“Truer, but also darker.” This is the real origin story behind America’s decision to go to the moon. The story we learn starts with Sputnik, then President Kennedy’s challenge, and ends with triumph: an American flag on the lunar surface. But in the 50 years that have passed since the moon landing, as presidential documents have been declassified and secret programs have been revealed, a wilder story has begun to emerge. “Moonrise,” a new Washington Post narrative mini-series, digs into the nuclear arms race of the Cold War, the transformation of American society and politics, and even the birth of science fiction, to unearth what really drove us to the moon. Join host Lillian Cunningham (of the Presidential and Constitutional podcasts) as she uncovers a story that has so much to reveal about America -- and about the dreams and nightmares of being human on this Earth.
13 Available Episodes (13 Total)Average duration: 00:40:03
Oct 22, 2019
The Dark Moon
00:49:23
Apollo 11 lifts off from Earth, fulfilling but also waking us from a longtime science-fiction dream. In the finale of “Moonrise,” we find ourselves on the moon.
Oct 15, 2019
Magnificent Desolation
00:50:10
The United States confronts race riots and the Vietnam War. Science fiction wrestles with its purpose now that space travel has become real. And NASA investigates its own failings. In the 11th chapter of “Moonrise,” we look inward.
Oct 08, 2019
The Beyond
00:57:23
Lyndon Johnson takes over the presidency following John F. Kennedy’s assassination, while rocketeer Sergei Korolev watches his fate rise and fall in the Soviet Union. In the 10th chapter of “Moonrise,” both countries hit setbacks in the race to the moon.
Oct 01, 2019
JFK and the Secret Tapes
00:45:37
John F. Kennedy announces the moonshot. Then the doubts creep in …In the ninth chapter of “Moonrise,” old White House recordings reveal the president’s true views on the space race.
Sep 24, 2019
A New Frontier
00:47:36
John F. Kennedy goes from senator to president. Space cowboys go from fiction to reality. And the United States chooses to go to the moon — in the eighth chapter of “Moonrise.”
Sep 17, 2019
Nightmare on the Hill
00:49:12
Congress investigates the Sputnik launch. Lyndon Johnson seizes the spotlight. And President Eisenhower gets backed into a corner. In the seventh chapter of “Moonrise,” space gets political.
Aug 27, 2019
SPUTNIK!
00:40:42
A top-secret memo in the Eisenhower administration. A plan to make space the new military high ground. And a Soviet beep heard from above. In the sixth chapter of “Moonrise,” humans launch the very first object into orbit.
Aug 20, 2019
The Bomb and the Saucer
00:38:57
Nuclear fears haunt the American psyche. Fascination with aliens is on the rise. And the U.S. government begins secret rocket experiments. In the fifth installment of "Moonrise," the best and worst of science fiction's predictions start to spring to life.
Aug 13, 2019
Inside the Gulag
00:38:53
A Russian rocket dreamer is sent to a Siberian prison. And the road to redemption stretches more than 5,000 miles. On this episode of "Moonrise," a look at the maestro behind the Soviet space effort.
Aug 06, 2019
The Shapeshifter
00:41:58
A German rocket scientist with a secret mission and dark past. A science fiction editor under the watch of the FBI. In the third chapter of Moonrise, weapons of war lay the groundwork for space travel.
Oct 22 | 00:49:23
The Dark Moon
Oct 15 | 00:50:10
Magnificent Desolation
Oct 08 | 00:57:23
The Beyond
Oct 01 | 00:45:37
JFK and the Secret Tapes
Sep 24 | 00:47:36
A New Frontier
Sep 17 | 00:49:12
Nightmare on the Hill
Aug 27 | 00:40:42
SPUTNIK!
Aug 20 | 00:38:57
The Bomb and the Saucer
Aug 13 | 00:38:53
Inside the Gulag
Aug 06 | 00:41:58
The Shapeshifter
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