Podcast appearances and mentions of Alex Wellerstein

Listen to this episode commercial free at https://angryplanetpod.com/Nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein stops by Angry Planet this week to tell us all about his new project Doomsday Machines. It's a deep dive into the weird post-nuclear futures we've built in pop culture.How Warcraft orcs got ICBMsMatthew confuses Camus and SartreFood poisoning as practice for the radical acceptance of death and sufferingIs there any hope in The Road?Alex is hung up on the cannibalsThe video game aesthetics of the post-nuclear worldDebunking gasoline futuresWorking for the authoritarian government to get the petroleum industry back on its feetThe Civil Defense truncheonDeep thoughts on the Fallout franchiseThe American libertarian lone survivorThis American Life - Ends of the EarthSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Journalist, historian and author Lesley M. M. Blume, historian of science David Hecht, and nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein join Katie to discuss the film Oppenheimer, the legacy and future of nuclear war and what is happening in Fukushima Japan. Then Jamie Peck joins to discuss the latest developments regarding the Stop Cop City Movement as well as her upcoming live show! Lesley M. M. Blume is an award-winning journalist, historian, and New York Times bestselling author. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, WSJ Magazine, Vanity Fair, Columbia Journalism Review, Vogue, Town & Country, Air Mail, The Hollywood Reporter, Slate, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Paris Review Daily, among other publications. She often writes about historical nuclear events, historical war journalism, and the intersection of war and the arts. Blume in New York, 2016. Blume's second major non-fiction book, Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed it to the World, was released by Simon & Schuster on August 4, 2020, to mark the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. David K. Hecht is a historian of science, focusing on the modern United States. His particular interest is in public images of science, and he has published on the phenomenon of "scientific celebrities." His first book, Storytelling and Science: Rewriting Oppenheimer in the Nuclear Age, was published 2015 (University of Massachusetts Press), and he is currently researching a second book project on the intersections between nuclear and environmental history. Other scholarly interests include the history of energy, as well as the role that popular rhetoric about science plays in reinforcing (and sometimes challenging) the status quo. His courses include "The Nuclear Age," "The History of Energy," "Image, Myth, and Memory," and "Science on Trial." In 2011 he was awarded the Sydney B. Karofsky prize, Bowdoin's annual teaching prize for junior faculty. Alex Wellerstein is a historian of science and nuclear technology. He is a professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, where he is the Director of Science and Technology Studies in the College of Arts and Letters. His first book, Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States (University of Chicago Press, 2021), is the first attempt at a comprehensive history of how nuclear weapons ushered in a new period of governmental and scientific secrecy in the USA. His current projects include: a new book about Harry Truman and nuclear weapons; research into the past, present, and potential future of Presidential nuclear weapons use authority; and a video game about life after a full-scale nuclear war set in the early 1980s. His writings on the history of nuclear weapons have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Magazine, Harper's Magazine, and the Washington Post, among other venues, and his online nuclear weapon effects simulator, the NUKEMAP, has been used by over 50 million people globally. He occasionally maintains a blog: Restricted Data: The Nuclear Secrecy Blog. Link to tickets for Jamie Peck's upcoming live show on September 2, 2023 - https://wl.seetickets.us/event/THE-WOKE-MOB/564089?afflky=TVEye Link to Defend the Atlanta Forest Movement - https://defendtheatlantaforest.org/ Link to Stop Cop City Movement - https://stopcop.city/ Subscribe to Jamie Peck's podcast 'Everybody Loves Communism' - Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/everybodylovescommunism Twitter: @ELCPod ***Please support The Katie Halper Show *** For bonus content, exclusive interviews, to support independent media & to help make this program possible, please join us on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/thekatiehalpershow Get your Katie Halper Show Merch here! https://katiehalper.myspreadshop.com/all Follow Katie on Twitter: @kthalps

