Well this checks a few boxes for me.
General 80s nostalgia
80s pop culture and political sub-categories
Nuclear obliteration
And Kansas City/Kansas references
Yep, The Day After was a pretty big deal. And, perhaps, as relevant today as it has been for nearly 30 years.
The Day After traumatized a generation with the horrors of nuclear war
My favorite family story about The Day After was of some college friends of my parents who lived in Lawrence when the movie was being filmed. They showed up for the open casting calls but weren’t selected. They found out where they were filming one day and drove their VW back-and-forth on the nearest street with the 4-year-old waving every time they passed, hoping to show up in the background of a scene. When the movie finally aired, they were disappointed not to see themselves out of focus behind John Lithgow.
The videos embedded within this story are definitely worth your time, too.