The Bomb - Podcast Rankings and reviews

The bomb tells the important history of the atomic bomb, without getting bogged down in all the minutiae that would turn mainstream gen z listeners off. They have done a stellar job of painting a picture of the race for the bomb, the testing and the great lengths that country’s went to gather any information they could about the program, using espionage and lies to get people to buy into their political system and serve the cause. This is great for people who aren’t academics or huge history buffs to learn about the history of the weapon that’s had humanity on a razors edge ever since it’s inception.

This podcast has both extraordinary production (it sounds great), fine writing, and the host has curious family connections to the making of the atomic bomb. Whether you’re remotely curious about the Cold War, espionage, nuclear weaponry, or just great storytelling, this is an exemplary show.

Both seasons are extremely well done and well reported. Compelling takes and very different windows into one of the most significant developments of the 20th century. Both seasons offer interesting prisms on familiar history, especially for Americans.

My only complaint is I just wish there were a thousand episodes each 4 hours long. I really thank you so much for producing this. I got to visit Oak Ridge and Los Alamos last year as well as the Trinity site plus Einstein’s house in NJ as well as his summer cottage out on Long Island. I then found your podcast and could not listen to it fast enough. I also visited Enrico Fermi’s gravesite in Chicago as well as the site of the Chicago Pile Squash Court (torn down now and I wish they did not do that). Anyway - this podcast is a fantastic learning tool. Thank you!

From the opening lines to the series, the author makes it clear that, in her view, the fact that the bomb was created at all — irrespective of any contextual factors — is the worst tragedy in human history; and that she feels guilt, shame, and pain just thinking about exploring the context in which it occurred.

Moreover, she makes sure to remind you of this at every turn — at least twice per episode.

The author even suggests that the only way such a thing could occur was because those evil military government warmongers kept everything so secret that even those working on the project, like her grandfather, didn’t know what they were building — lest they rebel and cancel the whole thing.

And yet, her opening remarks state that the salient memory she has of her grandfather is of a photograph of him in front of a mushroom cloud. So much for unwitting or begrudging participation.

Anyway, after 6 or 7 episodes, I could not stand the constant preaching, the overly morose tone, or the manufactured drama for an event to which we all know the end.

It is a shame because there is some good content and interviews from experts, but the author makes it all insufferable.

For the parts that focused on the history, it was fine. However, the podcaster tries to make this dramatically personal because her grandfather worked at Oak Ridge. She approached it as if her grandfather was Oppenheimer, trying to wrestle with a work-related decision that would impact mankind. Her grandfather did a job during the war like many others, whether they were making ammunitions or building tanks or working at Oak Ridge. Her ‘struggle’ to understand her grandfather is incredibly convoluted.