‘After nearly destroying our world, our relatives have become allies’: the thrilling audio series from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.
In October 1962, the planet veered closer toward annihilation than at any other point during modern times. This happened following the discovery that a US reconnaissance plane found the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon installations were being built on Cuba, less than 100 miles from the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime blockade encircling Cuba. What followed constituted nearly a fortnight filled with impossible tension.
The Catastrophic Danger
The threat was clear. If President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a cascade of worldwide atomic attacks and retaliatory strikes might have ensued, thrusting humanity toward total ruination.
The Cuban missile crisis has been examined repeatedly, in volumes, films, as well as TV documentaries. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb presents a completely new element to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the figures that, for two tense weeks, controlled the destiny of the world in their hands.
"What were the Soviet side thinking? What was Washington thinking?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and an academic of international affairs.
In her view, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to objectively ask: "How can people detest each other to the point they confront each other?"
"It struck me how spectacular it is that individuals have the potential to be allies or else can become complete adversaries," states Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now an author and lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality it is to fight."
A Brink Towards Catastrophe
What is remarkable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired so publicly, individuals around the world were able to observe nearly as it happened while it moved closer to disaster. However, the threat of annihilation came closer than what anybody understood at the time.
"Almost all officials in the White House wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the naval blockade, it is certain the Russians stationed there would have fired a nuclear warhead at the American ships, and that would've destroyed our naval vessels as well as sunk America's primary naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on the planet."
The reality it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy when everyone around them demanded action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from Cuba while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed American similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of optimism.
The Divergent Viewpoint
Yet, for those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was felt globally. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world in the years following the crisis, and Nina learned about the crisis via the USSR's school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different picture of what happened.
"You said your parent recalls it, describing it as a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly wonderful or positive."
Within the Khrushchev household, though, it was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it was a direct confrontation. They were able to find a solution, thus avoided a global war, seen as a wonderful thing," she adds. Subsequently, though, that interpretation would not be held by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a setback for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying America."
A Unlikely Partnership
This podcast is remarkably balanced and well produced so much so that Nina quips it almost made her forget she already knew outcome. This is, partly, due to the participation of renowned scholars. But, truly, the most significant thing remains the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of America and the USSR would appear side by side. That these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a sign of hope.
"We are not the first," notes Nina. "Following 1991, a relative moved to America and formed a close bond with the former president's family."
"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Max. "That is a shame because we connected immediately and now we are friends, which is wonderful. Finally, after nearly 60 years since nearly annihilating the world, our families are now friends, suggesting the world is safer, a little bit."
Contemporary Parallels and Present Dangers
Or is it? One reason why The Bomb feels so necessary is that we once again are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight in its history, partly since world leaders don’t seem to be able to grasp
