Face-Off

The nuclear age began in fear, secrecy, and scientific ambition. The bomb created in a moment of wartime urgency became the foundation of a new global order defined by terror and deterrence. The story is familiar, but its implications have never left us. In episode two of the series, Jane Perlez interviews nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein about the origins of the bomb and the Americans’ race to build a weapon before Hitler. Wellerstein explains how the White House first learned about a terrifying source of energy and the top-secret decision-making that culminated in Los Alamos and the creation of the first atom bomb used on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945.

Jane Perlez also travels to Hiroshima with Associate Producer Frank Zhou to interview an atomic bomb survivor and retrace her steps through the decimated city in the hours after the blast. Decades later, we must ask: will we let it happen again?

Reading Recommendations:

Hiroshima by John Hersey. The gruesome, influential reportage by the famed New Yorker writer about Hiroshima eight months after the bombing.

Fallout by Lesley M.M. Blume. The riveting behind-the-scenes story of how John Hersey got his Hiroshima story.

90 Seconds to Midnight by Charlotte Decroes Jacobs. A biography of Setsuko Nakamura Thurlow, a schoolgirl who survived Hiroshima.

The Most Awful Responsibility: Truman and the Secret Struggle for Control of the Atomic Age by Alex Wellerstein. When he gave the go-ahead to bomb, Truman thought Hiroshima was mainly a military base. He was mistaken.

Face-Off is produced and reported by Jane Perlez. Our production team is Nina Porzucki, Louise Morris, and Frank Zhou. Sound design and mixing by John Myers and Rowhome Productions.

This project is made possible by the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Managing the Atom Project. Our special guest is Professor Matthew Bunn, Faculty Chair of the Managing the Atom Project (@matthew-bunn.bsky.social).

Face Off is produced in partnership with Rowhome Productions. Rowhome's Creative Director is Alex Lewis. John Myers is Rowhome's Executive Producer.

Episode Art Image Credit: U.S. Department of Energy (or predecessor organization) employee. Image Caption: Leslie Groves (left), military head of the Manhattan Project, with Professor Robert Oppenheimer (right).
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For the first time in half a century, the world is drifting into a nuclear era with fewer constraints and more danger. The old arms control architecture is gone. The United States is modernizing its arsenal, Russia is making explicit nuclear threats, and China is expanding rapidly and in secret. Each development is destabilizing on its own. Together, they make a world in which the nuclear threat risks escalating faster than diplomacy can contain it. In episode one of the series, Jane Perlez and New York Times White House and National Security Correspondent David Sanger lay out the stakes. How did we get to a world with crumbling nuclear guardrails? And what might happen next?

Sanger explains why nuclear weapons are back: how the Biden White House scrambled to respond to Vladimir Putin’s threats to use the nuclear option against Ukraine, what the war in Iran and North Korea’s arsenal signal to nuclear-curious nations waiting in the wings, and whether it is ever possible to wage a “limited nuclear war.” They also discuss how AI and cyberwarfare will transform the future of our arsenals. As nuclear weapons return to the public eye, we must ask: is the world inching toward another nuclear conflict?

Reading Recommendations:

New Cold Wars by David Sanger on the current global tensions.

At The Brink by William Hennigan. A brilliant series of articles by the New York Times opinion writer on the state of nuclear weapons.

Nukesletter, an email newsletter written by noted international expert on nuclear weapons, Ankit Panda. Subscribe here to receive future issues.

Face-Off is produced and reported by Jane Perlez. Our production team is Nina Porzucki, Louise Morris, and Frank Zhou. Sound design and mixing by John Myers and Rowhome Productions.

This project is made possible by the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Managing the Atom Project. Our special guest is Professor Matthew Bunn, Faculty Chair of the Managing the Atom Project (@matthew-bunn.bsky.social).

Face-Off is produced in partnership with Rowhome Productions. Rowhome's Creative Director is Alex Lewis. John Myers is Rowhome's Executive Producer.