This week, we'll explore the origins of nuclear weapons and how they have changed modern warfare. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We've got a super sized Cyber for you today that's all about the two hottest movies in theaters. One is a mythological take on the creation of the modern world and the devastating weapons that ushered it in. The other is about an idol forged from plastic that came to dominate that world.That's right. It's Barbenheimer time. Emily Lipstein is co-hosting with me and we're joined by nuclear historian and master of secrets, Alex Wellerstein as well as journalist and critic Gita Jackson.We're recording CYBER live on Twitch. Watch live during the week. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show. Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've got a super sized Cyber for you today that's all about the two hottest movies in theaters. One is a mythological take on the creation of the modern world and the devastating weapons that ushered it in. The other is about an idol forged from plastic that came to dominate that world.That's right. It's Barbenheimer time. Emily Lipstein is co-hosting with me and we're joined by nuclear historian and master of secrets, Alex Wellerstein as well as journalist and critic Gita Jackson.We're recording CYBER live on Twitch. Watch live during the week. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show. Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sad news for all of us: producer Rachael Cusick— who brought us soul-stirring stories rethinking grief (https://zpr.io/GZ6xEvpzsbHU) and solitude (https://zpr.io/eT5tAX6JtYra), as well as colorful musings on airplane farts (https://zpr.io/CNpgUijZiuZ4) and belly flops (https://zpr.io/uZrEz27z63CB) and Blueberry Earths (https://zpr.io/EzxgtdTRGVzz)— is leaving the show. So we thought it perfect timing to sit down with her and revisit another brainchild of hers, The Cataclysm Sentence, a collection of advice for The End. To explain: one day in 1961, the famous physicist Richard Feynman stepped in front of a Caltech lecture hall and posed this question to a group of undergraduate students: “If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence was passed on to the next generation of creatures, what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words?” Now, Feynman had an answer to his own question—a good one. But his question got the entire team at Radiolab wondering, what did his sentence leave out? So we posed Feynman's cataclysm question to some of our favorite writers, artists, historians, futurists—all kinds of great thinkers. We asked them “What's the one sentence you would want to pass on to the next generation that would contain the most information in the fewest words?” What came back was an explosive collage of what it means to be alive right here and now, and what we want to say before we go. Featuring: Richard Feynman, physicist - The Pleasure of Finding Things Out (https://zpr.io/5KngTGibPVDw) Caitlin Doughty, mortician - Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs (https://zpr.io/Wn4bQgHzDRDB) Esperanza Spalding, musician - 12 Little Spells (https://zpr.io/KMjYrkwrz9dy)  Cord Jefferson, writer - Watchmen (https://zpr.io/ruqKDQGy5Rv8)  Merrill Garbus, musician - I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life (https://zpr.io/HmrqFX8RKuFq) Jenny Odell, writer - How to do Nothing (https://zpr.io/JrUHu8dviFqc) Maria Popova, writer - Brainpickings (https://zpr.io/vsHXphrqbHiN) Alison Gopnik, developmental psychologist - The Gardener and the Carpenter (https://zpr.io/ewtJpUYxpYqh) Rebecca Sugar, animator - Steven Universe (https://zpr.io/KTtSrdsBtXB7) Nicholson Baker, writer - Substitute (https://zpr.io/QAh2d7J9QJf2) James Gleick, writer - Time Travel (https://zpr.io/9CWX9q3KmZj8) Lady Pink, artist - too many amazing works to pick just one (https://zpr.io/FkJh6edDBgRL) Jenny Hollwell, writer - Everything Lovely, Effortless, Safe (https://zpr.io/MjP5UJb3mMYP) Jaron Lanier, futurist - Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now (https://zpr.io/bxWiHLhPyuEK) Missy Mazzoli, composer - Proving Up (https://zpr.io/hTwGcHGk93Ty)   Special Thanks to: Ella Frances Sanders, and her book, "Eating the Sun" (https://zpr.io/KSX6DruwRaYL), for inspiring this whole episode. Caltech for letting us use original audio of The Feynman Lectures on Physics. The entirety of the lectures are available to read for free online at www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu.All the musicians who helped make the Primordial Chord, including: Siavash Kamkar (https://zpr.io/2ZT46XsMRdhg), from Iran  Koosha Pashangpour (https://zpr.io/etWDXuCctrzE), from Iran Curtis MacDonald (https://zpr.io/HQ8uskA44BUh), from Canada Meade Bernard (https://zpr.io/gbxDPPzHFvme), from US Barnaby Rea (https://zpr.io/9ULsQh5iGUPa), from UK Liav Kerbel (https://zpr.io/BA4DBwMhwZDU), from Belgium Sam Crittenden (https://zpr.io/EtQZmAk2XrCQ), from US Saskia Lankhoorn (https://zpr.io/YiH6QWJreR7p), from Netherlands Bryan Harris (https://zpr.io/HMiyy2TGcuwE), from US Amelia Watkins (https://zpr.io/6pWEw3y754me), from Canada Claire James (https://zpr.io/HFpHTUwkQ2ss), from US Ilario Morciano (https://zpr.io/zXvM7cvnLHW6), from Italy Matthias Kowalczyk, from Germany (https://zpr.io/ANkRQMp6NtHR) Solmaz Badri (https://zpr.io/MQ5VAaKieuyN), from IranAll the wonderful people we interviewed for sentences but weren't able to fit in this episode, including: Daniel Abrahm, Julia Alvarez, Aimee Bender, Sandra Cisneros, Stanley Chen, Lewis Dartnell, Ann Druyan, Rose Eveleth, Ty Frank, Julia Galef, Ross Gay, Gary Green, Cesar Harada, Dolores Huerta, Robin Hunicke, Brittany Kamai, Priya Krishna, Ken Liu, Carmen Maria Machado, James Martin, Judith Matloff, Ryan McMahon, Hasan Minhaj, Lorrie Moore, Priya Natarajan, Larry Owens, Sunni Patterson, Amy Pearl, Alison Roman, Domee Shi, Will Shortz, Sam Stein, Sohaib Sultan, Kara Swisher, Jill Tarter, Olive Watkins, Reggie Watts, Deborah Waxman, Alex Wellerstein, Caveh Zahedi.EPISODE CREDITS Reported by - Rachael Cusick (https://www.rachaelcusick.com/)Our newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org Leadership support for Radiolab's science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

What happens when a nuclear bomb is accidentally dropped onto foreign soil? Or when a nuke just goes missing? Rather worryingly, it happens more often that you would think.There's a special term for these nuclear near misses - ‘broken arrow incidents'. In this episode, James is joined by Warfare favourite and historian Alex Wellerstein, to explore these many broken arrow incidents spanning from the Cold War to the present day. They'll be finding out how close to disaster we've come over the years, and importantly where those missing nukes might be hiding.Alex Wellerstein's blog is here.Senior Producer: Elena Guthrie. Assistant Producer: Annie Coloe. Edited and mixed by Stuart Beckwith.For more Warfare content, subscribe to our Warfare newsletter here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the early hours of 30 October 1961, a bomber took off from an airstrip in northern Russia and began its flight through cloudy skies over the frigid Russian Arctic. Hanging below this Soviet plane was a nuclear bomb the size of a small school bus. It was the largest and most powerful bomb ever to be created, and it was about to be tested. The Tsar Bomba's gigantic detonation was intended to be secret, but was detected by American intelligence agencies—bringing brewing Cold War tensions to fever pitch. The thermonuclear hydrogen bomb yielded the equivalent of 50–58 megatons of TNT, enough to annihilate a small country. The resultant mushroom cloud reached an altitude seven times higher than Mount Everest, and its 8-km-wide wide fireball could be seen from almost 1,000km away.This week, James is joined by Alex Wellerstein, an expert on the history of nuclear weapons. Together they discuss their development from WW2 to today, and the terrifying legacy of the largest man-made explosion in history.For more Warfare content, subscribe to our Warfare Wednesday newsletter here.To download, go to Android or Apple store. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of Defence Deconstructed, David Perry speaks to Julie Clark about the nuclear implications of the war in Ukraine. This episode of Defence Deconstructed is brought to you by Irving Shipbuilding and Davie Shipyard. Participant bio: Julie Clark is a PhD Candidate at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and a CGAI Fellow – https://www.cgai.ca/julie_clark Host bio David Perry is the President of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute – www.cgai.ca/staff#Perry Read: NukeMap by Alex Wellerstein – https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/ The Fate of The Earth, The Abolition, The Unconquerable World by Jonathan Schell – https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/616814/jonathan-schell-the-fate-of-the-earth-the-abolition-the-unconquerable-world-loa329-by-jonathan-schell/9781598536584 Dark Beyonf Darkness by James G. Blight and Janet M. Lang – https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Beyond-Darkness-Missile-Catalyst/dp/1538101998 Recording Date: 20 Oct 2022 Follow the Canadian Global Affairs Institute on Facebook, Twitter (@CAGlobalAffairs), or on LinkedIn. Head over to our website at www.cgai.ca for more commentary. Produced by Charlotte Duval-Lantoine. Music credits to Drew Phillips

