I live in NYC … and we have a nearby nuke, just up the Hudson River, with one of the worst safety records in the country. I’ve always worried about accidents there, and still do. To make matters worse, one of the 9/11 planes flew right over Indian Point on its way to the WTC … had the plane crashed into the nuke instead of the tower, the casualties could have been massively higher.

So my one really serious bit of post-9/11 paranoia has been to purchase a supply of potassium iodide pills, and carry a few with me always, since it’s only really effective if you take it right when exposed to radiation. I’m old enough that it wouldn’t make a huge difference for me, but it could make all the difference in the world in my kids’ lives. Am I crazy? Perhaps. But the twenty bucks or so I spent on those pills has given me a teeny bit of peace of mind.