Aug 15, 2023
This is the first episode in a three-episode series about “Oppenheimer” and the historical debates raised by the blockbuster film.
On November 16, 1945, Robert Oppenheimer delivered an address to
the American Philosophical Society about the changed world ushered
in by a “most terrible weapon.” The father of the atomic bomb
cautioned his audience at the University of Pennsylvania that
international cooperation was necessary to avoid future use of
hundreds if not thousands of bombs in aggressive war.
But Oppenheimer did not express regret – neither in 1945 nor for
the rest of his life – about leading the A-bomb project to its
successful completion. Yet he was haunted by its use against “an
essentially defeated enemy.” The complicated scientist was
brought to life on the big screen by actor Cillian Murphy in
director Christopher Nolan’s cinematic masterpiece, “Oppenheimer.”
In this episode, national security analyst and arms control expert
Joe Cirincione discusses the enduring consequences of the discovery
of nuclear fission in 1939 and of the manufacture of weapons of
mass destruction capable of destroying human life.
Note: Audio excerpts of the "Oppenheimer" film and of director
Christopher Nolan are courtesy Universal Pictures.