On tonight's episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, Piers criticises Russia's "Frankenstein" system of "fake votes". Amid Putin's threats of nuclear attacks, expert Alex Wellerstein explains what sort of weapons could be used. Truss and Biden clash over Northern Ireland, but Piers asks if it's very existence is in question as Catholics outnumber Protestants in Northern Ireland for first time. Britain's strictest headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh addresses the backlash she's received for her methods as Piers asks if tough love is needed to prevent kids from turning to crime.Watch Piers Morgan Uncensored at 8pm on TalkTV on Sky 526, Virgin Media 627, Freeview 237 and Freesat 217. Listen on DAB+ and app. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/links-for-september-2022 [Remember, I haven't independently verified each link. On average, commenters will end up spotting evidence that around two or three of the links in each links post are wrong or misleading. I correct these as I see them, and will highlight important corrections later, but I can't guarantee I will have caught them all by the time you read this.] 1: Fiber Arts, Mysterious Dodecahedrons, and Waiting On Eureka. Why did it take so long to invent knitting? (cf. also Why Did Everything Take So Long?) And why did the Romans leave behind so many mysterious metal dodecahedra? 2: Alex Wellerstein (of NUKEMAP) on the Nagasaki bombing. “Archival evidence points to Truman not knowing it was going to happen.” 3: @itsahousingtrap on Twitter on “how weird the [building] planning process really is” 4: Nostalgebraist talks about his experience home-brewing an image generation AI that can handle text in images; he's a very good explainer and I learned more about image models from his post than from other much more official sources. And here's what happens when his AI is asked to “make a list of all 50 states”:

In early August, the FBI seized boxes of classified documents, some suspected to contain nuclear secrets, from former president Donald Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago. News of the FBI's raid ignited a political firestorm but it also shed light on an obscure aspect of US foreign policymaking — America's “nuclear secrecy regime.”   From its WWII origins in the development of the atomic bomb to the latest controversy miring Trump, nuclear secrecy has cast a shadow over the development and execution of US national security policy. In this episode, historian Alex Wellerstein joins the Eurasia Group Foundation's Mark Hannah to help us make sense of America's byzantine classification system, the bureaucratic process that makes it work, and its inherent tensions with democracy. Alex also explains how a president's ability to declassify information is more complicated than some would have us think.  Alex Wellerstein is an associate professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, where he is the director of Science and Technology Studies in the College of Arts and Letters. Alex is the author of the book, Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States (2021), and the creator of NUKEMAP, an online nuclear weapons effects simulator. To listen to more episodes or learn more about None Of The Above, go to www.noneoftheabovepodcast.org. To learn more about the Eurasia Group Foundation, please visit www.egfound.org and subscribe to our newsletter.

In early August, the FBI searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago home for classified documents, some of which may be related to nuclear weapons. So what kind of nuclear information could Trump have taken? Tom Collina sits down with Alex Wellerstein, author of Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States. He discusses the FBI's recent search, what nuclear information may be involved, and whether former President Trump could be prosecuted. On Early Warning, Alex Hall sits down with Laura Rozen, member of the editorial board of Just Security and writer of the Diplomatic substack newsletter. She discusses the latest developments to revive the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal and the US's and Iran's responses to the new EU proposal.

Friday afternoon, the federal court in Florida, acting at the Justice Department's request, unsealed the search warrant for Mar-a-Lago that the FBI had executed earlier in the week. There was a lot of interesting information in it: How many bathrooms are there at Mar-a-Lago? How many TS/SCI documents did the FBI seize from the resort? Which European head of state had various documents about him lying around at Mar-a-Lago? For an emergency version of the Lawfare Podcast, Benjamin Wittes sat down to talk it all through with Pete Strzok, a former FBI counterintelligence agent who has executed his share of warrants; Lawfare senior editor Quinta Jurecic; and Alex Wellerstein, historian of nuclear weapons and secrets.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does the nuclear policy field and the reproductive justice movement have in common? Lauren Billet talks this topic with Yasmeen Silvia, organizer, activist, and national field manager at Population Connection. She also touches on the dynamics between gender & power and how these dynamics manifest within the nuclear policy field. On Early Warning, Tom Collina sits down with Alex Wellerstein from the Stevens Institute of Technology. He breaks down New York City's recent PSA that describes what you should do during a nuclear attack on the city.

More than a month into Putin's invasion, Ukrainian resistance has proved mightier than the Russian leader seems to have anticipated. On this week's On the Media, hear how Russia is following the well-established American track record of entering wars without plans for ending them. Plus, a sober look at Russia's nuclear strategy. And, how the threat of nuclear apocalypse has shaped American culture since World War II. Then, a look at the 1983 made-for-TV film that spurred a national conversation about disarmament.  1. Gideon Rose, author of How Wars End, on what Russia should've learned from America's misadventures in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Listen. 2. Kristin Ven Bruusgaard[@KBruusgaard], postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oslo, on the actual threat of Russia's nuclear arsenal. Listen. 3. Alex Wellerstein [@wellerstein], historian of science at Stevens Institute of Technology, on why the threat of nuclear apocalypse can be hard to comprehend. Listen.  4. Marsha Gordon [@MarshaGGordon], professor of film studies at North Carolina State University, on one of the most important films about nukes. Listen. Music: Sacred Oracle by John Zorn Horizon by Thomas NewmanIn The Bath by Randy NewmanLa Vie En Rose by Toots ThielemansGormenghast by John ZornWhite Lotus Theme by Cristobal Tapia De Veer99 Luftballoons by Nena

Panel: I'm joined by Alex Wellerstein, Associate Professor and Director of Science and Technology Studies, at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey and Jessica Sleight, Junior Partner for Strategy, Policy & Partnerships, at Global Zero, for a panel on the threat of nuclear war in the Ukraine conflict. Download the Callin app for iOS and Android to listen to this podcast live, call in, and more! Also available at callin.com