Episode Art Image Credit: U.S. Department of Energy. Image Caption: Overseas Operation Ivy, at a height of approximately 12,000 feet, 50 miles from the detonation site.
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The nuclear age began in secrecy and scientific ambition. The story is familiar, but its implications have never left us. Face-Off: Nuclear Anarchy is an 8-part series tracing the arc of nuclear danger. A bomb created in a moment of wartime urgency became the foundation of a global order defined by terror and deterrence. But what happens when that global order breaks down?

This season, we take you back inside the Manhattan Project and a decimated Hiroshima in the hours after the blast. We retrace the Cuban Missile Crisis and the abandonment of the New START treaty with a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and the State Department decision-makers in the room. We follow China’s rapid expansion, Russia’s threats, Ukraine’s lost deterrent, and the outliers challenging the world’s nuclear order.

In each episode, Pulitzer-winning journalist Jane Perlez interviews leading participants in the nuclear conversation: David Sanger, Tong Zhao, Rose Gottemoeller, Alex Wellerstein and more. Plus, Harvard Kennedy School Professor Matthew Bunn joins for a wrap-up segment to put everything in context. Episodes out every Tuesday in October & November 2026. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

This project is made possible by the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Managing the Atom Project. Our special guest is Professor Matthew Bunn, Faculty Chair of the Managing the Atom Project (@matthew-bunn.bsky.social).

Face-Off is produced and reported by Jane Perlez. Our production team is Nina Porzucki, Louise Morris, and Frank Zhou. Sound design and mixing by John Myers.

Face Off is produced in partnership with Rowhome Productions. Rowhome’s Creative Director is Alex Lewis. John Myers is Rowhome’s Executive Producer.
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While we're busy working on a new season of Face-Off, we thought our audience might be interested in learning about a new series called Asian Innovation for Social Good, produced by our friends at Foreign Policy.

Across Asia, philanthropy is expanding from traditional grant-making into a more active role as catalytic capital, taking on risk that commercial investment avoids and public funding cannot yet reach.

Climate, global health, and inclusive development now draw partnerships that cross borders and sectors, financing early-stage innovation where the returns are uncertain and the time horizons are long.

The Philanthropy Asia Summit is where those alliances take shape, and this four-part series, recorded at the sixth edition in Singapore, follows host Rob Sachs into the rooms where funders, operators, and policy leaders are testing what collaborative giving can achieve.

Each episode examines the role philanthropy plays when the maps drawn for an earlier era no longer fit the terrain, and what becomes possible when ambition meets disciplined execution.

Find the show wherever you listen to podcasts.
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We’re hard at work on Season 4 of Face-Off. And we have some great episodes in the works, but while we’re in production I wanted to share an episode from a different podcast that I thought you might enjoy….

When people discuss environmental solutions, they often mention its impact on our lives. This can include ensuring parts of the planet remain inhabitable in the face of extreme temperatures, maintaining biodiversity, and preventing the oxidation of our oceans. But there’s another case to be made: Investing in our planet makes sense economically. 

Conservation can deliver high returns on investment. According to the ⁠International Monetary Fund⁠, every dollar spent on conservation and other green projects may yield up to seven dollars within five years. This is because of jobs created, food systems improved, and a reduction in greenhouse gases, among other outcomes. 

On this episode of The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, we speak with Jody Allen, a philanthropist, businesswoman, and conservationist. She cares deeply about protecting wildlife and our planet. Allen is also the owner of the Seattle Seahawks. Host Zainab Salbi, who co-founded Daughters for Earth with Allen, talks with Allen about the interplay between philanthropy and conservation. 

We also speak with two African wildlife conservations: Dr. Shivani Bhalla, founder of ⁠Ewaso Lions⁠ in Kenya, and Dr. Moreangels Mbizah, founder of ⁠Wildlife Conservation Action⁠ in Zimbabwe. They share what community-led conservation strategies look like and what they have seen work best to decrease human-wildlife conflict. 

The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women is a podcast from Foreign Policy, supported this season by Daughters for Earth.

Guests Interviewed:


Jody Allen, Founder of Daughters for Earth


Dr. Shivani Bhalla, Founder of ⁠Ewaso Lions⁠


Dr. Moreangels Mbizah, Founder of ⁠Wildlife Conservation Action

Follow and listen to more episodes of The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women: https://play.megaphone.fm/jzrwm69essm3zpacrrjmua
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