Nuclear Weapons: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
Nuclear Weapons: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) on HackerTube: recommended by 4 Hacker News commenters across 4 separate months, 2014–2026.
A Last Week Tonight segment on the US nuclear arsenal and how poorly it is maintained and secured. It covers weapons accidents, outdated launch protocols and security problems.
What HN commenters said
8 Hacker News comments link this video. Each one links back to its thread.
JamesbeamApr 2026Recommends
Reminds me a lot of his report on nuclear security. ▶ this video A lot of times as a citizen I think you feel that something is "off" with different Government jobs but can’t put what exactly. And then you watch one of those reports and be like "holy duck, how can it be this bad and what are they doing to my people and with my taxes?" Different country, but a lot of times when dealing with the government I think why are the people working there always grumpy, and then one gave me the "tour" of what they have to deal with that is hidden from the public eye. Working toilets? Nah, they had to go outside around the building into Porta Potty’s. He showed me like fifty places in the building with mold. Not the fun white one you get on cheese. I am talking about black fungus out of stranger things eating half the wall. Some offices had signs saying working in a different office today with the date printed to 1998. Inside water was dripping from the ceiling. He is like that’s why we are grumpy. Ever since I bring a piece of cake and some hot coffee when I have to deal with government employees and thank them for their service. They are allowed to be grumpy working under conditions I would expect from a third world country.
in “Great at gaming? US air traffic control wants you to apply” · View on HN
cf141q5325Jun 2019Recommends
Also, a list of the nuclear weapons which got lost [link] There is a drove of stories around nuclear weapons, I also enjoyed "Missile doors left open while Air Force nuclear officer slept" with the explanation, that they left it open for the food delivery guy. [link] John Olivers episode on it is also amazing. ▶ this video For a weird one meet one of the masterminds responsible for them: ▶ this video
in “NSA Improperly Collected U.S. Phone Records a Second Time” · View on HN
yeukhonSep 2017Recommends
Nuclear warhead security has always been problematic, not just the facility producing the materials. Watch [1] because reading the rest just make everyone dizzy. Our launch protocol relies on very outdated technology. Not that there is anything wrong with old technology in general (as long as the protocol is well-established)... We don't even want to bring up the recent unfortunate Navy crashes... we ought to really step up. "Shoot yourself in the foot." [1]: ▶ this video [2]: [link] [3]: [link] [4]: [link]
in “‘Criticality safety event’ occurred at LANL’s plutonium facility” · View on HN
1qaz2wsx3edcJul 2014Recommends
I'm guessing this popped up here after appearing on reddit yesterday. John Oliver did a good report on it. ▶ this video [link] It's pretty frakked up. Edit: Oh, and the cold war is heating up: [link] None of this is settling.
in “Two nuclear bombs nearly detonated in North Carolina in 1961” · View on HN
PeterStuerJan 2020Cites it
The pro-nuclear lobby likes to pretend it offers a clean solution. I really want to believe, as it would make things easy. Sadly, not only is nuclear not clean, the worst part is humans can't handle the required responsibility for this technology. ▶ this video [link]
in “Germany is moving beyond nuclear power, but at what cost?” · View on HN
mikejbSep 2017Cites it
I don't understand how that addresses the NK's advantage point. Also, if risk is an actual issue, how do 10 nukes in NK justify this extend of worry, in contrast to the weapons Russia and the US have? (For some reason I'm reminded of John Oliver's piece on Nuclear Weapons safety in the US [1]). If humanity is to be worried about NK having them, why shouldn't we be equally worried about Russia, China, France, the US, etc.? [1] ▶ this video
in “CTBTO statement on the unusual seismic event detected in the DPRK” · View on HN
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d0mineOct 2016Cites it
Again, Russia won't even get a bronze medal by the "active military" metric. Unless you would call North Korea a superpower too; it is the poor metric. I give you nuclear weapons. Only US has more nuclear weapons. But does it matter in the real world? ▶ this video (imagine what happens in Russia that has military budget 10 times less than US and no less corruption). Though I still don't understand the logic: Russia has nuclear weapons and therefore it is a superpower compared to US and China? (non-existent political power, isolated, under economic sanctions--what the word "superpower" even means in that case). I understand something has to justify an enormous US military budget--if you don't have real threats; you have to invent them. It wouldn't be unusual that a war were started under false pretences anyway. (if a presidential candidate can laugh while talking about the rape of a 12-year-old girl; she wouldn't even blink before launching the next war [link] )
in “U.S. government accuses Russia of hacking campaign to influence elections” · View on HN
allendoerferApr 2015Cites it
My problem with nuclear disasters or really any kind of bigger scale environmental damage is, that you have no control over other people's actions and failures. You therefore can not argue, that the technology is fine as long as we all use it securely, because you simply can not ensure that for countries you have no control over. And it is not only the small countries. We trust developed nations with nuclear technology, when we really should not [0]. Fukushima happened, many smaller scale incidents in the US happened [1] and in Germany the nuclear waste is a constant issue [2]. Unfortunately when using a shared resource like "world security", the free rider problem occurs, so everybody keeps using it. When you enlarge the time period in which we use nuclear power/weapons long enough the probability, that we mess things up on an even larger scale than Chernobyl or Fukushima ultimately approaches 1. While I hate, that people forget that nuclear power does run on fuel and we have to handle the waste for generations to come, I am very thankful, that they also forget to think of peak uranium [3], which in my mind as a layman might solve the problem. [0]: ▶ this video [1]: [link] [2]: [link] [3]: [link]
in “The Woman Who Ate Chernobyl's Apples” · View on HN