'll wrap up. She was just saying how she saw it growing up in college, and then she didn't see news media covering the war in a similar way. It affects our willingness to stomach war by the way we cover it compared to what this movie showed. When you're thinking about people watching this, a lot of people on our staff hadn't, hadn't heard of it before. When you think about people watching this for the first time, what do you hope that they'll talk about after? What do you hope they'll take away from the movie?

[Jeff Daniels]

This is, I think, what really hit me as an independent filmmaker about the power of art in any form. This was a TV movie of the week that 100 million Americans were watching at the same time. It screened in theaters all over the world. And what it provided was an opportunity to share an otherwise completely indigestible subject like nuclear war. What it would look like, what it would feel like, and make it prime time family viewing. That's an incredible accomplishment. And it allowed people who, regardless of what they thought about what Reagan was doing or about nuclear war, how to prevent, allowed them to feel on an emotional level what this would actually be like so that they could, the next day, whether they saw it or not, in some fashion, they were talking about it with people at the water cooler. I remember I was five years old. They talked about it at school and said, you parents may have seen this. Mr. Rogers had a week long episode about nuclear war and what that would look like in the land of make believe. These ways of storytelling allow us to understand things we would rather not talk about. And that is something that is tragically evergreen for us. We're living at a time now, I think, where we're bombarded by bad news and we're seemingly more divided than ever. Yet being able to have these shared emotional experiences through storytelling, through art allows us to understand that we're not alone and that we can come together to meaningfully discuss whether we want this to be part of our reality.

[Alison Stewart]

The name of the film is Television Event. It's screening now at the Film Forum. Thanks to director Jeff Daniels for joining us. Thank you, Jeff.

[Jeff Daniels]

Thank you, Alison.

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