Rezime epizode
Jane Perlez reports on the thirteen most dangerous days in human history, when the world came closer to nuclear annihilation than ever before or since: the Cuban Missile Crisis. In October 1962, a Soviet submarine trapped under the Atlantic with a nuclear-tipped torpedo faced orders so ambiguous they could spell the end of civilization. Above the surface, American President John F. Kennedy learned of Soviet missiles in Cuba and had to decide: invade, bomb, or negotiate? With historian Fredrik Logevall, Pulitzer Prize winner and foremost biographer of President Kennedy, Perlez explores how a young president and a Soviet leader, both haunted by war, chose empathy over escalation. Logevall explains how Kennedy's willingness to see through Khrushchev's eyes—to understand his rival's motives—became key to resolution. The secret agreement to withdraw Soviet missiles from Cuba for American missiles from Turkey allowed both sides to claim victory and step back from the abyss. But the crisis revealed dangers that…
Jane Perlez reports on the thirteen most dangerous days in human history, when the world came closer to nuclear annihilation than ever before or since: the Cuban Missile Crisis. In October 1962, a Soviet submarine trapped under the Atlantic with a nuclear-tipped torpedo faced orders so ambiguous they could spell the end of civilization. Above the surface, American President John F. Kennedy learned of Soviet missiles in Cuba and had to decide: invade, bomb, or negotiate? With historian Fredrik Logevall, Pulitzer Prize winner and foremost biographer of President Kennedy, Perlez explores how a young president and a Soviet leader, both haunted by war, chose empathy over escalation. Logevall explains how Kennedy's willingness to see through Khrushchev's eyes—to understand his rival's motives—became key to resolution. The secret agreement to withdraw Soviet missiles from Cuba for American missiles from Turkey allowed both sides to claim victory and step back from the abyss. But the crisis revealed dangers that…
Epizode
Thirteen Days on the Brink
SlušanoJane Perlez reports on the thirteen most dangerous days in human history, when the world came closer to nuclear annihilation than ever before or since: the Cuban Missile Crisis. In October 1962, a Soviet submarine trapped under the Atlantic with a nuclear-tipped torpedo faced orders so ambiguous they could spell the end of civilization. Above the surface, American President John F. Kennedy learned of Soviet missiles in Cuba and had to decide: invade, bomb, or negotiate? With historian Fredrik Logevall, Pulitzer Prize winner and foremost biographer of President Kennedy, Perlez explores how a young president and a Soviet leader, both haunted by war, chose empathy over escalation. Logevall explains how Kennedy's willingness to see through Khrushchev's eyes—to understand his rival's motives—became key to resolution. The secret agreement to withdraw Soviet missiles from Cuba for American missiles from Turkey allowed both sides to claim victory and step back from the abyss. But the crisis revealed dangers that…
The Race to Build the Bomb
SlušanoThe nuclear age began in fear, secrecy, and scientific ambition. The bomb created in a moment of wartime urgency became the foundation of a new global order defined by terror and deterrence. The story is familiar, but its implications have never left us. In episode two of the series, Jane Perlez interviews nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein about the origins of the bomb and the Americans’ race to build a weapon before Hitler. Wellerstein explains how the White House first learned about a terrifying source of energy and the top-secret decision-making that culminated in Los Alamos and the creation of the first atom bomb used on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. Jane Perlez also travels to Hiroshima with Associate Producer Frank Zhou to interview an atomic bomb survivor and retrace her steps through the decimated city in the hours after the blast. Decades later, we must ask: will we let it happen again? Reading Recommendations: Hiroshima by John Hersey. The gruesome, influential reportage by the famed New Yorker writer…
The New Nuclear Age
SlušanoFor the first time in half a century, the world is drifting into a nuclear era with fewer constraints and more danger. The old arms control architecture is gone. The United States is modernizing its arsenal, Russia is making explicit nuclear threats, and China is expanding rapidly and in secret. Each development is destabilizing on its own. Together, they make a world in which the nuclear threat risks escalating faster than diplomacy can contain it. In episode one of the series, Jane Perlez and New York Times White House and National Security Correspondent David Sanger lay out the stakes. How did we get to a world with crumbling nuclear guardrails? And what might happen next? Sanger explains why nuclear weapons are back: how the Biden White House scrambled to respond to Vladimir Putin’s threats to use the nuclear option against Ukraine, what the war in Iran and North Korea’s arsenal signal to nuclear-curious nations waiting in the wings, and whether it is ever possible to wage a “limited nuclear war.” They…
Introducing Face-Off: Nuclear Anarchy?
SlušanoThe nuclear age began in secrecy and scientific ambition. The story is familiar, but its implications have never left us. Face-Off: Nuclear Anarchy is an 8-part series tracing the arc of nuclear danger. A bomb created in a moment of wartime urgency became the foundation of a global order defined by terror and deterrence. But what happens when that global order breaks down? This season, we take you back inside the Manhattan Project and a decimated Hiroshima in the hours after the blast. We retrace the Cuban Missile Crisis and the abandonment of the New START treaty with a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and the State Department decision-makers in the room. We follow China’s rapid expansion, Russia’s threats, Ukraine’s lost deterrent, and the outliers challenging the world’s nuclear order. In each episode, Pulitzer-winning journalist Jane Perlez interviews leading participants in the nuclear conversation: David Sanger, Tong Zhao, Rose Gottemoeller, Alex Wellerstein and more. Plus, Harvard Kennedy School…
Trump’s War, Xi’s Opportunity: Ambassador Nicholas Burns on Iran’s Hot War
SlušanoAs this episode is published - on April 21, 2026 - it’s far from clear which direction the war between the US and Iran is headed. Even so, America’s reputation around the world is in decline, to say the least. Trump is unrestrained. He’s invaded Venezuela. Started a war like no other with Iran. Soured relations with traditional US allies in Europe. And not to mention the heavy tariffs he’s imposed across the globe. Trump and Xi Jinping are supposed to meet in a delayed summit in Beijing this spring. What is Beijing thinking? How might China capitalize on this very rocky moment? With so much at stake, we turn to someone who has often been at the forefront of diplomacy: Nicholas Burns, the former US Ambassador to China under President Biden. Our conversation was recorded on April 10th, which is important to note as the news is moving fast, very fast. ***PLEASE TAKE OUR AUDIENCE SURVEY*** It only takes a minute and will help guide the future of Face-Off: https://bit.ly/faceoffsurvey Face-Off: The U.S. vs. China…