Podcasts about nazi atomic bomb

Ridge, Tennessee. Our home of Oak Ridge got its start as a major part of the monumental Manhattan Project, the nation's successful effort to build the first atomic bomb and end World War II. We talk a lot at AMSE and the K-25 Atomic History Center about the history of the Project, the science and engineering behind it, and the role of Oak Ridge and other locations in its successful outcome. But what is hard to teach is the atmosphere that surrounded that work. Our nation was at war, our soldiers and marines, our sailors and airmen, fighting and dying on the battlefields of Europe and Africa, on the islands of the Pacific, on the vast oceans, in the skies. Every family in America was touched by this war, a war against powers of fascism and militarism, of genocide and oppression.   And we were quite concerned that Nazi Germany was far ahead of us in the effort to build the atomic bomb. It became our focus to beat them in that race, and concurrently to do what we could to sabotage their efforts. I spoke on our podcast, AMSEcast, with award-winning author, Sam Kean, about his terrific book on this topic titled The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb. Here is Sam.

In this episode, host Shelly Lesher is joined by Neal Bascomb, author of The Winter Fortress, which tells the story of the plan to sabotage Hitler's atomic bomb. Listen as Neal tells about the several different missions set out to destroy the Nazi atomic bomb program and how they affected the course of the World War II. Visit us at: mynuclearlife.com Patreon: www.patreon.com/mynuclearlife email us

The heroism of D-Day is immortalized in history books, but far less attention is given to the individuals who worked undercover to prevent Germany from developing an atomic bomb during WWII. In his new book, The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb, science writer Sam Kean tells the stories of the men and women who made up the Alsos Mission, or the “Bastard Brigade.” They worked tirelessly to make sure Germany’s (impressive) scientific discoveries wouldn’t change the course of the war.

This week we chat with DC-based author Sam Kean about his most recent work: The Bastard Brigade, a book about a group of scientists and military commanders during World War II who were trying to stop the Nazis from creating an atomic bomb. In this episode, get ready to hear about some eccentric characters, sabotage, and--of course--chemistry. 

Ep. 19 — An aspiring scientist rejects the impersonal sterility of the profession to become a science writer and stumbles upon a gripping emotional saga of courage, heroism, and sacrifice / Sam Kean, Author, The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb. It wasn’t until the third year of college and endless science classes that Sam Kean realized he was temperamentally unsuited to becoming a scientist. Shaken by the realization that he had to reinvent his future, Kean took to science writing and found his niche as a best-selling author. But although he had majored in Physics in college, Kean was writing about everything but physics. Until one day, when he heard about the so-called Bastard Brigade, a rag-tag group of scientists and spies who had coalesced around a common goal, to thwart Hitler from building an atomic bomb during WWII. Kean quickly realized that he had finally stumbled upon a physics story worth telling. Because the story of the Bastard Brigade was not just about the dry, dispassionate nuclear physics, chemistry, and history of the atomic bomb. It was as much about the hero’s journey of a group of ill-fated and unlikely leaders, who had willingly embarked on a fool-hardy and dangerous mission, ready to sacrifice their lives for a higher cause. When he had least expected it, Kean had discovered the human face of science. Transcript Download the PDF Chitra Ragavan:   Hello, everyone. I'm Chitra Ragavan, and this is When It Mattered. When It Mattered is a podcast on how leaders deal with and learn from adversity. This episode is brought to you by Goodstory, an advisory firm helping technology startups find their narrative. My guest today is the New York Times bestselling author, Sam Kean. His latest book is called The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb. Kean also is the author of other science bestsellers: The Disappearing Spoon, The Violinist's Thumb, The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons, and Caesar's Last Breath. His stories have appeared in The Best American Nature and Science Writing, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Slate, and his work has been featured on NPR's Radiolab, Science Friday, and Fresh Air. Sam, welcome to the podcast. Sam Kean:   Hello. Thanks for having me. Chitra Ragavan:   Did you always know that this was what you wanted to do in life, to become a writer, and particularly, a science writer? Sam Kean:   No, actually I, for a long time, thought I was going to be a scientist. When I was going through high school, I was taking all the science classes I could in every subject, and then got to college in Minnesota and was very focused again on science. I was a physics major. It really wasn't until about my third or so year in college when things swerved on me a little bit. I just realized that temperamentally, maybe I wasn't cut out to be a scientist in that I started working in some different labs that were doing research, and I realized that I just wasn't enjoying doing the research as much as I thought I was. I didn't like the fact that you spent all your time building and tinkering with equipment. I was a little clumsy with it, couldn't get it to work right all the time. Sam Kean:   For really the first time in my life, I started to wonder, "Well, maybe I don't actually want to be a scientist anymore." It was a little scary in that I had been focused on being a scientist for so long that I really almost didn't know who I was anymore if I wasn't going to be a scientist. Basically, what I did was I kind of ran to the other end of campus and got an English major, so I was working on both the science and the English part there, and eventually realized that not only did I like writing, but that you could make a living by writing about science. That was a good fit for me because I got to be sort of involved with science,

What up stokers, in this very special episode, we are joined by renowned author Sam Kean to discuss his new book, The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb. Prepare yourselves for science, history and full on stoke. Buy the Book here.

