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    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Tokyo firebombings built the ‘permission structure’ for nuclear war

    The single bloodiest day of World War II was the firebombing of Tokyo — before atomic bombs destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Why isn’t it mourned that way?

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    By Madeleine Brand • Sep 2, 2025 • 1 min read

    The single bloodiest day of World War II was the firebombing of Tokyo — before atomic bombs destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Why isn’t it mourned that way?

    The full episode

    4 of 4
    ICE is hiring. Many prospective candidates are Latino
    1. 0:00Trump violated law by deploying National Guard troops to LA
    2. 9:46Who attended the ICE recruitment fair?
    3. 20:39America built the atom bomb in enormous, secret cities
    4. 34:04Tokyo firebombings built the ‘permission structure’ for nuclear warYou’re reading this
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Madeleine Brand

      Host, 'Press Play'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Sarah Sweeney

      Vice President of Talk Programming, KCRW

    • KCRW placeholder

      Angie Perrin

      Producer, Press Play

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Amy Ta

      Digital News & Culture Editor

    • KCRW placeholder

      Garrett Graff

      author of “The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb”

      CultureHistoryScience

    The full episode

    4 of 4
    ICE is hiring. Many prospective candidates are Latino
    1. 0:00Trump violated law by deploying National Guard troops to LA
    2. 9:46Who attended the ICE recruitment fair?
    3. 20:39America built the atom bomb in enormous, secret cities
    4. 34:04Tokyo firebombings built the ‘permission structure’ for nuclear warYou’re reading this
    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand