The Race to Build the Bomb

The nuclear age began in fear, secrecy, and scientific ambition. The bomb created in a moment of wartime urgency became the foundation of a new global order defined by terror and deterrence. The story is familiar, but its implications have never left us. In episode two of the series, Jane Perlez interviews nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein about the origins of the bomb and the Americans’ race to build a weapon before Hitler. Wellerstein explains how the White House first learned about a terrifying source of energy and the top-secret decision-making that culminated in Los Alamos and the creation of the first atom bomb used on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945.  

Jane Perlez also travels to Hiroshima with Associate Producer Frank Zhou to interview an atomic bomb survivor and retrace her steps through the decimated city in the hours after the blast. Decades later, we must ask: will we let it happen again?

Reading Recommendations:

Hiroshima by John Hersey. The gruesome, influential reportage by the famed New Yorker writer about Hiroshima eight months after the bombing. 

Fallout by Lesley M.M. Blume. The riveting behind-the-scenes story of how John Hersey got his Hiroshima story. 

90 Seconds to Midnight by Charlotte Decroes Jacobs. A biography of Setsuko Nakamura Thurlow, a schoolgirl who survived Hiroshima. 

The Most Awful Responsibility: Truman and the Secret Struggle for Control of the Atomic Age by Alex Wellerstein. When he gave the go-ahead to bomb, Truman thought Hiroshima was mainly a military base. He was mistaken.

Face-Off is produced and reported by Jane Perlez. Our production team is Nina Porzucki, Louise Morris, and Frank Zhou. Sound design and mixing by John Myers and Rowhome Productions.

This project is made possible by the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Managing the Atom Project. Our special guest is Professor Matthew Bunn, Faculty Chair of the Managing the Atom Project (@matthew-bunn.bsky.social).

Face Off is produced in partnership with Rowhome Productions. Rowhome's Creative Director is Alex Lewis. John Myers is Rowhome's Executive Producer.

Episode Art Image Credit: U.S. Department of Energy (or predecessor organization) employee. Image Caption: Leslie Groves (left), military head of the Manhattan Project, with Professor Robert Oppenheimer (right).

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