Broken Arrows, Part 1: Whoops, Where's Our Nu...

By any measure, Margaretha Zelle led a fascinating life. As a Dutch dancer, socialite and courtesan called Mata Hari, her globe-trotting lifestyle caught the attention of both German and French intelligence agencies. And she happily took money from both sides. Yet, as Ben, Noel, ...  Show more

Nowadays, pretty much everyone knows that nuclear weapons are incredibly dangerous -- but, not too long ago, military leaders saw these things as shiny new toys. Sure, they spent a lot of time trying to make bombs bigger. But they also spent a lot of time trying to make bombs sma ...  Show more

Since the US bombing of Japan in World War II, the world entire has remained terrified of nuclear weapons. Even as scientists and scholars spent decades warning about the existential threat posed by technology that can literally end civilization, countries across the planet raced ...  Show more

This week, Chris and Jonathan explore one of the world's most dangerous technologies. How do nuclear weapons work? Why are uranium and plutonium important components? What’s the difference between a fission and a fusion bomb? Tune in to learn more.

Where did the world’s most devastating weapon come from? In a four-part series, we go behind the scenes at America's nuclear laboratories to understand how a scientific-mystery story about the ingredients of matter led to a world-changing (and second-world-war-ending) bomb less t ...  Show more

After the U.S. military dropped the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world roared with questions: what long-term health risks could atomic weapons carry? How did the Soviet Union build their own bomb so quickly? And did the Manhattan Project's scientists have hel ...  Show more