Science, Secrecy, and Ethics in the Nuclear Age: Conversations about A COMPASSIONATE SPY

Join series moderator Jason Dick, Editor in Chief of Roll Call and the host of its Political Theater podcast, and special guest Anthony Eames, Director of Scholarly Programs at the Reagan Presidential Foundation and co-author with John Baylis of the new book Sharing Nuclear Secrets, for a special post-screening conversation and Q&A on A COMPASSIONATE SPY, Steve James’ (HOOP DREAMS) latest film.

A COMPASSIONATE SPY tells the story of Ted Hall, a physicist at the Manhattan Project, who shared nuclear secrets with the Soviet Union. The film brings up important issues about idealism, ownership of scientific progress, ethics, secrecy, national security and politics in a dangerous world. The consequences of Hall’s actions continue to resonate today, and are as contentious and unanswerable as they were during the Cold War.

Film Synopsis:
Recruited in 1944 as an 18-year-old Harvard undergraduate to be the youngest physicist on the Manhattan Project, Ted Hall didn’t share his colleagues’ elation after the successful detonation of the world’s first atomic bomb. Increasingly concerned during 1944—with Germany clearly losing the war—that a U.S. post-war monopoly on such a powerful weapon could lead to nuclear catastrophe, he decided beginning that October to start passing key information about the bomb’s construction to the Soviet Union. After the war, at the University of Chicago, he met and married Joan, a fellow student with whom he shared a passion for classical music and socialist causes — and the explosive secret of his espionage. Living under a cloud of suspicion and years of FBI surveillance and intimidation, the pair raised a family while Ted refocused his scientific brilliance on groundbreaking biophysics research. A COMPASSIONATE SPY, two-time Oscar® nominee Steve James’ nuanced documentary, reveals the twists and turns of this real-life spy story, its profound impact on nuclear history, and the couple’s remarkable love and life together during more than 50 years of marriage.

Science on Screen® launched at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA in 2005. In partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and its pioneering nationwide film program, the Coolidge has expanded Science on Screen to 122 cinemas nationwide. Throughout the academic year, SoS creatively pairs screenings of classic, cult, science fiction, and documentary films with lively presentations by notable experts from the world of science and technology. Each film is used as a jumping-off point for a speaker to introduce current research or technological advances in a manner that engages popular culture audiences—enhancing film and scientific literacy through film.