The Atomic Bomb & the Secret City

Besides language, religion and social customs, one of the most important things that North America inherited from Britain in its early years was its legal system, including the death penalty.But how did capital punishment evolve after the American Revolution? How has the nation g ...  Show more

We've all seen the famous painting of General George Washington leading his men across the icy waters of the Delaware River. But what happened next? Today, we're exploring the Battle of Trenton, where Washington struck a devastating blow against the British and their Hessian alli ...  Show more

In 1939 Franklin D Roosevelt received a letter from Albert Einstein, warning him that the Nazis might be developing nuclear weapons. America has to act fast.

What follows is the creation of a secret city in the rural area of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Aroun ...

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the race to build an atom bomb in the USA during World War Two. Before the war, scientists in Germany had discovered the potential of nuclear fission and scientists in Britain soon argued that this could be used to make an atom bomb, against which ...  Show more

In Spring of 1943, hundreds of scientists and technicians moved to a remote location in the mountains of New Mexico to work at a secret laboratory. Under the guidance of their leader, J. Robert Oppenheimer, they rushed to figure out how to channel the power of an atomic chain rea ...  Show more