The Bomb

BBC World Service

Historia

Último episodio

31 episodios

Kennedy and Khrushchev: 8. The logic of war
19/1/2026 | 37 min
Troops in Cuba fear an attack is imminent, as alarm grows around the world. Fidel Castro urges Khrushchev to strike first. The Soviet premier warns President Kennedy, in a long and emotional letter, that “the knot of war” has been tied - soon "even he who tied it will not have the strength to untie it”. This is the personal and political story of the Cuban Missile Crisis, told by Nina Khrushcheva and Max Kennedy.
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 7. Eyeball to eyeball
12/1/2026 | 37 min
President Kennedy sends shockwaves around the world with a televised speech to the nation. He imposes a blockade on all ships bound for Cuba - Premier Khrushchev brands it “an act of piracy”. But he knows that hidden in a tiny Cuban port, there’s a Soviet ship laden with unimaginable destructive power. Hosts Nina Khrushcheva and Max Kennedy, relatives of the superpower leaders, tell the personal and political history of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 6. Kennedy’s move
05/1/2026 | 37 min
Pressure is building on President Kennedy to order a military strike on the newly discovered nuclear missile site on Cuba. But JFK wonders whether it’s better to keep the discovery a secret from Premier Khrushchev – for now. Meanwhile, the Washington press grows suspicious of all the late-night activity at the White House. This is the personal and political story of the Cuban Missile Crisis, told by NIna Khrushcheva and Max Kennedy.
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 5. The crisis: Day one
29/12/2025 | 37 min
Spy plane pictures reveal the Soviet missile build up to the Americans. Now they know what Khrushchev has really been up to. How will a furious President Kennedy respond? Hosts Nina Khrushcheva and Max Kennedy, relatives of the superpower leaders, tell the personal and political history of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 4. Almost caught
22/12/2025 | 35 min
A covert convoy of ships carries Soviet missiles across the Atlantic, while American U-2 planes spy over Cuba and the sea routes. And as the ships arrive, Khrushchev writes to Kennedy about the divided city of Berlin. It’s a distraction tactic. But the American spy planes photograph an alarming development. Hosts Nina Khrushcheva and Max Kennedy, relatives of the superpower leaders, tell the personal and political history of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

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Acerca de The Bomb

How the nuclear bomb shaped world history. The scientists who raced to build weapons, the spies who stole the technology and the superpowers who grappled with deployment. In Season 3, nuclear war is terrifyingly close. Can the superpowers of the Soviet Union and the USA prevent apocalypse? Nina Khrushcheva and Max Kennedy, relatives of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and US President John F Kennedy, tell the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Season 2 is about Klaus Fuchs, the brilliant young physicist from a pacifist German family whose spying for Russia changed history. Season 1 tells the story of Leo Szilard, and the scientist’s discovery of the lethal potential for nuclear weapons in the race to beat Nazi Germany.

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