Klaus Fuchs: 2. A split life

Klaus Fuchs: 2. A split life

Author: BBC World Service July 16, 2022 Duration: 40:02

The world’s most dangerous spy? A young scientist’s journey into espionage. From a German pacifist family to a Soviet spy ring. Physicist Klaus Fuchs flees Nazi rule for England and joins the race to develop an atomic bomb – whoever gets there first wins the war. Presenter Rosa Ellis discovers how Fuchs’ double life begins. #thebomb

This podcast has been edited for accuracy. Audio was updated on 20th July 2022.


From the BBC World Service, The Bomb is a history podcast that traces the profound and permanent shadow cast by atomic weapons. It goes beyond the familiar mushroom cloud to explore the human dramas that defined the nuclear age: the physicists in secret laboratories racing for a breakthrough, the clandestine networks of spies trading in ultimate secrets, and the world leaders who held the power of annihilation in their hands. The narrative builds across seasons, culminating in a gripping third season that places you inside the most dangerous confrontation in history. With the world on the brink during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the story is told through a remarkable personal lens by Nina Khrushcheva and Max Kennedy, relatives of the two men at the heart of the standoff. This podcast meticulously details how fear, ideology, and fragile diplomacy shaped our global reality, asking whether catastrophe can be averted when the stakes are the highest imaginable. Each episode is a layered examination of the decisions, both monumental and minute, that brought us to the edge and defined the precarious balance of power for decades to come.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 32

The Bomb
Podcast Episodes
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 10. Fallout [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:57
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 lea…
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 9. Black Saturday [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:13
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 t…
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 8. The logic of war [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:58
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…
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 7. Eyeball to eyeball [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:50
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…
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 6. Kennedy’s move [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:00
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…
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 5. The crisis: Day one [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:17
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…
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 4. Almost caught [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:47
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…
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 3. Gamble [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:29
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 lea…
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 2. King of bombs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:23
The 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…
Kennedy and Khrushchev: 1. Opening moves [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:44
As 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 ris…