In the early hours of 30 October 1961, a bomber took off from an airstrip in northern Russia and began its flight through cloudy skies over the frigid Russian Arctic. Hanging below this Soviet plane was a nuclear bomb the size of a small school bus. It was the largest and most powerful bomb ever to be created, and it was about to be tested. The Tsar Bomba's gigantic detonation was intended to be secret, but was detected by American intelligence agencies—bringing brewing Cold War tensions to fever pitch. The thermonuclear hydrogen bomb yielded the equivalent of 50–58 megatons of TNT, enough to annihilate a small country. The resultant mushroom cloud reached an altitude seven times higher than Mount Everest, and its 8-km-wide wide fireball could be seen from almost 1,000km away.This week, James is joined by Alex Wellerstein, an expert on the history of nuclear weapons. Together they discuss their development from WW2 to today, and the terrifying legacy of the largest man-made explosion in history.Please vote for us! Dan Snow's History Hit has been nominated for a Podbible award in the 'informative' category: https://bit.ly/3pykkdsIf you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Alex Wellerstein, assistant professor of science and technology studies at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, joined Tom on the show. Listen and subscribe to Moncrieff on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify.    Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App.     You can also listen to Newstalk live on newstalk.com or on Alexa, by adding the Newstalk skill and asking: 'Alexa, play Newstalk'.

Alex Wellerstein, historian of science at the Stevens Institute of Technology, joins Press the Button for a discussion on the history of secrecy behind US development of nuclear weapons, and how that secrecy has impacted discussion on nuclear weapons today. Early Warning features Suhad Babaa of Just Vision and Mairav Zonszein of International Crisis Group on the recent ceasefire between Israel and Palestine, and what needs to happen to prevent future escalation. Learn about Alex's book Restricted Data: https://alexwellerstein.com/writing/books/restricted-data/

Given the obsession with information and secrecy in today's world, it can be difficult to imagine a time when governments held few secrets and worried little about what information was public knowledge. In Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States (University of Chicago Press, 2021), Alex Wellerstein chronicles how much of this change can be traced to the development of atomic weapons in the 1940s and the efforts both then and since to restrict the details about them. Secrecy was a factor in nuclear technology from the start, as scientists argued amongst themselves about the need for self-censorship about the possibility of atomic weapons. By the start of the Manhattan Project the United States government had assumed responsibility for maintaining secrets, which they often did in ways that frustrated the scientists involved. What was hoped to be a temporary restriction because of the war became permanent with the onset of the Cold War, as the government fought to restrict any knowledge which they thought might aid the Soviet Union in the construction of nuclear weapons. While this effort came under attack from an increasingly aggressive group of anti-secrecy activists in the post-Watergate era, the government identified new threats in the post-Cold War era that justified the need to maintain nuclear secrets down to the present day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The American atomic bomb was born in secrecy. From the moment scientists first conceived of its possibility to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and beyond, there were efforts to control the spread of nuclear information and the newly discovered scientific facts that made such powerful weapons possible. The totalizing scientific secrecy that the atomic bomb appeared to demand was new, unusual, and very nearly unprecedented. It was foreign to American science and American democracy--and potentially incompatible with both. From the beginning, this secrecy was controversial, and it was always contested. The atomic bomb was not merely the application of science to war, but the result of decades of investment in scientific education, infrastructure, and global collaboration. If secrecy became the norm, how would science survive? Drawing on troves of declassified files, including records released by the government for the first time through the author's efforts, Alex Wellerstein's book Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States (University of Chicago Press, 2021) traces the complex evolution of the US nuclear secrecy regime from the first whisper of the atomic bomb through the mounting tensions of the Cold War and into the early twenty-first century. A compelling history of powerful ideas at war, it tells a story that feels distinctly American: rich, sprawling, and built on the conflict between high-minded idealism and ugly, fearful power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/national-security

The American atomic bomb was born in secrecy. From the moment scientists first conceived of its possibility to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and beyond, there were efforts to control the spread of nuclear information and the newly discovered scientific facts that made such powerful weapons possible. The totalizing scientific secrecy that the atomic bomb appeared to demand was new, unusual, and very nearly unprecedented. It was foreign to American science and American democracy--and potentially incompatible with both. From the beginning, this secrecy was controversial, and it was always contested. The atomic bomb was not merely the application of science to war, but the result of decades of investment in scientific education, infrastructure, and global collaboration. If secrecy became the norm, how would science survive? Drawing on troves of declassified files, including records released by the government for the first time through the author's efforts, Alex Wellerstein's book Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States (University of Chicago Press, 2021) traces the complex evolution of the US nuclear secrecy regime from the first whisper of the atomic bomb through the mounting tensions of the Cold War and into the early twenty-first century. A compelling history of powerful ideas at war, it tells a story that feels distinctly American: rich, sprawling, and built on the conflict between high-minded idealism and ugly, fearful power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law

The American atomic bomb was born in secrecy. From the moment scientists first conceived of its possibility to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and beyond, there were efforts to control the spread of nuclear information and the newly discovered scientific facts that made such powerful weapons possible. The totalizing scientific secrecy that the atomic bomb appeared to demand was new, unusual, and very nearly unprecedented. It was foreign to American science and American democracy--and potentially incompatible with both. From the beginning, this secrecy was controversial, and it was always contested. The atomic bomb was not merely the application of science to war, but the result of decades of investment in scientific education, infrastructure, and global collaboration. If secrecy became the norm, how would science survive? Drawing on troves of declassified files, including records released by the government for the first time through the author's efforts, Alex Wellerstein's book Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States (University of Chicago Press, 2021) traces the complex evolution of the US nuclear secrecy regime from the first whisper of the atomic bomb through the mounting tensions of the Cold War and into the early twenty-first century. A compelling history of powerful ideas at war, it tells a story that feels distinctly American: rich, sprawling, and built on the conflict between high-minded idealism and ugly, fearful power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/technology

