Jul 11

Selects: The First Road Trip

Back when cars were a brand new thing, before people even knew they'd stick around, two men and a dog drove from San Francisco to New York. This classic episode has their story.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

49m 52s

Jul 9

Eleanor Roosevelt: Best First Lady

Eleanor Roosevelt was something else. We can't get into it here, but just wait until you listen to this episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

47m 29s

Jul 8

Short Stuff: Great Britain

Now that it’s been 250 years since America split from England, we figure enough time has passed that we can finally learn the difference between the UK, Great Britain, and the British Isles.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

12m 33s

May 2025

What happens in a nuclear war?

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

1h 14m

Jan 2018

The Cold War - Nuclear Fear | 3

What is the United States to do when direct conflict with the Soviet Union promises almost certain annihilation? They turned to proxy wars and psychological warfare with the threat of nuclear weapons keeping both countries in check. Ever wondered how an atom bomb works? We’ll cov ... Show More

41m 56s

Oct 2025

The Cold War

For decades after the Second World War, the Soviet Union and the United States of America were locked in a conflict of ideology that took the planet to the brink of catastrophe. Known as the Cold War, it was an era of paranoia, fear and mutual suspicion, where the contest for sup ... Show More

57m 50s

Jul 2020

#210 — The Logic of Doomsday

Sam Harris speaks with William J. Perry and Lisa Perry about the ever-present threat of nuclear war. They discuss the history of nuclear weapons, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the present threat of accidental nuclear war, nuclear terrorism, unil ... Show More

1h 46m

Jun 2024

WAGD: The Blinding Future of Nuclear Weapons

Much of our discussions about nuclear weapons focus on Oppenheimer, the Manhattan Project, or the Cold War. But what does the current nuclear age really look like? Sarah Scoles joins Heather Williams to discuss her book “Countdown” and share first hand reporting on the scientists ... Show More

34m 35s

Feb 2020

#186 — The Bomb

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sam Harris speaks with Fred Kaplan about the ever-present threat of nuclear war. They discuss the history of nuclear deterrence, U.S. first-strike policy, preventive war, limited nuclear war, tactical vs. strategic weapons, Trump's beliefs about ... Show More

1h 19m

Dec 2018

The Manhattan Project

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

52m 18s

Apr 2023

Project - Project Alpha Part I

The Cold War is on, the threat of nuclear annihilation is constant. In a world of fear, a social contagion breaks out: the belief in psychic powers. Military, government and academia take it so seriously they spend millions to find people who can demonstrate these feats. Amidst t ... Show More

42m 22s

Mar 2021

UFOs from Behind the Iron Curtain Pt. 2

During the Cold War, many believed the Soviet’s greatest weapon was fear. Did they fake a UFO landing in New Mexico to terrify Americans? Or were they actually equipped with highly advanced aircraft that was only confused for — or inspired by — alien technology? Learn more about ... Show More

44m 50s

Jul 2023

From the Vault: The Atomic Scar

The creation of atomic weaponry changed human civilization forever, but it also left its mark on the Earth itself -- in both obvious and subtle ways. In this classic episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert and Joe discuss some of the ways in which the world would not be the sa ... Show More

1 h

Selects: The Great Nuclear Winter Debate...