Nominations for the Oscars are announced on Tuesday and “Oppenheimer,” a film about the father of the atomic bomb, is expected to be among the front-runners.

Catie Edmondson, a congressional correspondent for The Times, explains how the film sent her on a quest to find the secret story of how Congress paid for the bomb, and what it reveals about the inner workings of Washington.

Guest: Catie Edmondson, a congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading:

Watching “Oppenheimer,” a journalist wondered: How did the president get the $2 billion secret project past Congress?
What to expect from the Oscar nominations.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

The Shadowy Story of Oppenheimer and Con...