The American atomic bomb was born in secrecy. From the moment scientists first conceived of its possibility to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and beyond, there were efforts to control the spread of nuclear information and the newly discovered scientific facts that made such powerful weapons possible. The totalizing scientific secrecy that the atomic bomb appeared to demand was new, unusual, and very nearly unprecedented. It was foreign to American science and American democracy--and potentially incompatible with both. From the beginning, this secrecy was controversial, and it was always contested. The atomic bomb was not merely the application of science to war, but the result of decades of investment in scientific education, infrastructure, and global collaboration. If secrecy became the norm, how would science survive? Drawing on troves of declassified files, including records released by the government for the first time through the author's efforts, Alex Wellerstein's book Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States (University of Chicago Press, 2021) traces the complex evolution of the US nuclear secrecy regime from the first whisper of the atomic bomb through the mounting tensions of the Cold War and into the early twenty-first century. A compelling history of powerful ideas at war, it tells a story that feels distinctly American: rich, sprawling, and built on the conflict between high-minded idealism and ugly, fearful power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-technology-and-society

Given the obsession with information and secrecy in today’s world, it can be difficult to imagine a time when governments held few secrets and worried little about what information was public knowledge. In Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States (University of Chicago Press, 2021), Alex Wellerstein chronicles how much of this change can be traced to the development of atomic weapons in the 1940s and the efforts both then and since to restrict the details about them. Secrecy was a factor in nuclear technology from the start, as scientists argued amongst themselves about the need for self-censorship about the possibility of atomic weapons. By the start of the Manhattan Project the United States government had assumed responsibility for maintaining secrets, which they often did in ways that frustrated the scientists involved. What was hoped to be a temporary restriction because of the war became permanent with the onset of the Cold War, as the government fought to restrict any knowledge which they thought might aid the Soviet Union in the construction of nuclear weapons. While this effort came under attack from an increasingly aggressive group of anti-secrecy activists in the post-Watergate era, the government identified new threats in the post-Cold War era that justified the need to maintain nuclear secrets down to the present day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

The American atomic bomb was born in secrecy. From the moment scientists first conceived of its possibility to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and beyond, there were efforts to control the spread of nuclear information and the newly discovered scientific facts that made such powerful weapons possible. The totalizing scientific secrecy that the atomic bomb appeared to demand was new, unusual, and very nearly unprecedented. It was foreign to American science and American democracy--and potentially incompatible with both. From the beginning, this secrecy was controversial, and it was always contested. The atomic bomb was not merely the application of science to war, but the result of decades of investment in scientific education, infrastructure, and global collaboration. If secrecy became the norm, how would science survive? Drawing on troves of declassified files, including records released by the government for the first time through the author's efforts, Alex Wellerstein's book Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States (University of Chicago Press, 2021) traces the complex evolution of the US nuclear secrecy regime from the first whisper of the atomic bomb through the mounting tensions of the Cold War and into the early twenty-first century. A compelling history of powerful ideas at war, it tells a story that feels distinctly American: rich, sprawling, and built on the conflict between high-minded idealism and ugly, fearful power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

The American atomic bomb was born in secrecy. From the moment scientists first conceived of its possibility to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and beyond, there were efforts to control the spread of nuclear information and the newly discovered scientific facts that made such powerful weapons possible. The totalizing scientific secrecy that the atomic bomb appeared to demand was new, unusual, and very nearly unprecedented. It was foreign to American science and American democracy--and potentially incompatible with both. From the beginning, this secrecy was controversial, and it was always contested. The atomic bomb was not merely the application of science to war, but the result of decades of investment in scientific education, infrastructure, and global collaboration. If secrecy became the norm, how would science survive? Drawing on troves of declassified files, including records released by the government for the first time through the author's efforts, Alex Wellerstein's book Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States (University of Chicago Press, 2021) traces the complex evolution of the US nuclear secrecy regime from the first whisper of the atomic bomb through the mounting tensions of the Cold War and into the early twenty-first century. A compelling history of powerful ideas at war, it tells a story that feels distinctly American: rich, sprawling, and built on the conflict between high-minded idealism and ugly, fearful power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Blow It Up! Stories of when nobody stopped people from blowing things up for some reason... Alex Wellerstein's Modest proposal: https://twitter.com/wellerstein/status/963433378098884608 Exploding whale news story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6CLumsir34 Like the pod and wanna help me improve it? Here's a tip jar anything helps. The Irrelevant Information Podcast is a part of The Irrelevant Podcast Network Twitter:@irrelevantpods Instagram:@irrelevantpodcast

In the 1950s and 1960s, it became clear that any strategy that involved threatening to start a nuclear war was playing with fire. But what was the alternative? Strategists began searching for ways to wage "limited" nuclear conflicts that wouldn't bring about Armageddon. But they soon found that putting limits on unlimited destructive power is easier said than done. This episode looks at the early efforts to contain the devastating potential of nuclear war, from an Army nuclear exercise in Louisiana to the Single Integrated Operational Plan to the Trump administration's effort to build lower-yield nuclear weapons. Usha tries to understand the mindset of the people making decisions about nuclear war - human beings trying to solve a problem that seemed to challenge their very humanity.    Guests: Dr. Alex Wellerstein, Dr. Janne Nolan, Dr. Will Hitchcock, Dr. Lynn Eden, Dr. Marc Trachtenberg.

The idea of nuclear war became unimaginable almost overnight when the United States and Soviet Union tested the first hydrogen bombs in the early 1950s. But for President Dwight Eisenhower, preventing nuclear war meant convincing everyone that you weren't afraid to fight one. Was Eisenhower playing with fire - or taking the only sensible path? This episode explores the challenges and contradictions of nuclear deterrence. Usha examines the strategy of “massive retaliation,” the challenge of defending America's European allies, and Eisenhower's nuclear threats against Khrushchev, asking the question at the heart of nuclear history: Did nuclear weapons make the world safer or more dangerous? Figuring out the answer is more complicated than you might think.    Featuring Dr. Will Hitchcock, Dr. Alex Wellerstein, Dr. Susie Colbourn, and Dr. Marc Trachtenberg

A Most Terrible Weapon is a podcast about the dawn of the nuclear age, hosted by Usha Sahay and produced by War on the Rocks, with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In each episode, Usha takes listeners on a journey into the early years of the Cold War, telling stories about the dilemmas nuclear weapons posed for American and Soviet leaders, and introducing a fascinating cast of characters who were all trying to prevent Armageddon in different ways. Along the way, Usha interviews scholars and other nuclear experts to help make sense of the many atomic mysteries that have yet to be solved.   How do you plan for the most destructive war the world has never seen before? After the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, American leaders had to figure out how - or whether - nuclear weapons would be used in the wars of the future. In the pilot episode of A Most Terrible Weapon, Usha looks at the very first nuclear war plans, the debates inside the Truman administration about whether the bomb could ever be used again, and a terrifying new development - the arrival of the hydrogen bomb.    Featuring: Dr. Lynn Eden, Dr. Marc Trachtenberg, Dr. Alex Wellerstein

