How a Myth Started the Nuclear Arms Race - W2W 4700:15:54

The Bomber Gap: a mid-1950s panic that convinced Washington the USSR was outproducing the U.S. in long-range strategic bombers and triggered a massive nuclear buildup. This episode traces Eisenhowers New Look, Curtis LeMay and SACs push for jets, the Dulles brothers influence, the M-4 Bison bluff, and the Symington hearings that turned bad intel into national policy. Learn how politics, optics, and deliberate Soviet deception combined to accelerate the arms race and reshape deterrence for decades.

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Hosted by: Spartacus Olsson
Director: Clara Wahlig
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Co-produced by: Sebastian Brandstetter
Creative Director: Iryna Dulka
Community Management: Anna Deinhard & Tom Aldis
Written by: Spartacus Olsson
Research by: Spartacus Olsson
Map animations by: Andreas Olsson
Map research by: Andreas Olsson
Edited by: Karolina Dołęga
Color grading by: Karolina Dołęga
Artwork by: Anna Deinhard
Colorization Thumbnail by: https://klimbim2014.wordpress.com/
Sound design by: Marek Kamiński

Colorizations by:
Mikołaj Uchman

Archive footage: https://www.screenocean.com

Image sources:
National Archives NARA
Library of Congress
M-4 Bison sketch by Kaboldy https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?searchKaboldy+m-4&titleSpecial%3AMediaSearch&typeimage

Soundtracks from Epidemic Sound:
When Tomorrow Comes - Jon Bjork
Somethin to Talk About - Booker and the Yeomans
Fly Baby Fly - Fabien Tell
Last Point of Safe Return - Fabien Tell
March Of The Brave 10 - Rannar Sillard
Please Hear Me Out STEMS INSTRUMENTS - Philip Ayers
Rememberance - Fabien Tell
Secret Cargo - Craft Case
Suspiral - Anthony Earls
The End Of The World 2 - Håkan Eriksson
Weapon of Choice - Fabien Tell


A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.