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Sign along empty road reading "Private Road No Entry" in Hebrew and English.

How Israel Deceived the U.S. and Built the Bomb

Newly declassified documents reveal how Israel operated under the noses of U.S. inspectors.
by William Burr, Avner Cohen via Foreign Policy on February 7, 2025
Three identical pictures of the explosion of an atomic bomb with different coloring.

How Literature Predicted and Portrayed the Atom Bomb

On Pierrepoint B. Noyes, H.G. Wells, and the “Superweapons” of early science-fiction.
by Dorian Lynskey via Literary Hub on January 28, 2025
David Dobson with scientific equipment.

Nuclear Proliferation and the “Nth Country Experiment”

A mid-1960s “do-it-yourself” project produced “credible nuclear weapon” design from open sources.
by William Burr via National Security Archive on January 23, 2025
Photo of 5 skeletons controlling panels.

Notes from the Cold War Underground

The weapons infrastructure of the Cold War is now getting rented out on Airbnb or memorialized as patriotic kitsch.
by Emily Harnett via The Baffler on October 22, 2024
Summer Interns, posting with the casing of a B-61 bomb in 1982.

Pantex Employee Photos, 1980s

Team photographs at a nuclear weapons factory offer a glimpse into the mundanity and materiality of the bomb.
by Alex Wellerstein via Doomsday Machines on August 13, 2024
Silhouette of Oppenheimer wearing a fedora.

How Do We Know the Motorman Is Not Insane?

Oppenheimer and the demon heart of power.
by James Robins via The Dreadnought on December 20, 2023
Lagoon in Majuro Atoll with tropical trees in the background and a rainbow in the sky

On the Map

The flag of Bikini Atoll looks a lot like the American flag. It has the same red and white stripes. The resemblance is intentional.
by Carleigh Beriont via Process: A Blog for American History on December 12, 2023
J. Robert Oppenheimer and Leslie Groves

Beyond Tortured Genius: Science and Conscience in Two Rediscovered Oppenheimer Films

"The Day After Trinity" and "The Strangest Dream" evacuate the mythical tropes of the tortured genius biopic that Hollywood loves to rehearse.
by Lauren Carroll Harris via Literary Hub on August 31, 2023
A worker in the Shinkolobwe mine.

The Dark History ‘Oppenheimer’ Didn't Show

Coming from the Congo, I knew where an essential ingredient for atomic bombs was mined, even if everyone else seemed to ignore it.
by Ngofeen Mputubwele via Wired on August 21, 2023
A sign that reads "U.S. Department of Energy, Nevada Test Site, Yucca Mountain Project."

The Fallout

The fight over nuclear waste on Yucca Mountain.
by Andrew Alam-Nist via The Politic on March 30, 2023
The mushroom cloud created by the Castle Bravo nuclear test

The US Devastated the Marshall Islands — And Is Now Refusing to Aid the Marshallese People

The 1954 US nuclear tests absolutely devastated the small island nation, but the US has steadfastly refused to make real amends for it.
by Chuck McKeever via Jacobin on February 16, 2022
Cover of the book, "Restricted Data: the History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States" by Alex Wellerstein

Secrets, Sins, and Nuclear Insecurity

Only a certain kind of person, both foolish and resolute, would choose to study a subject so extensive, yet so restrictive, as the secrets of nuclear weapons.
by Joshua Roebke via Los Angeles Review of Books on May 19, 2021
Nuclear explosion
partner

Why the Cold War Race for Nuclear Weapons Is Still a Threat

The Cold War may be over, but an arms race continues, even as safeguards once in place have fallen away.
via Retro Report on April 26, 2021
High Schoolers in Arkansas painting a nuclear test

The Long Road to Nuclear Justice for the Marshallese People

U.S. nuclear weapons testing displaced residents of the Marshall Islands. They're still fighting for justice for the devastation of their homeland and health.
by Olivia Paschal via Facing South on April 2, 2021

How the U.S. Betrayed the Marshall Islands, Kindling the Next Nuclear Disaster

A close look at the consequences of nuclear testing.
by Susanne Rust via Los Angeles Times on November 10, 2019

America's Decades-Old Obsession With Nuking Hurricanes (and More)

If you think dropping a nuclear bomb into the eye of a hurricane is a bad idea, wait'll you see what they had in mind for the polar ice caps.
by Garrett M. Graff via Wired on August 26, 2019
Veteran who was exposed to nuclear radiation.

The Atomic Soldiers

How the U.S. government used veterans as atomic guinea pigs.
by Morgan Knibbe via New York Times Op-Docs on February 12, 2019
A man alone among the rubble of a city

TV and the Bomb

During the Cold War, nuclear weapons were a frequent plot point on television shows. Fearful depictions in the 1950's became more darkly comedic in the 1960s.
by Reba A. Wissner via Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on August 13, 2018

New York City, the Perfect Setting for a Fictional Cold War Strike

On Collier’s 1950 cover story, “Hiroshima, USA: Can Anything Be Done About It?”
by Sara Blair via Literary Hub on June 13, 2018
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Iran, North Korea, Russia: How the Nuclear Threat Re-emerged

Countries are expanding their nuclear arsenals. So why is the public so complacent about the risk of nuclear catastrophe?
by Noah Madoff, Harvey Burrell via Retro Report on May 15, 2018

Our Nukes, Ourselves

Nuclear heritage and nuclear stewardship in a quiet desert town.
by Kelsey D. Atherton via The New Inquiry on March 21, 2018
partner

How the Korean War Put Presidents in Charge of Nuclear Weapons

The president's unilateral nuclear authority comes from decisions made at the start of the Atomic Age.
by Se Young Jang via Made By History on January 2, 2018

The Nuke ‘Treaty That Ended the Cold War’ is Unraveling

The Trump administration signals a game of chicken with Russia, which could mean the death of arms control.
by Scott Ritter via The American Conservative on December 11, 2017

Comparing Truman's Hiroshima Statement to Trump's North Korea Ultimatum

What to know before equating "fire and fury" to the "rain of ruin."
by Olivia B. Waxman via TIME on August 9, 2017

'Atomic Bill' and the Birth of the Bomb

Reconsidering the journalistic ethics of a New York Times reporter who chronicled the Manhattan Project from the inside.
by Mark Wolverton via UnDark on August 9, 2017

The U.S. Contemplated a Nuclear Confrontation in North Korea in 1953.

The Trump Administration can - and should - learn from that moment.
by David E. Kaiser via TIME on April 14, 2017

Neutron Sunday

In 1956, Ed Sullivan showed America what nuclear war looks like. We were never the same again.
by Donald Fagen via Slate on October 14, 2016

The Atomic Bomb and the Nuclear Age

A primary source set and teaching guide created by educators.
by Amy Rudersdorf via Digital Public Library of America on June 15, 2015

Poems of the Manhattan Project

John Canaday's poems look at nuclear weapons from the intimate perspectives of its developers.
via Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on September 30, 2014
Black-and-white still image from the film "Dr. Strangelove," in which a man is shouting and waving his hat in the air while riding a missile in flight.

Almost Everything in “Dr. Strangelove” Was True

How Stanley Kubrick’s film “Dr. Strangelove” exposed dangers inherent in nuclear command-and-control systems.
by Eric Schlosser via The New Yorker on January 17, 2014
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