The dramatic story of the spies and scientists behind the atomic bomb

A four-part podcast traces how the Manhattan Project reshaped the world

This podcast series explores the origins of the Manhattan Project, its secret cities, and the scientists behind it—showing how the effort contributed to the end of World War II, launched the Atomic Age, and later led Oppenheimer to become a critic of nuclear weapons.

Spies working on the Manhattan Project propelled the Soviet bomb program

Soviet infiltration—most notably by Klaus Fuchs—smuggled detailed implosion-design and hydrogen‑bomb data from Los Alamos to Moscow, cutting the USSR’s development time by at least a year and enabling their first atomic test in August 1949.

'Cold War Conversations' podcast shares voices from the conflict's frontlines

This award-winning podcast features gripping interviews with the people who lived through the Cold War—spies, soldiers, defectors, and civilians. Covering everything from the Berlin Wall to nuclear standoffs, it offers unfiltered, emotional accounts of Cold War life and conflict.

The origin of atmospheric science while testing nuclear weapons during the Cold War

The arms race between the US and the Soviet Union saw both countries stockpiling and detonating hundreds of bombs underground, underwater, and in the atmosphere. To better predict where nuclear fallout would travel after these tests, scientists developed models that would serve as a foundation for those used to explain atmospheric circulation.

Hear about the rivalries and unlikely figures that defined the space race

American History Tellers explores the space race across four episodes, tracing stories from Wernher von Braun's push to turn missiles into rockets to the intrigue surrounding Apollo 11 and the moon landing that symbolized the race's end.

Hear the story of the daring Doolittle Raid, America’s first strike back at Japan

This podcast recounts the 1942 Doolittle Raid, when US airmen launched a risky bombing mission over Japan just months after Pearl Harbor. The episode also highlights Jimmy Doolittle’s leadership, piloting skills, and his lifelong impact on aviation.

The Agent podcast reveals the true story of a long-term KGB agent in America

Narrated through firsthand interviews, The Agent tells how Jack Barsky (born Albrecht Dittrich) spent a decade undercover as a Soviet KGB “illegal” in the US, balancing dual identities in Queens—from insurance programmer to deep-cover spy—until a crisis forced him to choose between loyalty and family.

Explore nuclear policy debates with this biweekly podcast

Hosted by Jeffrey Lewis and Aaron Stein, Arms Control Wonk offers biweekly analysis of nuclear weapons, disarmament, proliferation, and missile threats. Drawing on the hosts' deep arms‑control expertise, it makes complex security issues accessible.

Discovering how the dinosaurs went extinct may have helped avert nuclear war

This NPR Throughline episode explains how the 1980 discovery that an asteroid-driven dust cloud killed the dinosaurs inspired Cold War scientists’ fears of “nuclear winter”—a sunlight-blocking aftermath of nuclear war that may have discouraged leaders from launching one.

Explore a podcast devoted to uncovering different conspiracy theories

Hear stories of controversial events from all around the world and come to your own conclusions about why they happened—and if someone shaped the narrative around them. From art fraud to the death of a Roman emperor, this Spotify podcast covers it all.

In 13 years, Hitler transformed a fringe sect into Germany’s dominant political force

The BBC Radio 4 podcast Nazis: The Road to Power chronicles Hitler’s meteoric rise—from fewer than 100 followers in 1910s Bavaria to absolute control by 1933—highlighting key conspiracies, political deals, brutal street violence, and forgotten figures that paved the way for Nazi tyranny.

Watch 'The Atomic Café'—Cold War satire that exposed nuclear propaganda and proliferation risks

This 1982 collage-documentary uncovers a surreal Cold War era: US civil defense films downplayed nuclear horror, arguing the films fueled public complacency, while the arms race and civilian nuclear hype fueled global proliferation fears before NPT safeguards emerged.

