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Jul 2023
12m 27s

'Oppenheimer' And The Science Of Atomic ...

NPR
About this episode
Christopher Nolan's new film 'Oppenheimer' chronicles the life and legacy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the first director of Los Alamos National Laboratory and so-called "Father of the Atomic Bomb." The movie does not shy away from science — and neither do we. We talked to current scientists at Los Alamos about the past and present science of nuclear weapons like the atomic bomb.

Read more about the Manhattan Project.

Want us to cover other historical science or science in pop culture? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!

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