EPISODE · Dec 15, 2025 · 36 MIN
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 3. Gamble
from The Bomb · host BBC World Service
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 York hotel in 1960, they’ve had a personal bond. Hosts Nina Khrushcheva and Max Kennedy, relatives of the superpower leaders, tell the story of how America plotted to overthrow Castro and how Khrushchev persuaded the Cuban leader to go along with his bold plan. This is the personal and political history of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
What this episode covers
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 York hotel in 1960, they’ve had a personal bond. Hosts Nina Khrushcheva and Max Kennedy, relatives of the superpower leaders, tell the story of how America plotted to overthrow Castro and how Khrushchev persuaded the Cuban leader to go along with his bold plan. This is the personal and political history of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
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Kennedy and Khrushchev: 3. Gamble
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