‘After nearly annihilating our planet, our families are friends’: the gripping audio series featuring John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev’s descendants.
In October 1962, humanity edged closer to destruction more so than ever in recent history. This occurred when an American reconnaissance aircraft found the fact that Soviet nuclear missile sites were being assembled in the island of Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from American soil. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy ordered a naval task force to establish a maritime quarantine encircling the island. What followed constituted almost a fortnight of extreme tension.
The Catastrophic Threat
The threat was clear. If President Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire against the other side, a cascade involving global nuclear strikes and counterstrikes might have ensued, casting civilization into total destruction.
This pivotal 1962 event has been covered endlessly, through volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series The Bomb presents an unprecedented perspective to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives belonging to the figures who, for 13 days, grasped the destiny of the planet within their grasp.
"What was the Russians thinking? What were the American side considering?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and an academic of global relations.
For her, the unique appeal of the podcast is its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do people detest each other and oppose each other?"
"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that individuals have the potential to be allies or else can become complete enemies," adds Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now a writer as well as lawyer. "We see this dynamic over and over when nations enter into conflict, highlighting the sheer folly involved to fight."
The Brink of Disaster
What is notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, citizens globally were able to observe nearly as it happened as it crept towards catastrophe. Nonetheless, the risk of destruction came closer than what most people realised.
"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba using the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would have fired a nuclear warhead at the American ships, and that would have destroyed our aircraft carriers and destroyed our largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through massive retaliation that would have eradicated all life on the planet."
The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, they succeeded in remain calm while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone in their governments was pushing for action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed his missiles from Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of hope.
The Divergent Perspective
Still, for those 13 days in October, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following these events, with Nina learned about it through the USSR's school curriculum, which presented an alternative picture of events.
"You said your parent remembers it, describing it as a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that things are constantly wonderful or positive."
Within the Khrushchev household, though, it was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, thus didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful thing," she adds. Subsequently, however, that perspective would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying America."
A Unlikely Partnership
The Bomb is so even-handed and expertly crafted that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known the ending. This is, in part, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking aspect is the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable that descendants of the leaders of the United States and USSR to appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a sign of optimism.
"Max and I aren't the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle moved to America and formed a close bond with the former president's family."
"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Max. "Which is a shame because we got along really well and now we are friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, after almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the planet, our families have become allies, suggesting the world is more secure, a little bit."
Modern Echoes and Present Perils
Or is it? One reason why The Bomb feels so necessary is that we now are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe in its history, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to learn