A 1983 NATO war simulation provoked the Soviets to prepare for war

The "SNAFU" podcast, hosted by actor and comedian Ed Helms, explores some of the biggest blunders in history. Season one focuses on the 1983 NATO Able Archer military exercise, a war game that simulated nuclear attacks on the Soviet Union. The USSR mistook the exercise for a genuine threat and prepared its forces for war. Helms recounts this almost catastrophic event in world history with his signature humor.

Learn the history and science of influenza in 'This Podcast Will Kill You'

In their flu episode, cohosts Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke unpack influenza’s biology, history, and impact—explaining everything from past pandemics to modern vaccines, all with their trademark mix of science and storytelling.

How a deadly antarctic expedition turned poisonous

A deadly 1912 scientific expedition to the Antarctic took a turn for the worse when the expedition team's leader turned to man's best friend to fuel their journey. This 21-minute podcast episode provides a glimpse into the real-life dangers of...

A podcast deep dive into the British Empire and India

Season 1 of this acclaimed UK podcast, hosted by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand, delves into the East India Company, the Raj, Gandhi, and the forces that shaped—and ultimately unraveled—British rule in India.

A brief guide to espionage

Spies have one of the most challenging and dangerous jobs in the world, risking their lives and legacy to extract secrets in the interest of their country. This in-depth explainer breaks down one of the profession's oft-ignored aspects: The...

Can you save Britain from the Nazis by carefully sharing secrets with America?

Find out in this 20-minute interactive graphic novel based on true events from World War II.

The science of dogs, from wolf origins to color-blindness

This under 10-minute podcast episode dives into the rich, fascinating science behind dogs: From their world-class sense of smell to their domestication from wolves.

The North Korean nuclear threat, explained

What would happen if North Korea gets a working ICBM Watch this six-minute video by Vox for an explanation of the North Korean nuclear threat. The Soviet Union first gave nuclear technology to North Korea in the 1950s, when they helped their ally...

Searching for Albert Einstein's stolen brain

Within moments of Einstein's 1955 death, someone reportedly ferreted away the 76-year-old genius's brain. Decades later, a reporter's editor told them to solve the case. This 64-minute podcast episode follows the work of Steven Levy, the reporter who ultimately tracked down Einstein's brain, which had been sliced and stored in slides, goo, and a cardboard box in a scientist's office.

Experience a year inside an American courthouse with 'Serial' Season 3

Season Three of "Serial" immerses listeners in a Cleveland courthouse for a year, showcasing how everyday justice unfolds—through plea deals, judicial decisions, and the quiet mechanics behind daily life in the criminal justice system.

The Night Witches

During World War II, one of the most effective Soviet bombing units flew wooden crop dusters that maxed out at 94 mph. They had no radios, no radar, and no parachutes. And the pilots? Young Soviet women, mostly in their teens and early twenties. The Germans called them Nachthexen—Night Witches. Shooting one down earned a Nazi soldier an Iron Cross, one of the highest military honors. However, for decades, most of the world forgot they existed. In this video, we trace how the Night Witches became one of the most feared units of WWII—and why their story nearly disappeared from history.

An adultery and poisoning case examined whether federal treaty power supersedes state law

This Radiolab podcast unpacks Bond v. United States, where a local love-triangle assault became a federal case under an international treaty—forcing the Supreme Court to confront a founding question: How far can federal power reach into crimes traditionally handled by the states?

The man behind the dark novel abandoned on the floor of the Bastille

As tensions rose in the days before the French Revolution of 1789, Donatien Alphonse François attempted to fan the flames by shouting at passersby about false horrors happening inside the Bastille where he was imprisoned. This 39-minute podcast...

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

Explore our favorite visualization of the immense scale of space, from an astronaut to the size of the observable universe

How the most famous Ebola book, The Hot Zone, which sold 3.5 million copies and was translated into 30 languages, got aspects of the disease so wrong.

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

The deadliest aspect of volcanic eruptions is often not lava, but pyroclastic flows—avalanches of ash, gas, and rock that can move more than half the speed of sound.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island