Bonus: The History Bureau
The Bomb
BBC
4.4 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 16 February 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If journalism is the first draft of history, what happens if that draft turns out to be flawed? The History Bureau revisits the defining stories of our times with the reporters who first covered them. What did they get right first time around? And, in the chaos and confusion of unfolding events, what did they miss?
Season 1: Putin and the Apartment Bombs. In September 1999, just weeks after a 46-year-old Vladimir Putin became Prime Minister, four bombs blew up four apartment buildings across Russia, killing hundreds of people while they slept. The attacks plunged the country into panic. Families fled their homes. Residents patrolled their blocks around the clock. An entire nation paralyzed by fear. But who did it? It's a mystery that has fuelled some chilling theories. The government blamed Chechen militants. Many reporters agreed. But then the whispers started. Was something even more sinister going on?
If you're in the UK, listen first to The History Bureau on BBC Sounds - or elsewhere in the world, listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.1 | Hello, listeners. It's Nina and Max here. |
| 0:09.5 | In the bombs season three, Kennedy and Khrushchev, we explored the personal and political |
| 0:13.6 | tensions behind the Cuban missile crisis. |
| 0:16.6 | If you're interested in Russian history and are drawn to stories of intrigue, power struggles, and leaders under pressure, we recommend you check out the History Bureau. |
| 0:26.6 | This new BBC podcast revisits defining stories of our recent past with the reporters who were there on the ground. |
| 0:34.7 | Season one, we examines the September 1999 apartment bombings, a series of attacks |
| 0:41.2 | that shook the nation just weeks after Vladimir Putin became prime minister. Keep listening to |
| 0:47.4 | hear episode one of the History Bureau, Putin and the apartment bombs. And if you like what you hear, |
| 0:53.0 | you can listen to the full season now, |
| 0:55.1 | wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:57.9 | They say that when a bomb goes off, |
| 1:00.4 | you feel it before you hear it. |
| 1:04.7 | The explosives create a shockwave |
| 1:07.4 | that pushes walls inward, |
| 1:09.9 | disintegrates glass, compresses air. And for a brief moment, |
| 1:15.6 | there's just silence. Then you hear it. A blast so loud it can rupture ear drums. |
| 1:33.1 | After the explosion, the aftermath of a bomb follows a familiar pattern, |
| 1:38.7 | sifting through the rubble, counting the dead, the hunt for survivors. |
| 1:42.9 | And finally, the search for a story. |
| 1:45.8 | Something to make sense of the horror. |
| 1:48.3 | Sometimes the story gives closure. |
... |
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