Person

Kai Bird

Bylines

Oppenheimer, Nullified and Vindicated

The inventor of the atomic bomb, the subject of Christopher Nolan’s new film, was the chief celebrity victim of the national trauma known as McCarthyism.

by Kai Bird via The New Yorker on July 7, 2023
It’s All But Settled: The Reagan Campaign Delayed the Release of the Iranian Hostages

Suspicions have long swirled around unscrupulous campaign manager William Casey. We believe the evidence is now overwhelming.

by Stuart E. Eizenstat, Jonathan Alter, Kai Bird, Gary Sick via The New Republic on May 3, 2023
Unheralded Environmentalist: Jimmy Carter’s Green Legacy

In 1978, Carter protected 56M Alaskan acres, tripled wilderness lands, championed conservation, and foresaw climate risks, leaving a lasting green legacy.

by Kai Bird via Yale E360 on March 23, 2023
A Biography That May Change Your Mind About J. Edgar Hoover

Behind his tough image, the longtime FBI director was a man of profound contradictions.

by Kai Bird via Washington Post on November 9, 2022
The Surprising Greatness of Jimmy Carter

A conversation with presidential biographers Jonathan Alter and Kai Bird.

by Jonathan Alter, Timothy Noah, Kai Bird via Washington Monthly on November 8, 2021

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

Martin J. Sherwin, Kai Bird

The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter

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Actor portraying Oppenheimer.

The Real History Behind Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer'

The "father of the atomic bomb" has long been misunderstood. Will the new film finally get J. Robert Oppenheimer right?

by Andy Kifer via Smithsonian on July 18, 2023

Jimmy Carter in the 1970s visiting a town in Brazil that commemorates Confederate expats.

Jimmy Carter, 1924-2024

As an individual, Jimmy Carter stood as a rebuke to our venal and heartless political class. As a politician, his private virtues proved to be public vices.

by Tim Barker via Origins of Our Time on January 1, 2025

The Annotated Oppenheimer

Celebrated and damned as the “father of the atomic bomb,” theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer lived a complicated scientific and political life.

by Matthew Wills via JSTOR Daily on March 7, 2024

Illustration of an atomic bombing.

Blood on Our Hands

What did Truman and Oppenheimer actually say in that room?

by Bill Black via Contingent on December 7, 2023

Cillian Murphy in the movie "Oppenheimer."

‘Oppenheimer’ Doesn’t Show us Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That's an Act of Rigor, Not Erasure

The movie has no interest in reducing the atomic bombings to a trivializing, exploitative spectacle, despite what some would want.

by Justin Chang via Los Angeles Times on August 11, 2023

J. Robert Oppenheimer.

J. Robert Oppenheimer Cleared of “Black Mark” Against His Name After 68 Years

Manhattan Project physicist was infamously stripped of his security clearance in 1954.

by Jennifer Ouellette via Ars Technica on December 25, 2022

Picture of President Joe Biden, left, and President Jimmy Carter, right.

What Historians Think of Joe Biden-Jimmy Carter Comparisons

Historical experts and former Carter advisers fact-check the critics who have compared Joe Biden to Jimmy Carter.

by Olivia B. Waxman via TIME on August 16, 2022

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