Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

Can Khrushchev and Kennedy stop a spiral into nuclear devastation?

Click here to subscribe to our channel 👉🏽 bbc.in/3VyyriM

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 quickly enough to avoid it?

Nina Khrushcheva and Max Kennedy, relatives of the superpower leaders, reflect on what might have been, in this extraordinary chapter in 20th Century history.

00:00 The secret meeting
03:56 Castro’s message
05:40 RFK meets with Dobrynin
08:21 Back in Moscow
11:19 In Washington DC
14:06 Sunday morning in America
15:25 Cuba responds
19:02 The aftermath for Khrushchev
19:44 ‘Some of the things we learned’

How the nuclear bomb shaped world history. 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.

Watch more episodes of The Bomb here 👉🏽 youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ1eSm2ilMcA

----------------
This is the official BBC World Service YouTube channel.
If you like what we do, you can also find us here:
Instagram 👉🏽 instagram.com/bbcworldservice
Twitter 👉🏽 twitter.com/bbcworldservice
Facebook 👉🏽 facebook.com/bbcworldservice
BBC World Service website 👉🏽 bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio

Thanks for watching and subscribing!
#BBCWorldService #WorldService #kennedy #krushchev #cubanmissilecrisis #nuclearwar #coldwar