The Manhattan Project | 'Oppenheimer' with Kai Bird | 4

American History Tellers

Wondery

Society & Culture, Kids & Family, History, Education For Kids

4.7 • 18.3K Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2024

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Following the success of the Manhattan Project, the U.S. sought to develop a potentially more powerful and deadly weapon – the Hydrogen Bomb. Despite having led the team at Los Alamos, J. Robert Oppenheimer became an outspoken opponent of the H-Bomb. His stance made him enemies who sought to undermine his influence, and soon his security clearance came into question. Today Lindsay is joined by Pulitzer prize-winning biographer, Kai Bird, to examine Oppenheimer’s life, and eventual fall from grace. His book, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, was the basis for Christopher Nolan’s film, Oppenheimer.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Imagine it's May 1952 and you're an FBI agent. Normally you work in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
0:19.5	but today you're paying a visit to a place where just seven years ago history was made, the Los Alamos
0:25.0	National Laboratory. You're sitting in a meeting room and across the table from
0:29.5	you is a scientist named Edward Teller. The FBI has been fielding
0:33.3	troubling reports about one of Dr. Teller's colleagues and hopefully
0:36.8	today you can get to the bottom of what's happening. So Dr. Teller,
0:40.5	am I right that you helped design the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan in
0:44.4	1945?
0:45.4	That's correct.
0:46.4	And you're at work now on a hydrogen bomb that could be even more powerful.
0:50.6	I don't think it could be.
0:51.8	I think it will be. It's a powerful new weapon that will
0:54.4	fortify the security of our nation and protect us from the Soviets
0:57.5	it's a crime that we've been prevented from advancing its development oh what's been
1:01.9	the primary obstacle?
1:04.0	Teller removes his glasses and places them on the table.
1:08.0	I think we both know it's Oppenheimer.
1:11.0	You nod as he scribbled notes on a pat of paper.
1:14.0	J Robert Oppenheimer was the leader of the team of scientists at Los Alamos that made the atomic
1:18.6	bomb a reality, and in recent years he served as a key advisor to the Atomic Energy Commission, which governs the nation atomic energy and weapons efforts.
1:27.0	Oppenheimer's photo has graced the covers of national magazines with headlines hailing him as the father of the atomic bomb.
1:34.3	But you need to determine what could be motivating this hero to interfere with a matter of national
	...

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