🔗 Share this article Following nearly annihilating the planet, our families are friends’: a thrilling audio series from John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants. In October 1962, the planet came closer to annihilation than at any other point in the contemporary era. This occurred following the discovery that a US surveillance plane identified that Russian nuclear weapon bases were under construction on Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the US mainland. In response, President JFK ordered a naval task force to impose a maritime blockade around Cuba. What followed was almost two weeks of unbearable anxiety. The Unthinkable Threat The threat remained clear. Should President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on the other side, a series of global atomic strikes followed by counterstrikes could have followed, plunging civilization toward total ruination. This pivotal 1962 event has been documented endlessly, through books, movies, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents an unprecedented dimension into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented by Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the leaders that, for 13 days, held the destiny of the planet in their hands. "What was the Russians thinking? What was the United States considering?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor of international affairs. For her, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to objectively ask: "How can individuals hate one another to the point they oppose each other?" "It struck me how remarkable the fact that individuals have the potential to be friends or can become complete enemies," adds Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of JFK and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "We see this dynamic over and over when countries have gone to war, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid it is to engage in warfare." The Brink of Disaster What is striking regarding this event was that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, citizens globally could watch nearly in real time as it crept towards armageddon. Even so, the danger of destruction was more imminent than what anybody realised. "Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would've deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, which would have obliterated our naval vessels as well as destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. And, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on Earth." The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, who managed to keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements around them was pushing for action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew his similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was the sense of hope. A Different Perspective Still, for those two weeks in October, the tension was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world in the years following the crisis, and Nina learned about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which presented an alternative picture of what happened. "As you mentioned your parent recalls it, and it was a scary time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know that much about it, because it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system we were told that things are always wonderful or sunny." Within Khrushchev’s family, though, it was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus didn’t start a global war, which was a positive thing," she adds. In the years to come, however, that view would not be held by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying America." A Unlikely Collaboration This podcast is remarkably balanced and expertly crafted so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to the participation of historians. Yet, really, the most significant thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of America and the USSR would appear together publicly. That these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a sign of hope. "Max and I aren't the first," smiles Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with the former president's family." "But we had never met before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we got along really well and we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, following almost six decades since nearly annihilating the planet, our families are now friends, so I think global relations is more secure, a little bit." Contemporary Echoes and Present Perils Or is it? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to learn
In October 1962, the planet came closer to annihilation than at any other point in the contemporary era. This occurred following the discovery that a US surveillance plane identified that Russian nuclear weapon bases were under construction on Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the US mainland. In response, President JFK ordered a naval task force to impose a maritime blockade around Cuba. What followed was almost two weeks of unbearable anxiety. The Unthinkable Threat The threat remained clear. Should President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on the other side, a series of global atomic strikes followed by counterstrikes could have followed, plunging civilization toward total ruination. This pivotal 1962 event has been documented endlessly, through books, movies, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents an unprecedented dimension into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented by Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the leaders that, for 13 days, held the destiny of the planet in their hands. "What was the Russians thinking? What was the United States considering?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor of international affairs. For her, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to objectively ask: "How can individuals hate one another to the point they oppose each other?" "It struck me how remarkable the fact that individuals have the potential to be friends or can become complete enemies," adds Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of JFK and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "We see this dynamic over and over when countries have gone to war, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid it is to engage in warfare." The Brink of Disaster What is striking regarding this event was that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, citizens globally could watch nearly in real time as it crept towards armageddon. Even so, the danger of destruction was more imminent than what anybody realised. "Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would've deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, which would have obliterated our naval vessels as well as destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. And, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on Earth." The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, who managed to keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements around them was pushing for action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew his similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was the sense of hope. A Different Perspective Still, for those two weeks in October, the tension was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world in the years following the crisis, and Nina learned about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which presented an alternative picture of what happened. "As you mentioned your parent recalls it, and it was a scary time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know that much about it, because it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system we were told that things are always wonderful or sunny." Within Khrushchev’s family, though, it was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus didn’t start a global war, which was a positive thing," she adds. In the years to come, however, that view would not be held by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying America." A Unlikely Collaboration This podcast is remarkably balanced and expertly crafted so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to the participation of historians. Yet, really, the most significant thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of America and the USSR would appear together publicly. That these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a sign of hope. "Max and I aren't the first," smiles Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with the former president's family." "But we had never met before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we got along really well and we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, following almost six decades since nearly annihilating the planet, our families are now friends, so I think global relations is more secure, a little bit." Contemporary Echoes and Present Perils Or is it? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to learn