1940s

The clouds of Hiroshima

A look at what few photographs we have of the mushroom and smoke clouds from the first atomic bombing

Mar 21 • Alex Wellerstein

"It is obvious that the immediate destruction of the complete list of 66 cities would have an even more devastating effect on Russia"

The earliest postwar American planning for waging a full-scale nuclear war from 1945

Mar 6 • Alex Wellerstein

Will the survivors envy the dead?

Tracing the origins of a popular trope about nuclear war

Dec 19, 2025 • Alex Wellerstein

"I have sought to slaughter as few civilians as possible."

The rabid, apocalyptic Beat poetry that is "Mission with LeMay"

Oct 16, 2025 • Alex Wellerstein

Irradiating the planet

Los Alamos scientists calculate the limits of radioactivity, 1947-1949

Sep 5, 2025 • Alex Wellerstein

Trinity goes to Hollywood

Which movie did the first atomic bomb test best?

Jul 16, 2025 • Alex Wellerstein

The meme-ification of the "Demon Core"

The strange transformation of a criticality accident into dark Internet humor

Nov 20, 2024 • Alex Wellerstein

The perfect horror of Chesley Bonestell's nuked New York

Gritty realism in the artwork for a 1950 article on "Hiroshima, U.S.A."

Aug 21, 2024 • Alex Wellerstein

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