Nuclear Spin Cycle Productions is proud to present Radioactive RoadTrippin’ (R&R)—a travelogue show produced for YouTube. R&R tells the story of a disillusioned nuclear weapons expert who hits the road for 365 days, traveling across the United States in a truck camper with her two dogs and hoping to find a way to make a midlife career transition into TV and film production. Along the way, she visits more than 65 historical and current sites of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, chats with locals and experts about the risk of nuclear war, and documents her own life-changing journey.

The power of storytelling to change thinking has been well-recognized. But what form should stories about nuclear weapons take to raise awareness and catalyze change? What genres will have the most impact? How do we balance fear with hope? To have a transformative effect, the stories should be proximate, personal, and take place in the present—a rather tall order given the characteristics of nuclear weapons, which tend to be abstract, impersonal, and deeply buried in the consciousness of a passing generation. The show will be designed around these three critical aspects:

PROXIMATE – Nuclear weapons seem abstract to most Americans—something far away, somewhere out there, and separate from their daily lives. What if we could make nuclear weapons proximate for regular Americans through active geolocation? Could we show them their geographic nuclear realities in a way that would transform their thinking, stimulate a conversation, and empower people to take action to reduce the risk of nuclear war?

PERSONAL – Stories are transformative when an audience can step into the shoes of dynamic and relatable characters to experience the story for themselves. This provides the audience with an opportunity to change their mindsets. What if we could make nuclear weapons personal through stories about the mid-life crisis of a nuclear weapons expert? On one hand, an epic, life-changing, cross-country journey, living in a camper with two dogs surrounded by the beauty of great outdoors illustrates what is truly at stake should nuclear war ever occur. This approach also provides an entry point to regular Americans across a broad political spectrum to learn about nuclear weapons and their risks.

PRESENT – The growing gap in the historical knowledge of nuclear weapons has led to complacency about the risks of nuclear war amongst younger generations of Americans. Many compelling stories have been lost in history books and real life stories buried in the consciousness of a passing generation. What if we could bring these stories back into the present by retelling them and explaining their implications for today’s context.