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He also told us about some of the more and less successful portrayals of Robert Oppenheimer over the years.Īndy Kifer, Smithsonian magazine contributor: Oppenheimer as a person is an almost unfairly good subject for a film or novel or play.

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We spoke with Andy just before the new movie came out. He’s a writer and editor who interviewed Bird for Smithsonian magazine.

So what are the challenges of dramatizing a life as complex as Oppenheimer's in an honest way?Īndy Kifer says the answer is somewhat complicated. Kai Bird consulted on the new Christopher Nolan film, and the book served as a source text. Klimek: In 2005, co-authors Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin published a definitive biography of Oppenheimer called American Prometheus. I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.

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Remember Sam Waterston from “Law and Order”? He played Oppenheimer in a 1980 TV mini-series.Ĭlip from “Oppenheimer” (TV mini-series):

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Some of these depictions have taken more artistic license than others. Klimek: Since then, many people have tried to tell Robert Oppenheimer’s story. Oppenheimer: Rab, this time the stakes are really high. Rabi and others had directed the making of the bomb itself. In fact, Oppenheimer played himself in a short film called “Atomic Power” just one year after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Robert Oppenheimer has been depicted on film. Klimek: Oppenheimer, the big new Christopher Nolan movie, is not the first time J. How accurate is this film, and how have past depictions of the Manhattan Project changed our understanding of history?

Today, we're taking a look at the new Oppenheimer film with one of our contributors. Klimek: From Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions, welcome to “There's More to That,” a podcast where journalists around the world explore the biggest questions of right now. Murphy: What do you want from theory alone? Murphy (as Oppenheimer): Chances are near zero. The film is directed by Christopher Nolan, and the star-studded cast also includes Matt Damon, who plays his boss, General Leslie Groves.ĭamon (as Groves): Are we saying there's a chance that when we push that button, we destroy the world? A new movie about him starring Cillian Murphy just hit theaters. He’s largely considered the father of the atomic bomb. Robert Oppenheimer is the man responsible for the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. You know, it's like you're making a cake almost, I guess you're making candy. They had this array of candy kettles where they would melt high explosives and pour 'em in the mold and then cool them down over the course of like, you know, a day very, very slowly. I think somebody said it was peppermint candy is what they were used for. Places like where they melted the explosives to make the bombs.īacrania: I don't know who had the idea, but they said, let's call up one of these industrial candy-making companies and get some, essentially, double boiler kettles. These are places he didn't even get to see when he worked at Los Alamos. He got special permission to photograph some of these restricted locations for Smithsonian magazine. Klimek: Minesh is now one of the only people who's been allowed to visit some of these sites where the Manhattan Project took place. It's also kind of horrific from a social point of view. You know, from a nuclear physics point of view, it's kind of an amazing thing.

This was a project that started in New York City but later moved to labs in Tennessee, Washington State, and Los Alamos, New Mexico.īacrania: Part of the reason I was motivated to go to Los Alamos is because the history is just so fascinating. He spent five years working in the national lab at Los Alamos: the place where the atomic bomb was invented through the Manhattan Project. Klimek: Minesh didn't just work any old place. We're sitting eating breakfast, and he's in eighth grade. Minesh Bacrania, Smithsonian magazine photographer: You know, my son asked me today where helium comes from. Now, he works as a photographer … and most of his science talk happens around his kitchen table. In grad school, he studied nuclear fusion reactions in the sun. Chris Klimek, host: Minesh Bacrania is a former nuclear physicist.

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