Following nearly annihilating our planet, our families have become friends’: the gripping podcast from John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.
In the month of October 1962, the world veered nearer toward ruin more so than ever in recent history. This transpired following the discovery that an American reconnaissance plane discovered that Soviet atomic missile sites were under construction on the island of Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, President John F Kennedy ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval quarantine around the island. The ensuing period constituted almost two weeks of unbearable stress.
An Unthinkable Threat
The danger was clear. Should Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a series of global atomic attacks and counterstrikes could have followed, casting humanity toward total ruination.
This pivotal 1962 event has been documented extensively, in books, movies, and television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb has brought a completely new dimension to the story. It is co-presented by Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the men that, over 13 days, controlled the fate of humanity in their hands.
"What was the Soviet side planning? What was the United States planning?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also a professor of global relations.
For her, the strength of the podcast lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can nations detest one another to the point they go against one another?"
"It struck me how spectacular it is that people have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be total enemies," adds Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and currently an author and attorney. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality it is to engage in warfare."
The Brink Towards Disaster
What’s striking about the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired so publicly, people globally could watch nearly as it happened while it edged closer to disaster. Nonetheless, the danger of annihilation came closer than anybody realised.
"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," says Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba using the naval blockade, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would've launched a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've sunk the naval vessels as well as sunk our largest and most important naval force. And, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have ended most life on Earth."
The reality it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them demanded military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of optimism.
The Divergent Viewpoint
Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was palpable globally. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis via the USSR's school curriculum, which presented an alternative narrative of what happened.
"You said your father remembers it, and it was a scary day," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly fine and sunny."
Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, it was different. "I was informed what a great occasion for the USSR, as it represented a direct confrontation. They were able to find a solution, thus avoided the war, which was a wonderful outcome," she adds. Later on, though, that interpretation was not shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying America."
An Unlikely Partnership
The Bomb is so even-handed and expertly crafted so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, partly, due to the participation of historians. But, really, the most groundbreaking aspect remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of America and the Soviet Union to appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a symbol of optimism.
"We are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "Following 1991, a relative moved to America where he formed a close bond with the former president's family."
"However we were strangers prior to this project," adds Max. "Which is unfortunate because we connected really well and we’re friends, something that is really great. Finally, after almost six decades of nearly annihilating the world, our families are now friends, suggesting the world is more secure, a little bit."
Contemporary Parallels with Current Dangers
Is that truly the case? One reason the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is because we now are living living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to learn
