Lars Larson and I discussed on his program the Oscar-winning film about Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.
Lars and I discussed the recent Oscars, notably the win for "Oppenheimer," the biopic about the physicist who headed the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bombs during the 1940s. I shared my connections to the Manhattan Project, including the need for my father to participate in the invasion of Japan and my interactions decades later with physicists who worked on the project.
I described some of the lesser-known subtexts of the Manhattan Project, such as the accidental bombing of the Trinity test site in Alamogordo, New Mexico, by the US Army Air Corps, and the difficulties in transporting the plutonium core for the Nagasaki bomb. Lars reflected on the tragedy of the USS Indianapolis (which was sunk days after delivering bomb components to Tinian, the bomber's takeoff point) and his visit to the Los Alamos lab, highlighting the secrecy and dedication of the scientists involved.
You can find our complete conversation here.
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