
About this episode
July 16, 1945. It happened within a millionth of a second. In the New Mexico desert in the early morning hours, a group of scientists watched in anticipation as the countdown began. It was silent at first, yet hot and unbelievably bright. Then came the sound. The first-ever atomic bomb explosion... was a success. How did scientists working on the Manhattan Project create what was then the most powerful weapon in history? And how did the bomb’s existence forever change our sense of what human beings are capable of?
Thank you to our guest Dr. Jon Hunner, a professor emeritus of U.S. history at New Mexico State University and author of Inventing Los Alamos: The Growth of an Atomic Community and J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Cold War, and the Atomic West.
This episode originally aired July 13, 2020.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Get every episode summarized
Each time HISTORY This Week publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from HISTORY This Week

Parting the Desert Between Two Seas
HISTORY This Week
Apr 27, 202636:10failed

One Eco-Arson After Another: The Earth Liberation Front
HISTORY This Week
Apr 20, 202634:02failed

Jefferson’s Trade War Shuts Down America
HISTORY This Week
Apr 13, 202628:30failed

A Good, Not Great Lake (from Points North)
HISTORY This Week
Apr 9, 202625:33failed