Skip to main content
Access to this video is a benefit for members through PBS Passport.

Up Next

Alex Prud'homme

Alex Prud'homme

Season 6 Episode 10
26:40
Ron Chernow

Ron Chernow

Season 7 Episode 1
26:39
Rick Atkinson

Rick Atkinson

Season 7 Episode 2
26:39
Geraldo Cadava

Geraldo Cadava

Season 7 Episode 3
26:39
Fareed Zakaria

Fareed Zakaria

Season 7 Episode 4
26:39
Stuart Eizenstat

Stuart Eizenstat

Season 7 Episode 5
26:39
Harold Holzer

Harold Holzer

Season 7 Episode 6
26:39
Episode 5: The Calling

The Calling

Season 4 Episode 5
53:05
When Whales Could Walk

When Whales Could Walk

Season 51 Episode 1
53:31
Back to Show
History with David Rubenstein

Kai Bird

Season 6 Episode 9

J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist behind the atomic bomb, is a divisive figure in American history. Kai Bird provides a compelling account of Oppenheimer’s life, from his New York childhood to his Cold War career, and the moral dilemmas he faced in creating the most destructive weapon in history.

Support Provided By
Season
Selwyn Vickers
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:40
Selwyn M. Vickers on the lasting legacy of slavery and Reconstruction.
Lindsay Chervinsky
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:40
Presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky presents the unique challenges faced by John Adams.
Ned Blackhawk
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:40
Author and professor Ned Blackhawk on the essential history of America’s Indigenous peoples.
Jeffrey Frank
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:40
Jeffrey Frank is a former senior editor at The New Yorker.
Fredrik Logevall
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:40
Fredrik Logevall is the author of JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917–1956.
Candice Millard
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:40
Candice Millard offers an extraordinary account of President Garfield’s career.
Robert A. Caro
26:40
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and National Humanities Medal recipient
Drew Gilpin Faust
26:40
Former president of Harvard University and author
Active loading indicator