Paperclip: America's Nazi Scientists

As it follows an eclectic group of vigilantes in their mission to rid America of Nazi war criminals, the Amazon original drama series Hunters references Operation Paperclip, a secretive government program that brought the Third Reich’s most brilliant -- and often villainous -- minds to the United States after World War II.

Hunters is a work of fiction. But Operation Paperclip was real. As the Cold War heated up, America rushed to r...

Even if you’ve never heard of Operation Paperclip, chances are you’ve heard of Wernher von Braun -- the visionary rocketeer whose brilliance brought us, literally, to the Moon and back.

With his telegenic charisma and stunning contributions to America’s civilian space program, Wernher von Braun is undeniably the most prominent figure to emerge from Operation Paperclip. But how do we reconcile von Braun’s status as a national hero -...

Rocket engineer Arthur Rudolph accompanied Wernher von Braun to the United States through Operation Paperclip after World War II. In Nazi Germany, Rudolph was the production manager for the V-2 missile program; in America, he became NASA’s project manager for the Saturn V, the rocket that put men on the Moon.

But Rudolph’s past under the Third Reich came back to haunt him when, in 1982, a special unit within the Department of Justi...

For students of history and consumers of pop culture, the ‘Nazi doctor’ is a familiar figure -- the ultimate embodiment of pure evil. In fact, several of the Nazi villians in the Amazon original drama series HUNTERS are doctors.

But how did Nazi Germany’s doctors become symbols of Third Reich depravity? Why did they have such a central role in Hitler’s regime? And what atrocities did they commit in the name of “science?”

Comedian M...

Operation Paperclip began as a temporary program -- but before long, its German recruits were given a path to American citizenship, and men who worked for the Nazi regime suddenly became men who lived next door.

Previously on PAPERCLIP, comedian Michael Ian Black and historian Monique Laney examined Paperclippers who achieved public recognition. But what about the hundreds whose names didn’t make headlines? Where were they, and wha...

On this special Bonus Episode of PAPERCLIP, host Michael Ian Black talks with David Weil and Nikki Toscano, the showrunners and executive producers of Amazon Studios’ Emmy©-eligible original drama series, HUNTERS.

Set in 1977 New York City, HUNTERS follows a team of vigilantes on a mission to hunt down Nazi war criminals living in America. As it draws inspiration from real-life events (including Operation Paperclip), HUNTERS blends...

"Foretold" is the newest podcast from the L.A. Times, and we're sharing a preview of the first episode with you here today. 

In the fall of 2019, reporter Faith E. Pinho received a tip from a woman named Paulina Stevens. Paulina claimed she had grown up in an insular Romani community in California, where she was raised to be a wife, mother and fortuneteller — until she decided to break away. That first call unraveled a story spannin...