Oppenheimer’s controversial legacy

Oppenheimer’s controversial legacy

CIA veteran John Lauder drew on his experience in intelligence and arms control monitoring for a program at the Kent Town Hall Saturday, March 9. Seated is Kent native Sarah Chase, who served as moderator for the discussion.

Leila Hawken

KENT — The threat and the reality of nuclear proliferation around the world drew the interest of Kent residents presented with a pair of events sponsored by the Kent Memorial Library.

A screening of the Oscar-winning film “Oppenheimer” was held at the library Friday, March 8, well-timed in advance of the Academy Awards programming scheduled for the following Sunday.

The film showing was scheduled as a companion to a talk Saturday, March 9, at the Town Hall that drew an audience of 50 residents to hear CIA veteran John Lauder recount his experience in intelligence and arms control monitoring. Serving as moderator for the program was Kent native Sarah Chase.

Titled “The Oppenheimer Legacy: Nuclear Threats, Deterrence, and Arms Control in Today’s World,” Lauder’s focus, guided by Chase, was just that.

Using the film as a springboard to discussion, and in reply to Chase’s first question, Lauder said that the movie raises new important questions about the impact of the spread of nuclear weapons around the world.

“This will not be a feel-good talk,” Lauder cautioned his audience.

“If Oppenheimer came back, he would be astonished that 80 years have passed and we haven’t blown up the world, nor have we had major conflicts between nuclear powers,” Lauder said.

“It’s still a very scary world,” Lauder noted, adding that with the spread of nuclear capability to other countries including North Korea, Iran, India and others, “a world free of nuclear weapons is now perhaps out of reach in the modern day.”

“It’s not that nuclear war is unimaginable; it is not imagined enough,” he said.

About national security, Lauder said that during the 1980s, when the U.S. and Russia were the sole powers with massive nuclear stockpiles, the state of affairs was “perilous but predictable.”

Now, nuclear weapons have proliferated in other more volatile regions, Lauder explained.

As for artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, they can complicate nuclear deterrence, Lauder said, opening the possibility of tampering with signals that could warn of an impending attack.

“There is good news and bad news in all of these advances,” Lauder warned.

When the floor opened to audience comments and questions, the Kent audience rose to the moment with well-informed questions. Topics included the environmental and health effects surrounding the handling of radioactive materials at Los Alamos in New Mexico, growing global mistrust of government entities, polar divisiveness among peoples, and the threat of nuclear war breaking out because of a mistake or miscalculation.

“I love the town of Kent,” Lauder said of his first visit to the town, noting that he had worn a nuclear physics-themed necktie for the occasion. In conversation following the program, he said that he has another tie from Great Britain depicting swords being beaten into plowshares, but the designer leaves in doubt whether it might be the other way round.

Lauder and Chase are alumni of Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio, home of the James A. Garfield Center for Public Leadership, founded by Lauder to prepare students for careers in public service. The center is named for President Garfield, also a Hiram graduate, who served as an early head of school.

Lauder is now associated with the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control.

Latest News

A scenic 32-mile loop through Litchfield County

Whenever I need to get a quick but scenic bicycle ride but don’t have time to organize a group ride that involves driving to a meeting point, I just turn right out of my driveway. That begins a 32-mile loop through some of the prettiest scenery in northern Litchfield County.

I ride south on Undermountain Road (Route 41 South) into Salisbury and turn right on Main Street (Route 44 West). If I’m meeting friends, we gather at the parking area on the west side of Salisbury Town Hall where parking is never a problem.

Keep ReadingShow less
Biking Ancramdale to Copake

This is a lovely ride that loops from Ancramdale north to Copake and back. At just over 23 miles and about 1,300 feet of elevation gain, it’s a perfect route for intermediate recreational riders and takes about two hours to complete. It’s entirely on quiet roads with little traffic, winding through rolling hills, open countryside, picturesque farms and several lakes.

Along the way, you’ll pass a couple of farmstands that are worth a quick visit. There is only one hill that might be described as steep, but it is quite short — probably less than a quarter-mile.

Keep ReadingShow less
Taking on Tanglewood

Aerial view of The Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass.

Provided

Now is the perfect time to plan ahead for symphonic music this summer at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. Here are a few highlights from the classical programming.

Saturday, July 5: Shed Opening Night at 8 p.m. Andris Nelsons conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra as Daniil Trifonov plays piano in an All-Rachmaninoff program. The Piano Concerto No. 3 was completed in 1909 and was written specifically to be debuted in the composer’s American tour, at another time of unrest and upheaval in Russia. Trifonev is well-equipped to take on what is considered among the most technically difficult piano pieces. This program also includes Symphonic Dances, a work encapsulating many ideas and much nostalgia.

Keep ReadingShow less
James H. Fox

SHARON — James H. Fox, resident of Sharon, passed away on May 30, 2025, at Vassar Brothers Hospital.

Born in New York, New York, to Herbert Fox and Margaret Moser, James grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. He spent his summers in Gaylordsville, Connecticut, where he developed a deep connection to the community.

Keep ReadingShow less