The Bomb podcast artwork
History

The Bomb

by BBC World Service
Share this ranking Claiming needs an RSS feed. Contact us.
Listen on Apple Podcasts

Where it charts

Today’s combined position on our country charts.

Germany · History
#141 New on this chart
Pulse 5

Ranking history

History builds daily. We started tracking this show on the History chart recently, so the trend line appears after a second day of data.

About the show

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.

Latest episodes

  • Kennedy and Khrushchev: 10. Fallout

    February 2, 2026 · 43 min

    Can Khrushchev and Kennedy stop a spiral into nuclear devastation? Khrushchev realises he has lost control of the crisis, as an American plane is shot down over Cuba. With the Americans preparing for war, can the two leaders communicate…

  • Kennedy and Khrushchev: 9. Black Saturday

    January 26, 2026 · 40 min

    Soviet anti-aircraft fire takes down an American spy plane over Cuba, as the crisis spirals. The pilot is killed. With nuclear missiles almost ready for launch in Cuba, how can the two superpower leaders pull back from the brink of war?…

  • Kennedy and Khrushchev: 8. The logic of war

    January 19, 2026 · 38 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…

  • Kennedy and Khrushchev: 7. Eyeball to eyeball

    January 12, 2026 · 38 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…

  • Kennedy and Khrushchev: 6. Kennedy’s move

    January 5, 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…

  • Kennedy and Khrushchev: 5. The crisis: Day one

    December 29, 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…

  • Kennedy and Khrushchev: 4. Almost caught

    December 22, 2025 · 36 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…

  • Kennedy and Khrushchev: 3. Gamble

    December 15, 2025 · 36 min

    The Soviets secretly plan to move an arsenal of nuclear weapons to Cuba. It is an audacious move by Nikita Khrushchev, to protect Fidel Castro’s communist regime from an American invasion. Since Castro and the Soviet leader met in a New…