JFK's Darkest Hour: The Cuban Missile Crisis

JFK's Darkest Hour: The Cuban Missile Crisis

In October 1962 the world came very close to annihilation during the Cuban Missile Crisis. During the autumn of 1962, a U2 reconnaissance aircraft produced clear evidence that the Soviet Union and the Cuban authorities were building medium-range ballistic missile facilities on the island of Cuba and only around 100 miles from the coast of Florida. The resulting confrontation between the USA under JFK and the Soviet Union led by Nikita Khrushchev lasted just over a month and it's often considered to be the closest that the Cold War came to escalating to full-scale nuclear war. Serhii Plokhy, author of Nuclear Folly: A New History of the Cuban Missile Crisis, is Dan's guest on the podcast today. Serhii's research, using new archive material, has shown that during the crisis we came even closer than previously thought to the Cold War going hot.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(1507)

Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary, Queen of Scots

This is the story of the incredible rise and fall of Mary, Queen of Scots. She was queen of Scotland, she was queen of France, and she could have been queen of England. She led armies, lived as a fugi...

26 Feb 202542min

Soho: London's Most Notorious Neighbourhood

Soho: London's Most Notorious Neighbourhood

Soho was once a thriving melting pot of speakeasies, sex work and organised crime. From razor gangs of the 1920s to money laundering, the area has always been a hotbed for thieves, conmen, drug dealer...

24 Feb 202529min

Dogs

Dogs

From the small corgis that drove cattle to Smithfield market to the Dalmatians that protected carriages from highwaymen, humans and dogs have relied on each other for millennia. Historian and dog-love...

21 Feb 202526min

Josef Mengele

Josef Mengele

The Nazi doctor who committed heinous experiments on prisoners of Auschwitz was harboured by a network of Nazi supporters in Argentina after the war. As an SS officer and physician, he conducted horri...

19 Feb 202544min

Why Isn't Canada the 51st State?

Why Isn't Canada the 51st State?

Dan explains how Canada has resisted many American attempts at annexation since the Revolution in 1775. From the tariff tensions of 1911 to President Trump's recent remarks about making Canada the 51s...

17 Feb 202544min

The Bombing of Dresden

The Bombing of Dresden

As the Second World War neared its bloody climax, Allied bombers unleashed a devastating firestorm on Dresden. In just two days the historic city was reduced to rubble, and tens of thousands were kill...

14 Feb 202552min

The Siege of Malta: Knights Hospitaller vs The Ottomans

The Siege of Malta: Knights Hospitaller vs The Ottomans

This is the story of Suleiman the Magnificent's attempt to conquer Malta, the headquarters of a Catholic military order that had become a thorn in his side. They were known as the Knights Hospitaller,...

12 Feb 202544min

Iwo Jima: WWII in the Pacific

Iwo Jima: WWII in the Pacific

80 years ago, on the rocky volcanic island of Iwo Jima, the vicious battle for the Pacific reached ever bloodier crescendos. As Allied forces crossed the Rhine in Europe, American Marines won a costly...

10 Feb 202541min

Populært innen Historie

med-egne-oyne
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
historier-som-endret-norge
henrettelsespodden
rss-benadet
rss-katastrofe
rss-nadelose-nordmenn-gestapo
sektledere
historier-som-endret-verden
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
aftenposten-historie
rss-politisk-preik
rss-frontkjemperne
rss-bisarr-historie
historiepodden
rss-historiepodden-ww2
historiepodden-ww2
undersattene
rss-gamle-greier
liberal-halvtime