First J. Robert Oppenheimer created the weapon, then he fought for years to warn of its dangers. During the second world war, the so-called “father of the atomic bomb”, led a team of scientists in the US in a race against Nazi Germany to create the first nuclear weapon. Then it was used to kill thousands in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.In Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s new 3-hour blockbuster, the film focuses on the years that followed and how the physicist’s campaigning ultimately led to his downfall.In this episode of CultureLab, Christie Taylor speaks to Kai Bird, a journalist and historian who co-authored the book that was the main source material for Nolan’s film – American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.To read about subjects like this and much more, you can subscribe to New Scientist magazine at newscientist.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.