# WWII, episode 13: The Manhattan Project

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-blue-collar-scholar-5584458/wwii-episode-13-the-manhattan-project
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-blue-collar-scholar-5584458/wwii-episode-13-the-manhattan-project.md
Podcast: [The Blue Collar Scholar](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-blue-collar-scholar-5584458)
Published: 2026-05-02T18:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://the-blue-collar-scholar.simplecast.com/episodes/wwii-episode-13-the-manhattan-project-d8v83NMT
Audio file: https://cdn.simplecast.com/media/audio/transcoded/0629b599-6b9f-45a8-910c-a58b113af6d4/9547d0c6-f239-43ae-b10f-f2b66bd3573b/episodes/audio/group/17cfb4c0-a1a5-4f51-95c6-4c21a26068e3/group-item/b4c72326-29b5-4e11-94aa-9c6dd53055f3/128_default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=XAYHUsKl
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-blue-collar-scholar-5584458/episodes/wwii-episode-13-the-manhattan-project
Duration seconds: 6612

## Resource

World War II came to a radically-unpredictable conclusion when Japan was bombed - twice - by the most powerful individual weapons ever used on human beings. The scientific knowledge necessary to accomplish the creation of the atomic bomb was only made possible a few short years before this when non-Nazi Germany scientists discovered nuclear fission in 1938. Determined to unlock the power of the atom before Hitler could, the United States & the United Kingdom got quickly to work - eventually combining their efforts - to master the chemistry, physics, engineering, industry, and logistics necessary (costing $2 Billion in 1945 money) to create the first nuclear weapons. This episode does not attempt to explain the bombs on a scientific level. Rather, we will survey the history surrounding the formation, the maintenance, and the successful conclusion of the Manhattan Project.

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## Transcript

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