The Ben and Marc Show

Oppenheimer & the Catastrophe of Communism

Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen

Posted August 2, 2023

Marc and Ben take on the biggest and most important film of the year – Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster “Oppenheimer”. Based on the 2005 biography “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, the film chronicles the life of the American theoretical physicist, whose direction of the top secret Manhattan Project forever changed the course of world history.

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.