From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima: Two Historians on How America Fought and Won The Pacific in WWII | Peter Robinson | Uncommon Knowledge

From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima: Two Historians on How America Fought and Won The Pacific in WWII | Peter Robinson | Uncommon Knowledge

August 15th, 2025 is the 80th anniversary of the surrender of the Japanese to Allied Forces in the Pacific, ending World War II . To mark the occasion, Peter Robinson sits down with Jonathan Horn and Ian Toll to examine the most contested decision of World War II: the use of atomic weapons against Japan. Building from the brutal endgame—Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Curtis LeMay’s incendiary raids—the conversation explores what leaders actually faced in mid-1945: a fanatical no-surrender ethos, mass civilian suffering across Asia, Allied casualty forecasts for an invasion, and the timing of the Soviet entry into the war. Horn and Toll probe the evidence and the arguments on both sides: claims that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the quickest way to stop the killing versus the case for alternatives (continued blockade, demonstration blasts, waiting for Moscow’s shock) and the later misgivings voiced by senior U.S. commanders. Along the way, they revisit MacArthur’s return to the Philippines, the devastation of Manila, and Midway’s pivotal shift from Japanese “fighting spirit” to American industrial might—context that frames the bomb debate not as a tidy thought experiment, but as a wartime choice among terrible options. The discussion concludes by contemplating how to teach this history—through people, decisions, and consequences—to generations for whom WWII is fast fading from living memory.

Recorded on June 5th, 2025.

Episoder(100)

Conflict: Niall Ferguson on Ukraine, Taiwan, and His War of Words with V. P. Vance

Conflict: Niall Ferguson on Ukraine, Taiwan, and His War of Words with V. P. Vance

Niall Ferguson, preeminent historian and Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, joins this episode of Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson to discuss the war and ongoing stalemate i...

18 Mar 20251h 4min

The Great Partnership: How George Shultz Helped Ronald Reagan Win The Cold War

The Great Partnership: How George Shultz Helped Ronald Reagan Win The Cold War

This panel discussion on the legacy of George Shultz, former US secretary of state and Hoover Institution senior fellow, features the Hoover Institution’s director, Condoleezza Rice; Israeli politicia...

21 Feb 202559min

Five Questions for Stephen Kotkin: Advice for the New Administration (and the Rest of Us)

Five Questions for Stephen Kotkin: Advice for the New Administration (and the Rest of Us)

Stephen Kotkin is the Kleinheinz Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and one of the most preeminent historians in the world. In this installment of Five Questions for Stephen Kotkin, he explores t...

28 Jan 20251h 23min

Marc Andreessen: It’s Morning Again In America

Marc Andreessen: It’s Morning Again In America

Marc Andreessen is a prominent Silicon Valley entrepreneur, investor, and technologist and the cofounder and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. This discussion covers Andreessen’s journey from hi...

14 Jan 20251h 14min

The Extinction of Experience: Christine Rosen on the Impact of Technology on Society

The Extinction of Experience: Christine Rosen on the Impact of Technology on Society

Christine Rosen is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, cohost of the daily Commentary Magazine Podcast, and the author of The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied W...

7 Jan 202549min

Part II: Apocalypse Now? Peter Thiel on Ancient Prophecies and Modern Tech

Part II: Apocalypse Now? Peter Thiel on Ancient Prophecies and Modern Tech

In this, the second half of our conversation with Peter Thiel, the discussion delves into Thiel’s reflections on ancient prophecies, particularly the concept of the Antichrist as outlined in biblical ...

6 Des 202440min

This Is BIG: Podhoretz, Ferguson, and Olsen Discuss the Meaning of the Election and What’s Next

This Is BIG: Podhoretz, Ferguson, and Olsen Discuss the Meaning of the Election and What’s Next

Andrew Ferguson is a journalist and author; John Podhoretz is the editor of Commentary magazine and the host of the daily Commentary Magazine Podcast; Henry Olsen is a veteran political analyst, host ...

26 Nov 20241h 17min

A Hero Speaks: Natan Sharansky on the US and Israel At This Hour

A Hero Speaks: Natan Sharansky on the US and Israel At This Hour

Natan Sharansky is a renowned human rights activist, former Soviet dissident, Israeli politician, and author. In 1977, Sharansky was sentenced to 13 years of hard labor in a Soviet prison for the crim...

21 Nov 202432min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
popradet
forklart
stopp-verden
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
det-store-bildet
nokon-ma-ga
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-gukild-johaug
hanna-de-heldige
aftenbla-bla
fotballpodden-2
rss-espen-lee-usensurert
rss-ness
rss-dannet-uten-piano
e24-podden
frokostshowet-pa-p5
bt-dokumentar-2