🔗 Share this article Following nearly annihilating our planet, our families have become friends’: a thrilling podcast from John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev’s relatives. In October 1962, humanity veered closer toward annihilation than at any other point during the contemporary era. This transpired when an American reconnaissance aircraft found that Soviet atomic missile sites were being built on the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles from the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval blockade around Cuba. What followed was almost 14 days of impossible anxiety. An Catastrophic Threat The danger remained clear. If Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on the other side, a chain reaction involving global atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes would have ensued, casting mankind toward all-out ruination. The October crisis has been documented repeatedly, in volumes, movies, as well as TV documentaries. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents a novel element to the story. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the leaders who, for two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of humanity in their hands. "What were the Soviet side thinking? What were the United States planning?" ponders Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor specializing in international affairs. In her view, the beauty of the podcast lies in its attempt to question: "Why do people detest one another to the point they go against each other?" "It struck me how spectacular it is that people have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be total enemies," states Max Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of the late president and currently an author as well as attorney. "History shows this repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to fight." The Brink Towards Disaster What is remarkable regarding this event was that, since it transpired so publicly, people globally were able to observe nearly as it happened while it moved closer to armageddon. Nonetheless, the risk of annihilation came closer than what most people realised. "Almost all officials in the White House wanted a military strike and a ground invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain the Russians stationed there would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, which would have destroyed the naval vessels as well as sunk our largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended all life on the planet." The reality it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to remain calm and engaging in diplomacy when everyone in their governments demanded action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of optimism. A Divergent Viewpoint Still, for those two weeks in October, the fear was palpable globally. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about it through the Soviet school curriculum, which presented an alternative picture of what happened. "As you mentioned your father remembers it, describing it as a scary time," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that things are constantly wonderful or positive." Within Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, seen as a positive thing," she adds. In the years to come, though, that interpretation was not shared by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a setback for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up America." An Unprecedented Collaboration The Bomb is remarkably balanced and expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget she already knew outcome. This is, partly, due to the participation of historians. But, really, the most groundbreaking aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of America and the USSR would appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, has to be a sign of progress. "Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America where he formed a close bond with the former president's family." "But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate because we got along immediately and we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following almost 60 years since almost destroying the planet, our families have become friends, suggesting the world is more secure, a little bit." Modern Parallels with Present Perils Or is it? Part of why this series seems so urgent is that we once again are living living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend
In October 1962, humanity veered closer toward annihilation than at any other point during the contemporary era. This transpired when an American reconnaissance aircraft found that Soviet atomic missile sites were being built on the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles from the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval blockade around Cuba. What followed was almost 14 days of impossible anxiety. An Catastrophic Threat The danger remained clear. If Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on the other side, a chain reaction involving global atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes would have ensued, casting mankind toward all-out ruination. The October crisis has been documented repeatedly, in volumes, movies, as well as TV documentaries. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents a novel element to the story. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the leaders who, for two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of humanity in their hands. "What were the Soviet side thinking? What were the United States planning?" ponders Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor specializing in international affairs. In her view, the beauty of the podcast lies in its attempt to question: "Why do people detest one another to the point they go against each other?" "It struck me how spectacular it is that people have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be total enemies," states Max Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of the late president and currently an author as well as attorney. "History shows this repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to fight." The Brink Towards Disaster What is remarkable regarding this event was that, since it transpired so publicly, people globally were able to observe nearly as it happened while it moved closer to armageddon. Nonetheless, the risk of annihilation came closer than what most people realised. "Almost all officials in the White House wanted a military strike and a ground invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain the Russians stationed there would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, which would have destroyed the naval vessels as well as sunk our largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended all life on the planet." The reality it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to remain calm and engaging in diplomacy when everyone in their governments demanded action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of optimism. A Divergent Viewpoint Still, for those two weeks in October, the fear was palpable globally. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about it through the Soviet school curriculum, which presented an alternative picture of what happened. "As you mentioned your father remembers it, describing it as a scary time," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that things are constantly wonderful or positive." Within Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, seen as a positive thing," she adds. In the years to come, though, that interpretation was not shared by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a setback for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up America." An Unprecedented Collaboration The Bomb is remarkably balanced and expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget she already knew outcome. This is, partly, due to the participation of historians. But, really, the most groundbreaking aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of America and the USSR would appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, has to be a sign of progress. "Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America where he formed a close bond with the former president's family." "But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate because we got along immediately and we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following almost 60 years since almost destroying the planet, our families have become friends, suggesting the world is more secure, a little bit." Modern Parallels with Present Perils Or is it? Part of why this series seems so urgent is that we once again are living living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend