Richard Rhodes - Making of Atomic Bomb, WW2, Oppenheimer, AI, & Apocalypse

It was a tremendous honor & pleasure to interview Richard Rhodes, author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb We discuss: - similarities between AI progress & Manhattan Project (developing a powerful, unprecedented, & potentially apocalyptic technology within an uncertain arms-race situation) - visiting starving former Soviet scientists during fall of Soviet Union - whether Oppenheimer was a spy, & consulting on the Nolan movie - living through WW2 as a child - odds of nuclear war in Ukraine, Taiwan, Pakistan, & North Korea - how the US pulled of such a massive secret wartime scientific & industrial project Transcript: Apple Podcasts: Spotify: Follow me on Twitter: Timestamps (0:00:00) - Oppenheimer movie (0:06:22) - Was the bomb inevitable? (0:29:10) - Firebombing vs nuclear vs hydrogen bombs (0:49