The heroism of D-Day is immortalized in history books, but far less attention is given to the individuals who worked undercover to prevent Germany from developing an atomic bomb during WWII. In his new book, The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb, science writer Sam Kean tells the stories of the men and women who made up the Alsos Mission, or the “Bastard Brigade.” They worked tirelessly to make sure Germany’s (impressive) scientific discoveries wouldn’t change the course of the war.

This episode features Sam Kean. Sam is the New York Times bestselling author of Caesar's Last Breath, The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons, The Disappearing Spoon, and The Violinist's Thumb, all of which were also named Amazon top science books of the year. He is here to talk about his newest book: The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb. He also discusses what it takes to be a successful author, motivation, and more.

This episode features Sam Kean. Sam is the New York Times bestselling author of Caesar's Last Breath, The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons, The Disappearing Spoon, and The Violinist's Thumb, all of which were also named Amazon top science books of the year. He is here to talk about his newest book: The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb. He also discusses what it takes to be a successful author, motivation, and more.

This episode features Sam Kean. Sam is the New York Times bestselling author of Caesar's Last Breath, The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons, The Disappearing Spoon, and The Violinist's Thumb, all of which were also named Amazon top science books of the year. He is here to talk about his newest book: The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb. He also discusses what it takes to be a successful author, motivation, and more.

This week, Liberty and Kelly discuss The Chain, A Prayer for Travelers, The Need, and more great books. This episode was sponsored by the Versify podcast, Lola, and Bombas. Pick up an All the Books! 200th episode commemorative item here. Subscribe to All the Books! using RSS, iTunes, or Spotify and never miss a beat book. Sign up for the weekly New Books! newsletter for even more new book news. Books discussed on the show: The Chain by Adrian McKinty  The Saturday Night Ghost Club: A Novel by Craig Davidson  Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Guillermo del Toro, Cornelia Funke  The Need by Helen Phillips Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem: A Memoir by Daniel R. Day A Prayer for Travelers: A Novel by Ruchika Tomar Wilder Girls by Rory Power The Boy and Girl Who Broke The World by Amy Reed What we're reading: Moon Of The Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo More books out this week: Knife: A New Harry Hole Novel (Harry Hole Series) by Jo Nesbo  Your Strange Fortune by Chloe N Clark The Shameless (A Quinn Colson Novel) by Ace Atkins  Let's Hope for the Best by Carolina Setterwall Murderabilia by Carl Vonderau Breathe In, Cash Out: A Novel by Madeleine Henry  The Reunion by Guillaume Musso  The Toll by Cherie Priest In the Shadow of Wolves by Alvydas Šlepikas and Romas Kinka Copperhead: A Novel by Alexi Zentner  The Last Englishmen: Love, War, and the End of Empire by Deborah Baker  Stay and Fight: A Novel by Madeline ffitch Jacob's Ladder: A Novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya, Polly Gannon (translator) Circus: or, Moira Orfei in Aigues-Mortes: A Novel by Wayne Koestenbaum Shapes of Native Nonfiction: Collected Essays by Contemporary Writers by Elissa Washuta and Theresa Warburton The Vagabonds: The Story of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison’s Ten-Year Road Trip by Jeff Guinn Bad Axe County: A Novel by John Galligan Death and Other Happy Endings: A Novel by Melanie Cantor  Heartwood Box by Ann Aguirre Say Say Say: A novel by Lila Savage The Stories You Tell (Roxane Weary) by Kristen Lepionka The Trouble with Gravity: Solving the Mystery Beneath Our Feet by Richard Panek Cheshire Crossing by Andy Weir, Sarah Andersen (Illustrator)  Under Currents by Nora Roberts The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb by Sam Kean Killing with Confetti (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery Book 18) by Peter Lovesey  The Cuban Comedy by Pablo Medina The Golden Hour: A Novel by Beatriz Williams Inhabitation: A Novel by Teru Miyamoto and Roger K. Thomas Vincent and Alice and Alice by Shane Jones Three Women by Lisa Taddeo The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess  If: The Untold Story of Kipling’s American Years by Christopher Benfey Supper Club by Lara Williams The Lightest Object in the Universe by Kimi Eisele Hungry: Eating, Road-Tripping and Risking It All with the Greatest Chef in the World by Jeff Gordinier Famous People: A Novel by Justin Kuritzkes The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt: A Novel by Andrea Bobotis Me Myself & Him by Chris Tebbetts The Survival of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson Season of the Witch (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Book 1) by Sarah Rees Brennan Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss by Margaret Renkl Null Set (Cas Russell) by S. L. Huang The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman  Hope Rides Again: An Obama Biden Mystery (Obama Biden Mysteries) by Andrew Shaffer  Salvation Day by Kali Wallace One Little Secret: A Novel by Cate Holahan  Past Perfect Life by Elizabeth Eulberg Accommodations by Wioletta Greg and Jennifer Croft When Islam Is Not a Religion: Inside America's Fight for Religious Freedom by Asma T. Uddin  Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars Book 1) by Elizabeth Lim Death in a Desert Land by Andrew Wilson