A podcast about the dawn of the nuclear age, hosted by Usha Sahay and produced by War on the Rocks, with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In each episode, Usha takes listeners on a journey into the early years of the Cold War, telling stories about the dilemmas nuclear weapons posed for American and Soviet leaders, and introducing a fascinating cast of characters who were all trying to prevent Armageddon in different ways. Along the way, Usha interviews scholars and other nuclear experts to help make sense of the many atomic mysteries that have yet to be solved.   How do you plan for the most destructive war the world has never seen before? After the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, American leaders had to figure out how - or whether - nuclear weapons would be used in the wars of the future. In the pilot episode of A Most Terrible Weapon, Usha looks at the very first nuclear war plans, the debates inside the Truman administration about whether the bomb could ever be used again, and a terrifying new development - the arrival of the hydrogen bomb.    Featuring: Dr. Lynn Eden, Dr. Marc Trachtenberg, Dr. Alex Wellerstein

Randall Munroe, the cartoonist behind the popular Internet comic xkcd, finds complicated solutions to simple, real-world problems. In the process, he reveals a lot about science and why the real world is sometimes even weirder than we expect. His latest book is called How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems. (Encore episode.)Here's more on nuclear tests of bottled beverages from nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein.Email the show at shortwave@npr.org.

With the 2020 presidential election looming large, it’s a good time to take a look at the absolute power the President of the United States has over U.S. nuclear weapons. Policy Analyst and Host Geoff Wilson sat down with Dr. Alex Wellerstein, a historian of science at the Stevens Institute of Technology, to discuss the history of presidential launch authority, how our nuclear launch system actually works, and what steps we could take to make it more democratic.

Today I discuss data visualization, COVID-19, and risk communication with Alex Wellerstein.Alex Wellerstein is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Science and Technology Studies Program at the Stevens Institute of Technology. He has a PhD in the History of Science, and his research interests are primarily in the history of nuclear technology. His book, Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States, will be available from the University of Chicago Press in early 2021. He is the creator of the NUKEMAP online nuclear weapons simulator, and taught courses on data visualization for social purposes for many years. He is also a co-PI for the Reinventing Civil Defense Project,sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, which is tasked with developing a holistic approach to nuclear threatcommunication.

Alex Wellerstein, historian of science at the Stevens Institute of Technology and creator of NUKEMAP, returns to Press the Button for a discussion on the history and myths about nuclear weapons on the 75th anniversary of the Trinity test, the world's first nuclear explosion. Early Warning features Tom Collina and progressive foreign policy strategist Elizabeth Beavers discussing the long-overdue national debate over federal budget priorities, and congressional efforts to reduce Pentagon spending.

One day in 1961, the famous physicist Richard Feynman stepped in front of a Caltech lecture hall and posed this question to a group of undergraduate students: “If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence was passed on to the next generation of creatures, what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words?” Now, Feynman had an answer to his own question - a good one. But his question got the entire team at Radiolab wondering, what did his sentence leave out? So we posed Feynman’s cataclysm question to some of our favorite writers, artists, historians, futurists - all kinds of great thinkers. We asked them, “What’s the one sentence you would want to pass on to the next generation that would contain the most information in the fewest words?” What came back was an explosive collage of what it means to be alive right here and now, and what we want to say before we go. Featuring: Richard Feynman, physicist (The Pleasure of Finding Things Out) Caitlin Doughty, mortician (Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs) Esperanza Spalding, musician (12 Little Spells) Cord Jefferson, writer (Watchmen) Merrill Garbus, musician (I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life) Jenny Odell, writer (How to do Nothing) Maria Popova, writer (Brainpickings) Alison Gopnik, developmental psychologist (The Gardener and the Carpenter) Rebecca Sugar, animator (Steven Universe) Nicholson Baker, writer (Substitute) James Gleick, writer (Time Travel) Lady Pink, artist (too many amazing works to pick just one) Jenny Hollwell, writer (Everything Lovely, Effortless, Safe) Jaron Lanier, futurist (Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now) Missy Mazzoli, composer (Proving Up) This episode was produced by Matt Kielty and Rachael Cusick, with help from Jeremy Bloom, Zakiya Gibbons, and the entire Radiolab staff.    Special Thanks to: Ella Frances Sanders, and her book, "Eating the Sun", for inspiring this whole episode. Caltech for letting us use original audio of The Feynman Lectures on Physics. The entirety of the lectures are available to read for free online at www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu.   All the musicians who helped make the Primordial Chord, including: Siavash Kamkar, from Iran  Koosha Pashangpour, from Iran Curtis MacDonald, from Canada Meade Bernard, from US Barnaby Rea, from UK Liav Kerbel, from Belgium Sam Crittenden, from US Saskia Lankhoorn, from Netherlands Bryan Harris, from US Amelia Watkins, from Canada Claire James, from US Ilario Morciano, from Italy Matthias Kowalczyk, from Germany Solmaz Badri, from Iran   All the wonderful people we interviewed for sentences but weren’t able to fit in this episode, including: Daniel Abrahm, Julia Alvarez, Aimee Bender, Sandra Cisneros, Stanley Chen, Lewis Dartnell, Ann Druyan, Rose Eveleth, Ty Frank, Julia Galef, Ross Gay, Gary Green, Cesar Harada, Dolores Huerta, Robin Hunicke, Brittany Kamai, Priya Krishna, Ken Liu, Carmen Maria Machado, James Martin, Judith Matloff, Ryan McMahon, Hasan Minhaj, Lorrie Moore, Priya Natarajan, Larry Owens, Sunni Patterson, Amy Pearl, Alison Roman, Domee Shi, Will Shortz, Sam Stein, Sohaib Sultan, Kara Swisher, Jill Tarter, Olive Watkins, Reggie Watts, Deborah Waxman, Alex Wellerstein, Caveh Zahedi.

