Beneath a football stadium at the University of Chicago on December 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi's team achieved the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in history—producing just half a watt of power but proving a concept that would reshape the world. Newt traces the Manhattan Project's dual legacy: the atomic bombs that ended World War II, and the nuclear power plants that now generate clean electricity more safely than almost any other energy source, despite enduring public fear. This episode grapples honestly with an invention that carries both extraordinary promise and the shadow of annihilation.

Episode 1051: The End of a Fair Price — Lindsay Owens on How Companies Use Your Data to Charge You More
40:28

Episode 1050: The Midterms, 27 Days Out — McLaughlin and Sosnik on Who Will Control Congress
41:35

Episode 1049: The Exhausted Majority — Who Independents Really Are and Why They'll Decide 2026
35:24