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The Atlas Obscura Podcast

National Atomic Testing Museum

The Atlas Obscura Podcast

SiriusXM Podcasts & Atlas Obscura

Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.61.6K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2022

⏱️ 16 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Las Vegas, Nevada was once the preferred tourist destination for watching weapons of mass destruction explode. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/national-atomic-testing-museum

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I'm in Las Vegas on Fremont Street.

0:10.2

There's live music, there's a zip line, there's a lady doing tricks with a whip.

0:20.6

Before the big name Glitzy Casinos of the strip were built, Fremont Street was the heart

0:25.4

of Las Vegas.

0:26.9

We are talking Rat Pack Las Vegas.

0:30.1

Back in the 1950s, this is where people came to have fun.

0:33.9

But in those days, the main attraction was a little different.

0:38.4

Back then, you'd climb up to the roof of a casino, party all night long, and then just

0:44.2

before Don broke, you would turn toward the desert to see the big show.

0:51.7

I'm not talking about a show like Frank Sinatra here.

0:55.4

I'm talking about an explosion of an atomic bomb.

1:13.6

I'm Amanda McGowan and this is Atlas Obscura, a celebration of the world's strange, incredible

1:19.0

and wondrous places.

1:20.6

Today, we're heading to the National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada.

1:25.2

To explore a time in American history, when weapons of mass destruction were a tourist

1:31.1

destination, that's up for this.

1:45.3

For a few weeks in June, my boyfriend and I went on a cross-country road trip, Boston

1:49.7

to Southern California, totally rad.

1:52.6

And so of course, we had to stop in Las Vegas and did a little bit of gambling, went to

1:57.6

a magic show, don't judge.

2:00.5

But there was something else that I wanted to see.

2:02.8

The National Atomic Testing Museum.

...

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