The False Alarm That Almost Started a Nuclear War. Plus: the Tupac Trial, With Joel Anderson.
Wait a Second...Show Notes
Wait a Second… is kicking off Terror Month with the most terrifying idea of all: nuclear annihilation. Following news last month that an AI chatbot nearly got us into a war with China, Jason and Tyler look back at the early-’80s incidents that nearly brought the Cold War to a boil. With the help of The Ringer’s Joel Anderson, they talk NORAD and real-life war games.
Later, they break down the Tupac murder trial and conviction of Duane “Keefe D” Davis, which Joel wrote about on The Ringer last week.
Today’s agenda:
(00:00) The real-life ‘WarGames’
(02:39) Our guest today: Joel Anderson
(04:00) Could AI accidentally start a war?
(08:17) Setting the stage for a nuclear near-miss
(26:17) The Cold War gets very, very close
(39:13) The Soviet “Dead Hand” System
(42:30) The Tupac murder verdict and the conspiracy theories
(53:56) The LAPD, Keefe D, and the case against him
(58:08) The American Idol Murder Case
(01:03:17) A Bob Iger COVID conspiracy
(01:06:59) Hackers breach the FBI. What did they want?
(01:09:49) The mysterious Milwaukee “bad boy” sound
Read Joel’s piece on the Keefe D verdict here: https://www.theringer.com/2026/09/23/music/tupac-shakur-murder-trial-keffe-d-davis-conviction-conspiracy-theories
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Hosts: Jason Concepcion and Tyler Parker
Guest: Joel Anderson
Producer: Justin Sayles
Video editing: Jordan Satmary
Engineering: Jason Arreola
Social media: Paige Ransbury
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