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Exploring Oppenheimer’s Oak Ridge, Los Alamos and White Sands, Manhattan Project labs

Los Alamos Labs WWII sign
National Museum of WWII
Los Alamos Labs WWII sign

Correspondent Wilmer explores Robert Oppenheimer's Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and White Sands Manhattan Project sites.

In the depths of World War II, top-secret labs were staffed around the clock to create a nuclear bomb.

In the depths of WWII, Oak Ridge in Tennessee, dubbed 'Secret City' commenced operations. Simultaneously Los Alamos Labs, and White Sands Army base atomic bomb projects in New Mexico were built from scratch in a matter of months,

The top secret facilities became home to more than 100,000 Manhattan Project scientists and support personnel, including thousands of women.

Women workers at Oak Ridge, Tennessee's Manhattan Project
Oak Ridge National Labs
Women workers at Oak Ridge, Tennessee's Manhattan Project

Following World War II, Tennessee's 'Secret City' evolved into the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Los Alamos continues their mission working on scientific and defense-related projects and White Sands Missile Range will forever be associated with Trinity Site where the first bomb was detonated in 1945.

Come along and join correspondent Tom Wilmer for an exploration of Robert Oppenheimer’s legacy instilled by the creation of the nuclear bomb.

This show is a compilation of various on-location audio interviews that are re-shared as Best-of-the-best Journeys of Discovery podcasts recorded over the past decade.

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NPR
NPR Podcasts logo

You are invited to subscribe to the six time Lowell Thomas Award-winning travel podcast, Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer, featured on the NPR Podcast DirectoryApple Podcastand more than twenty other podcast hosting sites including iHeartRadio and Spotify

Tom Wilmer produces on-air content for Issues & Ideas airing over KCBX and is producer and host of the six-time Lowell Thomas award-winning NPR podcast Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer. Recorded live on-location across America and around the world, the podcasts feature the arts, culture, music, nature, history, science, wine & spirits, brewpubs, and the culinary arts--everything from baseball to exploring South Pacific atolls to interviewing the real Santa Claus in the Arctic.