Fifty years ago this month, three charismatic world leaders—John F. Kennedy, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, and Cuba’s Fidel Castro—spent a tense 13 days negotiating their nations back from the brink of nuclear war. The Cuban missile crisis began when the U.S. discovered that the Soviet Union was stationing nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off Florida’s coast. This chronicle of a pivotal moment in history includes interviews with CIA and KGB operatives, the late JFK aide Ted Sorensen, and Khrushchev’s son Sergei.Tuesday, Oct. 23, at 8 p.m., PBS; check local listings