Ronneberg started speaking about his experience in history in recent years.

Denis Vrain-Lucas was an undistinguished forger until he met gullible collector Michel Chasles. Through the 1860s Lucas sold Chasles thousands of phony letters by everyone from Plato to Louis the 14th, earning thousands of francs and touching off a firestorm among confused scholars. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll trace the career of the world's most prolific forger. We'll also count Queen Elizabeth's eggs and puzzle over a destroyed car. Intro: In 2011 Australian architect Horst Kiechle sculpted a human torso from paper. English historian Thomas Birch went angling dressed as a tree. Sources for our feature on Denis Vrain-Lucas: Joseph Rosenblum, Prince of Forgers, 1998. Michael Farquhar, A Treasury of Deception, 2005. John Whitehead, This Solemn Mockery, 1973. James Anson Farrer, Literary Forgeries, 1907. Rebekah Higgitt, "'Newton Dépossédé!' The British Response to the Pascal Forgeries of 1867," British Journal for the History of Science 36:131 (December 2003), 437-453. Stephen Ornes, "Descartes' Decipherer," Nature 483:7391 (March 29, 2012), 540. R.A. Rosenbaum, "Michel Chasles and the Forged Autograph Letters," Mathematics Teacher 52:5 (May 1959), 365-366. Ken Alder, "History's Greatest Forger: Science, Fiction, and Fraud along the Seine," Critical Inquiry 30:4 (2004), 702-716. Bruce Whiteman, "Practice to Deceive: The Amazing Stories of Literary Forgery's Most Notorious Practitioners, by Joseph Rosenblum," Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada 39:1 (2001). "Missives Impossible: Fake News Is Nothing New -- Even Isaac Newton Was a Victim, Says Stephen Ornes," New Scientist 236:3157/3158 (Dec. 23, 2017), 76-77. Steve Kemper, "Signs of the Times," Smithsonian 28:8 (November 1997), 134-140. Cullen Murphy, "Knock It Off," Atlantic Monthly 294:5 (December 2004), 187-188. Paul Gray, "Fakes That Have Skewed History," Time 121:20 (May 16, 1983), 58-61 Matthew Adams, "Archivist Talks About History of Forgery," University Wire, Oct. 24, 2014. Charles Whibley, "Of Literary Forgers," Cornhill Magazine 12:71 (May 1902), 624-636. "Literary Frauds and Forgers," Washington Times, Aug. 13, 1907. "Literary Forgers," New York Times, May 17, 1902. "Personal Gossip," Charleston Daily News, Oct. 20, 1869. Listener mail: Ben Zimmer, "Particitrousers of the Revolutionary Movement," Language Log, Sept. 7, 2015. Ben Zimmer, "Incorrections in the Newsroom: Cupertino and Beyond," Language Log, Feb. 1, 2008. Ben Zimmer, "Hugh Jackilometresan," Language Log, Jan. 4, 2017. Ben Zimmer, "It Was As If a Light Had Been Nookd ...," Language Log, June 1, 2012. Eddie Wrenn, "eBook Replaces All Mentions of the Word 'Kindle' With Rival 'Nook' -- and Ends Up Destroying War and Peace," Daily Mail, June 7, 2012. "Poor Mr Anus, the Council Candidate Given a Bum Deal by Facebook," Guardian, Sept. 28, 2018. Kevin Jackson, "Illusion / Right Before Your Very Eyes: Penn and Teller Do Magic, but the Real Trick Is That They Like to Give the Game Away," Independent, Jan. 30, 1993. Wikipedia, "Japanese Name: Imperial Names" (accessed Oct. 25, 2018). Wikipedia, "Akihito: Ichthyological Research" (accessed Oct. 25, 2018). Russell Goldman, "5 Things to Know About Japan's Emperor and Imperial Family," New York Times, Aug. 8, 2016. Akihito et al., "Speciation of Two Gobioid Species, Pterogobius elapoides and Pterogobius zonoleucus Revealed by Multi-Locus Nuclear and Mitochondrial DNA Analyses," Gene 576:2 (2016), 593-602. Rob Beschizza, "Joachim Rønneberg, Saboteur Who Wrecked Nazi Nuke Program, Dies at 99," Boing Boing, Oct. 22, 2018. "Joachim Roenneberg: Man Who Stopped Nazi Germany's Nuclear Ambitions Has Died, Aged 99, Norwegian Authorities Confirm," Reuters, Oct. 21, 2018. "Joachim Ronneberg: Norwegian Who Thwarted Nazi Nuclear Plan Dies," BBC News, Oct. 22, 2018. Robert D. McFadden, "Joachim Ronneberg, Leader of Raid That Thwarted a Nazi Atomic Bomb, Dies at 99," New York Times, Oct. 22, 2018. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Christopher McDonough. Here are three corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

