The anti-Bomb movement appeared, in mid-1958, to be having some effect. Bomb-test limits were being discussed at the highest levels of government, and the efforts of Pauling, Russell, and others seemed to be giving legitimacy to those who wanted to lessen the world’s load of fallout and decrease the threat of nuclear war. Pauling by now was the most prominent peace activist in the US.

In May, he was invited to appear on Meet the Press, an important televised public affairs program, to explain his ideas. It turned into a grilling by the four-member panel of journalists. Instead of a free platform to make his case, Pauling was interrupted and asked about his Communist-front activities, his support of the Rosenbergs, his carbon-14 pronouncements, and how he raised money to distribute his petitions for peace. At the end of his half-hour on national television, he felt he had gotten across few of his points about fallout and peace. He stalked out the studio with Ava Helen by his side. They were both outraged. Slowly, however, the tide of world opinion was shifting, and politicians began to sense the change. Before the end of 1958, the US and the USSR had both stopped their nuclear tests, putting in place a moratorium until talks could be held on an anti-testing agreement.