benjamin bederson recalls being sent to los alamos, new mexico, to work on the manhattan project. mr. bederson began working on designing the atomic bomb's ignition switches.

benjamin bederson recalls being sent to los alamos, new mexico, to work on the manhattan project. mr. bederson began working on designing the atomic bomb's ignition switches. but first, cynthia kelly from the atomic heritage foundation discusses the origins and purposes of their oral history collection. >>> cynthia kelly, what is the voices of the manhattan project? >> the voices of the manhattan project is a website that contains 300 oral histories, and we hope someday will be the central repository of the memories of the manhattan project veterans. >> well, tell us about the manhattan project itself. what was it and what does that name mean? >> the manhattan project was the effort in world war ii by the united states and its allies, primarily great britain and canada, to build an atomic bomb. the name manhattan is just as you think. it's after that island. now it's part of new york city. but the project was run by the army corps of engineers. while they toyed with a name that would be something like "special materials project," they thought such a name would arouse suspicion, be

then at 8:15 benjamin bederson recalls the era of secrecy and his own work developing the bomb's switching. all of that is tonight on american history tv on c-span3. >>> next radio talk show hosts and xeexecutives talk about the future of radio and the changing landscape of political talk shows. talkers magazine hosted the event. part of the 25th anniversary conference. >> this is a great panel and this is the big picture. this is going to go in all different wild ways. we'll do it like a tv show, real fast, no long answers, short sound bite. a man who knows how to do sound bites, we'll start with you real quick. let me first say alan combs, holland cook, one of the smartest men i've ever met. talk about the introduction. >> you should get out more. >> he's a consultant. karen hunter. i once did a radio show as her co-host on wwrl in new york, and she taught me how to rap on the air. it was fun. chris olivero, talk about smart. he worked his way up from being an intern to one of the most important executives in all of radio. he's the evp of programming at cbs radio. and who is knnew to a l

benjamin bederson recalls being sent to los alamos, new mexico, to work on the manhattan project. mr. bederson began working on designing the atomic bomb's ignition switches. but first, cynthia kelly from the atomic heritage foundation discusses the origins and purposes of their oral history collection. >>> cynthia kelly, what is the voices of the manhattan project? >> the voices of the manhattan project is a website that contains 300 oral histories, and we hope someday will be the central repository of the memories of the manhattan project veterans. >> well, tell us about the manhattan project itself. what was it and what does that name mean? >> the manhattan project was the effort in world war ii by the united states and its allies, primarily great britain and canada, to build an atomic bomb. the name manhattan is just as you think. it's after that island. now it's part of new york city. but the project was run by the army corps of engineers. while they toyed with a name that would be something like "special materials project," they thought such a name would arouse suspicion, be