  During World War II, the Allies feared that Germany was on the brink of creating an atomic bomb. To prevent this, they launched a dramatic midnight commando raid to destroy a key piece of equipment in the mountains of southern Norway. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll remember Operation Gunnerside, "one of the most daring and important undercover operations of World War II." We'll also learn what to say when you're invading Britain and puzzle over the life cycle of cicadas. Intro: Hundreds of students overlooked an error in a Brahms capriccio; a novice found it. Hesiod's Theogony gives a clue to the distance between earth and heaven. Sources for our feature on Operation Gunnerside: Ray Mears, The Real Heroes of Telemark, 2003. Knut Haukelid, Skis Against the Atom, 1954. John D. Drummond, But for These Men, 1962. Neal Bascomb, The Winter Fortress, 2016. Thomas B. Allen, "Saboteurs at Work," MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History 26:2 (Winter 2014), 64-71. Ian Herrington, "The SIS and SOE in Norway 1940-1945: Conflict or Co-operation?" War in History 9:1 (January 2002), 82-110. Neal Bascomb, "Saboteurs on Skis," World War II 31:2 (July/August 2016), 58-67,6. Hans Børresen, "Flawed Nuclear Physics and Atomic Intelligence in the Campaign to Deny Norwegian Heavy Water to Germany, 1942-1944," Physics in Perspective 14:4 (December 2012), 471-497. "Operation Gunnerside," Atomic Heritage Foundation, July 28, 2017. Ray Mears, "Norwegian Resistance Coup," NOVA (accessed Nov. 19, 2017). Simon Worrall, "Inside the Daring Mission That Thwarted a Nazi Atomic Bomb," National Geographic, June 5, 2016. Andrew Han, "The Heavy Water War and the WWII Hero You Don't Know," Popular Mechanics, June 16, 2016. Gordon Corera, "Last Hero of Telemark: The Man Who Helped Stop Hitler's A-Bomb," BBC News, April 25, 2013. Tim Bross, "Sabotage Slowed Nazi's Pursuit of Atomic Power, Author Writes," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 1, 2016, D.7. Andrew Higgins, "WWII Hero Credits Luck and Chance in Foiling Hitler's Nuclear Ambitions," New York Times, Nov. 20, 2015. "Colonel Jens-Anton Poulsson," Times, Feb. 17, 2010, 65. Richard Bernstein, "Keeping the Atom Bomb From Hitler," New York Times, Feb. 12, 1997, 17. Howard Schneider, "Defusing the Nazi Bomb," Wall Street Journal, May 27, 2016. "Norwegian Resistance Hero Helped Halt Nazi Bomb Plans," Ottawa Citizen, Feb. 13, 2003, A6. E.W. Fowler, "Obituary: Heroic Saboteur Knut Anders Haukelid," Guardian, March 15, 1994. "War Hero Was Last Kon-Tiki Survivor," Edmonton Journal, Jan. 10, 2010, E.7. Listener mail: Modern mudlarkers, from listener Tom Mchugh: Wikipedia, "Petroleum Warfare Department" (accessed Dec. 9, 2017). Sir Donald Banks, Flame Over Britain: A Personal Narrative of Petroleum Warfare, 1946. Wikipedia, "KRACK" (accessed Dec. 9, 2017). James Sanders, "KRACK WPA2 Protocol Wi-Fi Attack: How It Works and Who's at Risk," TechRepublic, Oct. 16, 2017. Brad Chacos and Michael Simon, "KRACK Wi-Fi Attack Threatens All Networks: How to Stay Safe and What You Need to Know," PCWorld, Nov. 8, 2017. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Sam Long. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!