Face-Off

The nuclear age began in secrecy and scientific ambition. The story is familiar, but its implications have never left us. A bomb created in a moment of wartime urgency became the foundation of a global order defined by terror and deterrence. But what happens when that global order breaks down? Face-Off: Nuclear Anarchy is an 8-part series tracing the arc of nuclear danger from the Manhattan Project to the Cuban Missile Crisis to the abandonment of the New START treaty and the shattering of the nonproliferation order today. We take you behind the scenes of key moments and key places of the nuclear story to shed light upon the present. In each episode, Pulitzer-winning journalist Jane Perlez interviews leading participants in the nuclear conversation: David Sanger, Tong Zhao, Rose Gotemoeller, Alex Wellerstein and more. Plus, Matthew Bunn, of Harvard's Managing the Atom project, joins for a wrap-up segment to put everything in context. We are living in a more crowded and unstable nuclear world—where proliferation spreads not through ideology or conquest, but through fear, hedging, and the collapse of confidence. Face-Off asks who will hold the line, and for how long? Episodes out every Tuesday in October & November 2026. This project is made possible by the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Managing the Atom Project. Our special guest is Professor Matthew Bunn, Faculty Chair of the Managing the Atom Project (@matthew-bunn.bsky.social). Face-Off is produced and reported by Jane Perlez. Our production team is Nina Porzucki, Louise Morris, and Frank Zhou. Sound design and mixing by John Myers and Rowhome Productions.

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Episoder(41)

Clash on the High Seas

High-seas drama as Chinese warships hunt Filipino fishing boats in their own waters. Beijing is testing America's oldest Pacific ally with dangerous games of maritime chicken. With Philippine politics...

6 Jan 43min

The Rugby Gambit

The strangest geopolitical deal you've never heard of: Australia trades rugby league spots for an agreement not to make an agreement with China. Papua New Guinea's players get to compete Down Under an...

16 Des 202532min

Rise of the Robots

"If I was the U.S., I would be terrified." We report from a 1,500+ robot convention in Beijing, and an American robotics expert who's toured China's factories reveals how China is winning the robo...

9 Des 202535min

The Xi Factor

Jake Sullivan has sat across from Xi Jinping more times than almost any American official—from Xi's rise in 2013 to their last face-off in Beijing. What's it like negotiating with the world's most pow...

2 Des 202554min

China's Arms Race

China is outbuilding America's navy and beating us in hypersonic missiles. Xi has purged corrupt generals to create a military machine loyal only to him. Can China's forces actually win a war? We brea...

25 Nov 202552min

Generation Burnout

China's youth were supposed to lead the nation to glory. Instead, they're lying flat, embracing "garbage time," and quietly rebelling against a system that promised everything and delivered economic s...

18 Nov 202559min

Season 3 Trailer

In our third season of Face-Off: The US vs China, we’ll explore some of the biggest issues dividing these global powers today: Trump and Xi Jinping, AI, China’s growing military might, and also… robot...

4 Nov 20253min

THE GREATER WAGER EPISODE 5: The Break-Up

THE GREAT WAGER Episode 5. The break-up: Richard Nixon’s great wager reverberates from the '70s to today While we’re preparing season 3 of Face Off, we’re excited to present an encore presentation of...

28 Okt 202518min