Podcast
The Bomb
Hosted by BBC World Service · EN
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.
22episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 2. King of bombs
Dec 800:38:23Tap to summarizeThe Berlin Wall rises, splitting the city from east to west. Then a stand-off between American and Soviet tanks at the crossing point, Checkpoint Charlie, brings the two superpowers to the brink of military confrontation. And fearing that they are falling far behind in the missile race, the Soviets prepare to test the biggest bomb ever exploded. As relations between the two sides deteriorate, we explore the importance of diplomatic back channels with hosts Nina Khrushcheva and Max Kennedy, relatives of the superpower leaders. We meet Max's father, Senator Robert F Kennedy, and his Soviet contact, Georgy Bolshakov. This is the personal and political history of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Nina Khrushcheva is the great-granddaughter of Nikita Khrushchev and Max Kennedy is the nephew of President John F Kennedy, and the son of Robert F Kennedy.
Transcribe →Kennedy and Khrushchev: 1. Opening moves
Dec 100:37:44Tap to summarizeAs the USA and Soviet Union race for supremacy in the 1960s, Premier Khrushchev sizes up his rival, President John F Kennedy. Hosts Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the superpower leaders, explore their rise to power - one wealthy, smooth-talking and Harvard educated, the other a hardened Soviet war leader from a peasant family. As they prepare to meet for the first and only time as world leaders, the stakes couldn't be higher: they are fierce rivals in the race to build ever more devastating missiles. This is the personal and political history of the Cuban Missile Crisis.Nina Khrushcheva is the great-granddaughter of Nikita Khrushchev and Max Kennedy is the nephew of President John F Kennedy, and the son of Robert F Kennedy.
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Introducing Hollywood Exiles
Jul 5, 202400:27:15Tap to summarizeHistory remembers Charlie Chaplin as Hollywood’s first superstar. At the height of his career, the FBI considered him and other figures from the film industry something else: a threat to the United States. His granddaughter, Oona Chaplin, tells the story of how Hollywood became a battleground for the soul of America. Hollywood Exiles is a story of glamour, duplicity, and the US government’s decades-long campaign to root out communism in Tinseltown. From the BBC World Service and CBC Podcasts. To listen to the full-length story, search for Hollywood Exiles wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
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S2.10 Fallout
Sep 9, 202200:33:23Tap to summarizeJail awaits - Klaus Fuchs is going down. But will he take Ursula with him? British intelligence wants names. As Fuchs is forced to face his past, Ursula tries to run from hers. Presenter Rosa Ellis questions how their actions have shaped today's nuclear tensions. #thebomb
Transcribe →S2.9 Dead cat, live cat
Sep 2, 202200:30:57Tap to summarizeA double life implodes. Fuchs faces judge and jury, but will he confess? A future as an eminent physicist is slipping away. And the friends who took him in as a young scientist are blindsided - they want answers. But first he must face the court. #thebomb
Transcribe →S2.8 The uncertainty principle
Aug 26, 202200:30:51Tap to summarizeThe spy catchers close in. Klaus Fuchs is caught in the crosshairs. Spymaster Ursula has outwitted the interrogators - but can he? As he settles down in England, British intelligence services are following him at every turn. He is caught in a web of surveillance - and his faith in the Soviets is faltering. How long can he run for? #thebomb
Transcribe →S2.7 Critical mass
Aug 19, 202200:29:59Tap to summarizeThe interrogation of a spymaster. Ursula is questioned as Klaus Fuchs returns to England. Secrets threaten to be spilled and loyalties are tested. The war has ended, and the physicist could have a promising future. But will his past catch up with him? Could British intelligence services be on to him? #thebomb
Transcribe →S2.6 Camp Y
Aug 12, 202200:38:45Tap to summarizeLives on the line. The Fuchs family is drawn into the espionage as the atomic bomb project takes a deadly turn. Klaus is at the covert Manhattan Project laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. In this desert terrain, he has lost contact with the Soviets. As the countdown to detonation begins, there's only one person who can be trusted. #thebomb
Transcribe →S2.5 An irreversible reaction
Aug 5, 202200:28:55Tap to summarizeA double life gets more dangerous. Fuchs joins America's bomb project and the race with Russia is on. But as the nuclear mission ramps up, security tightens too. Now at the heart of the mission, his skills in science and espionage are tested to the limit. #thebomb
Transcribe →S2.4 A stable bond
Jul 29, 202200:37:25Tap to summarizeThe spy meets his spymaster - presenter Rosa Ellis' great-aunt Ursula. She's a housewife and mother living in the English countryside. And she also works for the Soviets. Fuchs and Ursula have a secret list of information that Russia urgently needs to win the nuclear race. Together, they could be the most dangerous spies on the planet. #thebomb
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