This week The Alarmist, Rebecca Delgado Smith, decides who is to blame for the the nuclear bombings of two Japanese cities that brought WWII to a close. She is joined by podcast/writer, Erin Gibson, and historian of science/creator of nuclearsecrecy.com, Alex Wellerstein. Also there "contributing" are Fact-Checker Chris Smith and Producer Amanda Lund. On the board this week: FDR's Little Dinger, MENifest Destiny and Bushido.Tell us who you think is to blame at http://thealarmistpodcast.comEmail us at thealarmistpodcast@gmail.comFollow us on Instagram @thealarmistpodcastFollow us on Twitter @alarmistTheCall the Earios hotline! 844-370-8643 Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/alarmist. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Alex Wellerstein is a historian of science at the Stevens Institute of Technology and the creator of NUKEMAP, an interactive map that calculates the effects of the detonation of a nuclear bomb. He joins Joe Cirincione for a special interview on the history of nuclear weapons, deterrence theory, and why we never really left the 'first' nuclear age. Ploughshares Fund Programs Director Michelle Dover hosts Early Warning with our policy director Tom Collina and special guest Caroline Dorminey, policy director at Women's Action for New Directions (WAND). They discuss Iran's seizure of a British oil tanker, nuclear weapons spending within the context of upcoming negotiations on the US government budget and debt ceiling, and the recent passing of Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency.  Have a question about nuclear issues? Email us at pressthebutton@ploughshares.org NUKEMAP: https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

Are nuclear weapons more powerful today than they were in the past? What makes a nuclear bomb so different from other bombs? Would nuclear energy lead to nuclear proliferation? Everyday Einstein gets answers from Dr. Alex Wellerstein, an expert in nuclear weapons. Read the transcript at Check out all the Quick and Dirty Tips shows: www.quickanddirtytips.com/podcasts FOLLOW EVERYDAY EINSTEIN Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qdteinstein Twitter: https://twitter.com/qdteinstein

Nuclear weapons should be important to all of us because we've got to figure out how to not use them, and how to protect them. Caller Valentina wonders how a generation inundated with information can prioritize nukes as an issue, while caller Larry suggests that maybe the answer to this world problem is as simple as blasting them all into space. Science historian and nuclear weapons expert Dr. Alex Wellerstein joins us to talk history, address those concerns, and more. You can listen to ad-free new episodes of Science Rules!, only on Stitcher Premium. For a free month of Stitcher Premium, go to stitcherpremium.com and use promo code ‘SCIENCE. This episode is sponsored by Progressive Insurance (www.progressive.com), KiwiCo (www.kiwico.com/SCIENCERULES), and Turo.

Civil Defense! From the dawn of World War II and throughout the 1960s, America had a plan to keep its civilians safe and fit to fight in case of invasion or, god forbid, nuclear armageddon. From duck and cover to the aesthetic of the Fallout video games, American popular culture is enmeshed in the history of its Civil Defense. But what, exactly, is Civil Defense. Where did it come from and do we still practice it today?Here to help with this history is Alex Wellerstein. Wellerstein is a historian of science, secrecy, and nuclear weapons. He lectures on this and more at Stevens Institute of Technology. You may know him as the guy who created the nuke map, a website that allows you to simulate the effect of various nuclear weapons on an interactive map.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Carabinieri col telefonino. La lotta ai vigliacchi sul web. Spegnere incendi con i droni. Microsoft supera Apple. Twitter proibisce il deadnaming. Queste e molte altre le notizie commentate nella puntata di questa settimana. Dallo studio distribuito di digitalia: Franco Solerio, Massimo De Santo, Michele Di Maio, Francesco Facconi Produttori esecutivi: Massimiliano Conti, Gianni B., Massimiliano S., Eugenio Nappi, Giuseppe Fusco, Federico Latini, Nicola Bisceglie, Ivan Vannicelli, Ivan Anselmi, Riccardo Peruzzini, Diego Venturin, Paolo Boschetti, Vito Astone, Michele Olivieri, Christian A Marca, Mario Cervai, Davide Fogliarini, Alex Ordiner, Christian Peretto, Antonio Turdo (Thingyy), Ekaterina Zakaryukina, Adriano Guarino, Francesco Mocellin, Manuel Zavatta, Antonio Manna, Alberto Crosio, Mauro Schiavon, Stefano Augusto Innocenti, Zambianchi Marco Francesco Mauro, Riccardo Odone, Matteo Molinari, Marco Pinna, Movida S.A., Michele Coiro, Edoardo Lissoni, Pixel3Design Di Cristiano Gariboldo, Calogero Augusta, Andrea Giovacchini, Maurizio Galluzzo Sponsor: Squarespace.com - utilizzate il codice coupon "DIGITALIA" per avere il 10% di sconto sul costo dell'abbonamento. Links: Microsoft Is Worth as Much as Apple. How Did That Happen? Nazario Pagano on Twitter - Basta con i vigliacchi sul web! «Carabinieri in servizio col telefonino»: la foto è virale. Here's How Drones Could Help With California's Wildfire Problems Watch a Tesla Model S drive (or swim) through a flooded tunnel [Video] Apple Music Coming to Amazon Echo Devices Edward Snowden: British gov wants to add itself to conversations Fearful of bias, Google blocks gender-based pronouns from new AI tool Twitter has banned misgendering or ‘deadnaming’ transgender people Elon Musk promises system to link human brains with AI computers Gingilli del giorno: The carbon map Advent of Code 2018 Grammofy NukeMap by Alex Wellerstein

In this episode, we stepped up to the bar and ordered a couple rounds of Atomic Alcohol. The podcast collected ten examples of nuclear themed wine, cocktails, and beer with names, history, or other interesting connections to nukes. Why do breweries and wineries go to the nuclear well so many times? Could a beverage change how you think about the atom? How many drinks can the podcast team have and still sound reasonably intelligent? Tim Westmyer, Gabe, and special guests Will Saetren (@WillSaetren) and Eric Gascho (@EricGascho) answer these questions and more. Before the bartender announces last call for atomic alcohol, we recommend checking out: -Alex Wellerstein, “Beer and the Apocalypse,” Restricted Data, 2012 -Frank Kelly Rich, “Boozing with the Bomb: Alcohol in the Atomic Age,” Drunkard Magazine -Charlie Papazian, The Complete Joy of Homebrewing Special thanks to: -Tori Mason at Forbidden Root for the cans of Atomic Child -Tony Fitzpatrick and Robert Finkel at Forbidden Root for the interview -@VortexAeroMedia for sending the bottles of Atom Splitter -William Henry at Nuclear Wine, Chris Kotiza at Nuclear Nugget, and Steve at Cit of Cambridge Brewing for answering my questions about their beer -Outro music by Slim Gaillard and His Quartette (1945 Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube. Enjoy!

