🔗 Share this article Following almost annihilating our planet, our families have become friends’: a gripping audio series featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives. In the month of October 1962, the planet edged closer toward ruin than at any other point in modern times. This transpired after a US surveillance aircraft found that Russian nuclear missile sites were under construction in Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from American soil. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime blockade encircling Cuba. The ensuing period was almost 14 days filled with impossible stress. An Unthinkable Threat The danger remained obvious. Should President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire against the other side, a series of global nuclear attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have followed, casting civilization toward total destruction. The October crisis has been examined endlessly, through books, movies, and television programmes. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents an unprecedented dimension into the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the men who, over 13 days, controlled the fate of the planet in their hands. "What were the Kremlin thinking? What was the United States thinking?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and a professor of international affairs. For her, the strength of the podcast lies in its attempt to explore: "How can people hate each other and confront each other?" "It was not lost on me how profound the fact that individuals have the potential to be allies or else can become total adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of the late president and currently an author and attorney. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality it is to engage in warfare." A Precipice of Catastrophe What is striking about the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, citizens worldwide could watch nearly as it happened while it edged closer to catastrophe. However, the risk of destruction came closer than anybody realised. "The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for an airstrike followed by an invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians on the ground would've fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed the naval vessels as well as sunk our primary fleet. And, we would have responded with massive retaliation which would have ended all life on the planet." The reality it didn’t stands as credit to both leaders, they managed to exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them was pushing for military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the missiles in Cuba and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of hope. A Divergent Perspective Yet, for those 13 days in October, the tension was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about it via the USSR's school curriculum, which painted a slightly different narrative of events. "You said your father remembers it, and it was a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system we were told that everything was constantly fine or sunny." Inside the Khrushchev household, however, it was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, as it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start the war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she continues. Later on, though, that perspective would not be shared by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up the United States." An Unprecedented Partnership The Bomb is so balanced and well produced so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known the ending. This is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. But, really, the most significant thing remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union to appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a sign of hope. "Max and I aren't the first," smiles Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children." "But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we connected really well and we’re friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, after almost 60 years since nearly annihilating the world, our families have become friends, so I think global relations is more secure, somewhat." Contemporary Echoes and Current Perils Or is it? Part of why this series seems so urgent is because we once again find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, partly since today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to learn
In the month of October 1962, the planet edged closer toward ruin than at any other point in modern times. This transpired after a US surveillance aircraft found that Russian nuclear missile sites were under construction in Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from American soil. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime blockade encircling Cuba. The ensuing period was almost 14 days filled with impossible stress. An Unthinkable Threat The danger remained obvious. Should President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire against the other side, a series of global nuclear attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have followed, casting civilization toward total destruction. The October crisis has been examined endlessly, through books, movies, and television programmes. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents an unprecedented dimension into the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the men who, over 13 days, controlled the fate of the planet in their hands. "What were the Kremlin thinking? What was the United States thinking?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and a professor of international affairs. For her, the strength of the podcast lies in its attempt to explore: "How can people hate each other and confront each other?" "It was not lost on me how profound the fact that individuals have the potential to be allies or else can become total adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of the late president and currently an author and attorney. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality it is to engage in warfare." A Precipice of Catastrophe What is striking about the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, citizens worldwide could watch nearly as it happened while it edged closer to catastrophe. However, the risk of destruction came closer than anybody realised. "The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for an airstrike followed by an invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians on the ground would've fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed the naval vessels as well as sunk our primary fleet. And, we would have responded with massive retaliation which would have ended all life on the planet." The reality it didn’t stands as credit to both leaders, they managed to exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them was pushing for military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the missiles in Cuba and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of hope. A Divergent Perspective Yet, for those 13 days in October, the tension was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about it via the USSR's school curriculum, which painted a slightly different narrative of events. "You said your father remembers it, and it was a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system we were told that everything was constantly fine or sunny." Inside the Khrushchev household, however, it was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, as it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start the war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she continues. Later on, though, that perspective would not be shared by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up the United States." An Unprecedented Partnership The Bomb is so balanced and well produced so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known the ending. This is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. But, really, the most significant thing remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union to appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a sign of hope. "Max and I aren't the first," smiles Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children." "But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we connected really well and we’re friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, after almost 60 years since nearly annihilating the world, our families have become friends, so I think global relations is more secure, somewhat." Contemporary Echoes and Current Perils Or is it? Part of why this series seems so urgent is because we once again find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, partly since today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to learn