Examining Nuclear Threats Past and Present [48min]

Over six decades, the world has struggled to develop atomic power and control nuclear weapons -- with mixed results on both counts. Neal Conan hosts a special broadcast on the history of the atomic age, live from the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. His guests are historian Richard Rhodes, nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker, retired general Eugene Habiger, and former Secretary of State Robert McNamara.

Richard Rhodes is an historian and author of 20 books; a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb; author of the forthcoming End Game: The Unmaking of the Nuclear Arms Race.

Siegfried Hecker has been a nuclear scientist at Los Alamos since 1965; former director of Los Alamos National Laboratory (1986-1997); visiting professor, Stanford University.

General Eugene Habiger is former commander-in-chief of the U.S. Strategic Command (1996 to 1998); distinguished fellow with the Center for international Trade and Security, University of Georgia.

Robert McNamara was Secretary of Defense under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson; former president of the World Bank.