Our guest today is Alex Wellerstein, a self-described “historian of science, secrecy, and nuclear weapons”. He’s a Professor of Science and Technology Studies at the Stevens Institute of Technology. He blogs here and is on Twitter here. He is also the creator of the NUKEMAP. Alex joined us to talk about the decision to drop […]

Nine countries, including North Korea, have nuclear weapons. What would happen if a nuclear bomb was dropped-- say, in New York City? We talk to nuclear historian Dr. Alex Wellerstein, nuclear engineer Dr. Tetsuji Imanaka, and epidemiologist Dr. Eric Grant. UPDATE 04/27: We've adjusted this episode to correct the elevated risk of cancer in survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombs. If you survived the atomic bombs your risk of cancer is 10% higher than someone who is the same age as you. Check out our full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2salOAK Selected readings: Alex’s nuclear weapon simulation website Tetsuji’s paper calculating the radiation exposure of Hiroshima survivors This review of the Life Span Study of atomic bomb survivors This sobering report on nuclear winter To find a list of our sponsors and show-related promo codes, go to gimlet.fm/sponsors This episode has been produced by Heather Rogers, Wendy Zukerman, our senior producer Kaitlyn Sawrey, Rose Rimler, and Shruti Ravindran, with help from Romilla Karnick. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Additional thoughts from Lulu Miller. Fact checking by Michelle Harris. Mix and sound design by Emma Munger. Music written by Bobby Lord and Emma Munger. Thanks for recording help from John Wild. For this episode we also spoke to Prof. Richard Wakeford, Dr. Richard Turco, Prof. Brian Toon, Prof. Alan Robock, Dr. Dale Preston, Dr. William Kennedy, Dr. Jonathan D. Pollack, and a bunch of other experts on North Korea and nuclear weapons. Thank you so much. Also, special thanks to Shigeko Sasamori and Kathleen Sullivan. An extra special thanks to the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson.

On GPS, the most divisive issue in America? Immigration. It brought the U.S. government to its knees. What's behind the passion on both sides? Is there a compromise? Also, in the wake of the false alert in Hawaii, what you need to know about North Korea's nuclear capabilities...and America's ability to defend against a nuclear attack. GUESTS: Margaret Hoover, David Frum, Niall Ferguson, Nate Cohn, Harry Enten, Alex Wellerstein

"The Nuclear Triad" defines the three strategic delivery systems in the U.S. nuclear arsenal: land-based missiles, submarine-based missiles, and weapons delivered via heavy bombers. As the United States is set to spend over $1 trillion sustaining and rebuilding this arsenal, we take a look into the triad's history and future with Dr. Alex Wellerstein, a premier nuclear historian. Music: www.bensound.com

In this episode we chat about the science and engineering involved in nuclear weapons. Our guest is Alex Wellerstein of the Stevens Institute of Technology. We talk about atomic bombs as well as hydrogen bombs, how to refine the necessary fuels as well as a little bit of history.

In this episode we chat about the science and engineering involved in nuclear weapons. Our guest is Alex Wellerstein of the Stevens Institute of Technology. We talk about atomic bombs as well as hydrogen bombs, how to refine the necessary fuels as well as a little bit of history.

Nuclear weapons and mega asteroids: what would the aftermath look like? CrowdScience explores past extinction events and future dystopias. In a past episode, CrowdScience headed to Denmark to find out whether humans could go the way of the dinosaurs – mass extinction triggered by a large asteroid impact 66 million years ago. Although no killer rocks are on route to Earth any time soon, we do not have to look far for other dystopias. “Do we have enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world?”, listener Ronald from Uganda asks CrowdScience. It turns out there is a web app which can help answer this question. Together with its maker nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein, presenter Anand Jagatia tests hypothetical nuclear disaster scenarios and uncovers the nature of nuclear destruction in interviewees with climate scientist Alan Robock. Do you have a question we can turn into a programme? Email us at crowdscience@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Anand Jagatia Producer: Louisa Field (Image: Explosion of a nuclear bomb Credit: Getty Images)

Part 2 of our conversation with Alex Wellerstein. This is a re-upload because the initial version was missing non-Alex tracks.

Welcome to Episode 1.16: No Nukes Is Good Nukes, or Is It? Thanks for listening, Finers; please subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and make sure to keep a copy of this episode in your local fallout shelter. In this two-parter, we get down into the details of nuclear weapons history with Alex Wellerstein of the Stevens Institute of Technology. We discuss various efforts intended to achieve nuclear disarmament, who has the authority for nuclear weapons use, what are the biggest threats facing us in the future, and what you can do to reduce your risk of perishing in a nuclear attack. This is part 1 of this episode, with part 2 coming approximately a week from today. In two weeks, we’ll return with a deep dive into post-Soviet Russian history, with a special focus on US-Russia relations. As always, the show notes can be found at: http://www.thisisfine.net/2017/07/30/episode-1-16-no-nukes-is-good-nukes-or-is-it/

Historian of nuclear weapons and secrecy, Dr. Alex Wellerstein, discusses the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Specifically, the conversation focuses on the high level, and highly classified, debates over how best to employ these new weapons. From there, the episode segues into the inherent difficulties of doing historical research on classified materials and how that has shaped the historiography of the bombings. (75min) Dr. Wellerstein is the author of Restricted Data: the Nuclear Secrecy Blog, where his NUKEMAP can also be found (among many other items of note). He and his work have also appeared NPR, FOX News, and The Daily Show, as well as in The New Yorker, where his article, "Nagasaki: The Last Bomb," can be found.

Some say we are on the verge of a bright future in which nuclear power will play a major role in responding to climate change. Others say that we should expect more Fukushimas. Whichever way our nuclear future goes, there will be tradeoffs between energy and the environment.    Hosts Michal Meyer and Robert Kenworthy speak with nuclear historians Alex Wellerstein and Linda Richards. They discuss how our turbulent nuclear past has shaped, for better and for worse, our current attitudes.