Richard Rhodes — The making of the atomic bomb

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 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 * Transcript: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/richard-rhodes * Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/45tJTRa * Spotify: https://bit.ly/3BSiTNM * Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwarkesh_sp 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒 00:00:00 - Oppenheimer movie 00:06:22 - Was the bomb inevitable? 00:29:10 - Firebombing vs nuclear vs hydrogen bombs 00:49:44 - Stalin & the Soviet program 01:08:24 - Deterrence, disarmament, North Korea, Taiwan 01:33:12 - Oppenheimer as lab director 01:53:40 - AI progress vs Manhattan Project 01:59:50 - Living through WW2 02:16:45 - Secrecy 02:26:34 - Wisdom & war