CHICAGO — Yes, the Doomsday Clock folks say, they are, indeed, in the "pocket of Big Truth."
The University of Chicago-affiliated Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, keepers of the clock, which is adjusted to reflect the dangers of the world, found itself in the TV drama spotlight Sunday when it played a role in the storyline of CBS-TV's Madam Secretary.
The drama, seen by about 8 million viewers on Easter Sunday, stars Tea Leoni as U.S. Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord. Sunday's episode, "On the Clock," featured Leoni's office, for political reasons, trying to convince the folks who control the Doomsday Clock not to move it forward.
The White House learns there is a rip-roaring party always held by the Bulletin's staff before the clock's new time position is publicly announced. Some members of the Secretary of State's staff crash the party to try to convince the keepers to change their minds.
A (real) spokeswoman for the Bulletin said Monday, "alas, there is not party" before the clock is adjusted but added "several members of our staff would now like to plan for one."
Janice Sinclaire, communications director for the Bulletin, added that to her knowledge "there never has been political pressure regarding the clock time" but that the announcement typically generates "whether we've moved the minute hand too much or not enough."
In the show, one White House worker observes of the keepers of the clock: "You can't dissuade people with that much integrity. They're in the pocket of Big Truth."
To which Sinclaire responds, "Yes, we are in the pocket of Big Truth! Our boards take the role of 'Keeper of the Clock' very seriously."
The clock is designed to warn the public "about how close we are to destroying our world with technologies of our own making," according to Bulletin's site.
The Bulletin was founded in 1945 by U of C-based Manhattan Project scientists Eugene Rabinowitch and Hyman Goldsmith. When the clock was created in 1947, it reflected the dangers of nuclear weapons, especially in light of the chilly relationship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The Bulletin's Science and Security Board meets twice a year to discuss world events and, now, climate change.
Made up of scientists and other experts, the board currently has the clock set at 3 minutes to midnight.
The closest they've been was in 1953 — set at 11:58 — when the U.S. and Soviet Union each tested thermonuclear weapons six months apart. The furthest, at 17 minuted to midnight, was in 1991 when the Soviet Union and the U.S. signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
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