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.
The escalating global nuclear arms race threatens the stability of the long-standing deterrence model that has prevented large-scale nuclear conflict since 1945. Emerging challenges, including the integration of artificial intelligence into military decision-making, the development of hypersonic glide vehicles, and the...
The global community faces a period of "nuclear anarchy" as long-standing treaties expire and major powers like the United States, China, and Russia aggressively modernize or expand their atomic arsenals. This escalating arms race mirrors the perilous tension of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, where a Soviet B-59 submar...
In this episode of "Face-Off," Jane Perlez interviews Jake Sullivan, former National Security Advisor, about his experiences negotiating with Xi Jinping and the broader dynamics of the U.S.-China relationship. Sullivan shares insights into Xi's personality, negotiating style, and strategic thinking, while also addressi...
In this episode of Face-Off, Jane Perlez interviews Zhou Bo, a retired senior colonel in the People's Liberation Army, about China's military buildup and its implications for the U.S. and the world. Zhou Bo defends China's military expansion as an effort to achieve its goal of national rejuvenation by 2049 and emphasiz...
In this episode of "Face-Off," Jane Perlez interviews Chang Che about the phenomenon of "garbage time" among China's Gen Z, referring to a post-pandemic malaise and disillusionment with traditional paths to success. Chang Che shares stories from his upcoming book, detailing how young, educated Chinese are experiencing ...
This episode of "Face Off" presents the fourth part of "The Great Wager," focusing on the secret intelligence collaboration between the U.S. and China during the Cold War. It details how, despite past animosity and leadership changes in both countries, the shared threat of the Soviet Union led to a partnership involvin...
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