episode-header-image

Aug 2025

8m 33s

Hiroshima: 80 years since atomic bomb

About this episode

Up next

Is coffee good for your brain?

New studies suggest that coffee can help our brain in many ways - one of which is preventing memory diseases such as dementia. Learn English from headlines about this new research.Test what you've learnt with a free worksheet about this episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningengl ... Show More

Taylor Swift wedding

Taylor Swift has married American football player Travis Kelce at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Hear about this news story in simpler English and learn interesting vocabulary from the news headlines. Test what you've learnt with a free worksheet about this episode: http ... Show More

Venezuela earthquakes: Search for survivors continues

The search for survivors continues after two strong earthquakes hit Venezuela. Hear about this news story in simpler English and learn interesting vocabulary from the news headlines. Test what you've learnt with a free worksheet about this episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learninge ... Show More

Recommended Episodes

The atomic bombs dropped on Japan

The USA dropped its first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6th 1945. Three days later a second atomic bomb was detonated over Nagasaki. The explosion was bigger than the blast at Hiroshima and killed 70,000 people. Louise Hidalgo introduces recordings from ... Show More

Remembering the lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

On 6 and 9 August 1945, the US military bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki using a weapon of unprecedented destructive capability, the atom bomb. These bombings marked the beginning of the nuclear age and remain the only use of a nuclear weapon in an active conf ... Show More

On 9 August 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, killing at least 74,000 people. It led to the end of World War Two in Asia, with Japan surrendering to the Allies six days later. The Nagasaki bomb, alongside the Hiroshima bomb on 6 August, remain the ... Show More

Hiroshima: in the shadow of the bomb

At 8.15am on 6 August 1945, an atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima. It was an event that changed the course of history, but it was also one driven by individuals. Here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, Iain MacGregor tells this story through the eyes of people whose lives were ... Show More

S1.7 The doomsday clock

The world’s first nuclear bomb drops on the unsuspecting city of Hiroshima. On 7 August 1945, the world is changed forever. In this final episode, featuring first-hand accounts of the attack that day, Emily Strasser asks how the bomb changed humanity. Have we really come to terms ... Show More

75 Years On: Remembering Hiroshima

75 years ago this week, a devastating atomic bomb changed world history. What can we learn from these events? Guest:Koko Kondo, Hiroshima bomb survivor and peace campaigner.Host: Manveen Rana. Clips used: NBC, Imperial War Museum, US Army.You can hear more first-hand memories of ... Show More

The Second World War in Japan

<p>It’s 75 years this week since the dropping of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which led to Japan’s surrender to Allied forces and the end of the Second World War. We hear first-hand accounts of military turning points in the Pacific including the attack on Pearl Harbou ... Show More

Hiroshima's trees of hope

When an atomic bomb was detonated over the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945, hundreds of thousands of people were killed and injured. Despite many survivors believing nothing would grow in the city for decades, 170 trees survived close to the epicentre and are still growing 75 ... Show More

Hiroshima: Dropping The Bomb

When was Little Boy dropped on Hiroshima? How did different people react to the news of the explosion? Why was the second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki? Join James Holland, Al Murray, and Iain MacGregor for Part 2 as they explore the monumental decisions that led to the world's ... Show More

First-Hand Account of Hiroshima: Before, During, and After the Atomic Bomb Drop

Over the past few years, much has been written and created around Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project, but little attention is paid to those whose lives were ended or forever changed when the bombs dropped in Japan.<br><br>In this episode, we delve into the experiences of the < ... Show More