The Bomb
BBC World Service
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Sep 4, 2020 • 26min
Leo Szilard: 6. The first atomic bomb
Time is running out. As Manhattan Project scientists test the world’s first nuclear bomb, Leo Szilard knows it’s the last chance to stop the US government from dropping the bomb on Japanese civilians. Working with colleagues at Chicago’s Met Lab, Szilard does all he can to alert the US president. But will his message get there in time?
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Aug 28, 2020 • 25min
Leo Szilard: 5. Enemy alien
The FBI pursues Leo Szilard as he loses control of the project to create a nuclear bomb. With his influence waning, the leaders of the Manhattan Project now threaten his liberty. But as the world’s first nuclear bomb comes within touching distance, Szilard fears it might soon be used on a city in Japan.
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Aug 21, 2020 • 32min
Leo Szilard: 4. Pearl Harbour
An attack on Pearl Harbour changes everything. After a surprise Japanese attack destroys US ships, the US declares war on Japan, and intensifies its efforts to create the first nuclear bomb. Caught in the middle of it all, Leo Szilard starts to lose his grip on the project.
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4 snips
Aug 14, 2020 • 21min
Leo Szilard: 3. The Einstein letter
A vital message must be delivered to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Fearing the Nazis are on the verge of creating the first nuclear bomb, Leo Szilard needs to convince the US Government to take the threat seriously. In his hour of need, he reaches out to an old friend, Albert Einstein.
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7 snips
Aug 7, 2020 • 18min
Leo Szilard: 2. Race to the bomb
It’s a race against time to beat the Nazis to the first nuclear bomb. After his epiphany in London, Leo Szilard must convince the scientific establishment to take the nuclear threat seriously. He turns to Frederick Lindemann, a friend of Winston Churchill.
Meanwhile, in Germany, two scientists are about to make a discovery that will change the rules of science.
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4 snips
Jul 31, 2020 • 28min
Leo Szilard: 1. Moonshine
A little-known scientist discovers something that will change the course of human history.After befriending some of the world’s greatest physicists in 1920s Berlin, Albert Einstein among them, Leo Szilard is forced to flee when the Nazis come to power. In London, he discovers the destructive possibilities of harnessing nuclear power; setting the course for the world’s first atomic bomb.#thebomb
Jul 23, 2020 • 3min
Leo Szilard: The prologue
Exploring the impact of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and efforts to prevent its misuse, along with personal reflections on a grandparent's creation. Ads for Burrough's furniture and Mint Mobile add a quirky touch to the episode.
