The Cuban Missile Crisis featuring Dr. Martin Sherwin

History Does You

In October of 1962, US spy planes discovered evidence of Soviet Missiles on the Island of Cuba. What came next was a thirteen days of confusion, backchannel diplomacy, and the threat of Nuclear War. But to understand the leadup to the crisis, one must look back at the making of the Atomic Bombs and the decision to use them against Nagasaki and Hiroshima which brought World War II to an end. It set the Soviet Union and the United States on a collision course over who could use the weapon most effectively. To help explain the crisis and the policies that led to it, we interview Dr. Martin Sherwin who is an author and historian specializing in the development of atomic weapons and nuclear policy. Along with Kai Bird, he co-wrote American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of Robert Oppenheimer, which won the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 2006. In addition, Sherwin has advised a number of documentaries and television series relating to the Manhattan Project, including The Day after Trinity: A History of Nuclear Strategy, and War and Peace in the Nuclear Age. He also recently wrote, Gambling with Armageddon: Nuclear Roulette from Hiroshima to the Cuban Missile Crisis