On this edition of Parallax Views, a previously unpublished interview with journalist Dave Lindorff of This Can’t Be Happening on the fascinating story of the Theodore Alvin Hall, the American physicist who became an atomic spy by sharing nuclear secrets with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. But this is not just the story of Ted Hall. It’s also the story of his brother Edward Hall, who, despite his skepticism towards the Soviet Union, protected his brother against J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI. Moreover, it’s a case that asks the question, “Why did Ted Hall share these secrets with the Soviet Union?” As it turns out, the answer to that question may be more noble, if we consider Hall’s perspective, than one would imagine. We dive into the world of atomic bombs, Hiroshima and Nagaski, the Manhattan Project, spying, the romance between Ted Hall and his wife Joan Hall, the trial and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the “What If” scenario of the U.S. having a monopoly on nuclear weapons after WWII, the physicist and atomic spy Klaus Fuchs, Ted Hall’s motivation for becoming an atomic spy, the incredible life of Ted’s brother Edward (including a connection to Operation Paperclip and working on a top secret missile program at Wright Patterson Air Force Base), the interrogation of Ted Hall, the FBI file on Edward Hall, Ted Halls’ Harvard roommate (and spy) Savile Sax, and much, much more! For more information on Ted’s story please read Dave’s article at The Nation entitled “One Brother Gave the Soviets the A-Bomb. The Other Got a Medal”.
