09: A Doomsday Gap (Part 01)

Nuclear deterrence is the concept that the mere possession of nuclear weapons, particularly by rival states, prevents their use. The only way to avoid the end of the world, we are told, is to stockpile enough weapons to end the world, several times over. This schizophrenic worldview has turned the United States into a nuclear death cult.
In this first half of A Doomsday Gap, we'll cover the arc of the deterrence mindset, from Truman's early stockpiling, to Reagan's interstellar force field fantasies, to Obama's atomic cash infusion, to Trump's recent announcement of the military contractor…