Oppenheimer and the Catastrophe of Communism

In this episode of “The Ben & Marc Show”, a16z’s co-founders Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen take on the biggest  and most important film of the year – Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster “Oppenheimer”.

The film – based on the 2005 biography “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer'' by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin – chronicles the life of the American theoretical physicist, whose direction of the top secret Manhattan Project forever changed the course of world history.

In this one-on-one conversation based on YOUR questions from Twitter, Marc and Ben examine the historical accuracies (and inaccuracies) of Nolan’s epic work, explore in-depth the life of the enigmatic physicist himself, and tackle – from all angles – the social and philosophical aspects of communism, a theme that weighs heavily in the film, as Oppenheimer’s association with party members led to his political downfall.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Watch the video version here:  https://youtu.be/AwOFcxENsVk?si=vUF9ZO5Fcj9W0O49

Resources:

Marc on X: https://twitter.com/pmarca

Marc’s Substack: https://pmarca.substack.com/

Ben on X: https://twitter.com/bhorowitz

NY Times: "The Problem With Everything-Bagel Liberalism" by Ezra Klein: ’https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/02/op...

Books mentioned on this podcast (and others you’ll want to check out):

– “Red Decade” by Eugene Lyons https://amzn.to/3OEQMbZ

– “When Reason Goes on Holiday: Philosophers in Politics” by Neven Sesardic https://amzn.to/455zYRv

– "Witness" by Whittaker Chambers https://amzn.to/3OEu0RC

– ”The Great Leap Forward" by Alexander J. Field https://amzn.to/3QlCYV2

– "The Economic Consequences of U.S. Mobilization for the Second World War" by Alexander J. Field https://amzn.to/3Yemsbz

– “The Man From the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann” by Ananyo Bhattacharya https://amzn.to/446SbNf

– “Stalin's War: A New History of World War II” by Sean McMeekin https://amzn.to/47c29zw

– “McCarthy” by Arthur Herman https://amzn.to/3OFKYzc

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