The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer

It is simply coincidental that I saw this episode of "The American Experience" at about the same time the new blockbuster movie about the man has been released. I watched it after discovering a cache of episodes from the series...and I love "The American Experience".

The story is the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who lead the Manhattan Project. It paints the picture of a very strange person...one who is also full of contradictions. It's also about how following the war, the hysteria about the Red Scare ended up costing the man dearly.

Even after seeing this show, I found it very difficult to understand the man. I think this is less because it's not a good documentary but because he was just a very tough person for ANYONE to read. Well constructed and moderately interesting.