🔗 Share this article Following almost destroying the world, our families have become friends’: a gripping audio series from JFK & Khrushchev’s descendants. During the month of October 1962, the world edged closer toward ruin more so than ever in the contemporary era. This transpired following the discovery that an American surveillance plane found the fact that Russian atomic missile bases were being assembled in the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the US mainland. Reacting to this, President JFK directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime blockade around the island. The ensuing period was nearly two weeks of extreme tension. The Unthinkable Danger The danger remained palpable. If Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a series involving global atomic strikes followed by retaliatory strikes might have followed, casting mankind toward total destruction. The Cuban missile crisis has been documented endlessly, through books, films, as well as TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" has brought a completely new dimension into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the men who, for 13 days, controlled the fate of the planet within their grasp. "What was the Russians planning? What was the United States considering?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant who is also an academic specializing in international affairs. In her view, the beauty of the podcast lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can people hate each other and confront one another?" "It was not lost on me how remarkable the fact that individuals can be friends or else have the potential to be total adversaries," states Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and currently an author as well as lawyer. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when nations have gone to war, demonstrating the profound irrationality involved to fight." A Brink of Catastrophe What’s striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired so publicly, people around the world were able to observe almost as it happened while it edged closer to disaster. Even so, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than most people realised. "Virtually everyone in the White House wanted an airstrike and an invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the naval blockade, it is certain the Russians stationed there would have fired a nuclear warhead at the American ships, which would've obliterated our naval vessels as well as destroyed our largest and most important naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on Earth." The reality it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate when hawkish elements around them demanded military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American missiles based in Turkey. The relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of hope. The Different Perspective Yet, during those two weeks in October, the fear was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, with Khrushcheva learned about the crisis via the Soviet education system, which presented an alternative narrative of events. "As you mentioned your father remembers it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union we were told that things are always wonderful or positive." Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, it was distinct. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, because it was a direct confrontation. They were able to resolve it, and avoided the war, which was a positive outcome," she adds. Subsequently, however, that view would not be held by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up America." An Unprecedented Collaboration The Bomb is so balanced , well produced that Nina quips it almost made her forget she already knew outcome. This is, in part, thanks to the participation of historians. Yet, really, the most momentous aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of America and USSR to appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, must be seen as a sign of optimism. "Max and I are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with the former president's family." "But we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we connected immediately and we are friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, following nearly six decades of almost destroying the planet, our lineages have become allies, so I think global relations is more secure, somewhat." Contemporary Echoes with Present Dangers Or is it? Part of the reason this series feels so necessary is that we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, partly since world leaders don’t seem to be able to grasp
During the month of October 1962, the world edged closer toward ruin more so than ever in the contemporary era. This transpired following the discovery that an American surveillance plane found the fact that Russian atomic missile bases were being assembled in the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the US mainland. Reacting to this, President JFK directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime blockade around the island. The ensuing period was nearly two weeks of extreme tension. The Unthinkable Danger The danger remained palpable. If Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a series involving global atomic strikes followed by retaliatory strikes might have followed, casting mankind toward total destruction. The Cuban missile crisis has been documented endlessly, through books, films, as well as TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" has brought a completely new dimension into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the men who, for 13 days, controlled the fate of the planet within their grasp. "What was the Russians planning? What was the United States considering?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant who is also an academic specializing in international affairs. In her view, the beauty of the podcast lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can people hate each other and confront one another?" "It was not lost on me how remarkable the fact that individuals can be friends or else have the potential to be total adversaries," states Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and currently an author as well as lawyer. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when nations have gone to war, demonstrating the profound irrationality involved to fight." A Brink of Catastrophe What’s striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired so publicly, people around the world were able to observe almost as it happened while it edged closer to disaster. Even so, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than most people realised. "Virtually everyone in the White House wanted an airstrike and an invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the naval blockade, it is certain the Russians stationed there would have fired a nuclear warhead at the American ships, which would've obliterated our naval vessels as well as destroyed our largest and most important naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on Earth." The reality it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate when hawkish elements around them demanded military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American missiles based in Turkey. The relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of hope. The Different Perspective Yet, during those two weeks in October, the fear was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, with Khrushcheva learned about the crisis via the Soviet education system, which presented an alternative narrative of events. "As you mentioned your father remembers it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union we were told that things are always wonderful or positive." Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, it was distinct. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, because it was a direct confrontation. They were able to resolve it, and avoided the war, which was a positive outcome," she adds. Subsequently, however, that view would not be held by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up America." An Unprecedented Collaboration The Bomb is so balanced , well produced that Nina quips it almost made her forget she already knew outcome. This is, in part, thanks to the participation of historians. Yet, really, the most momentous aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of America and USSR to appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, must be seen as a sign of optimism. "Max and I are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with the former president's family." "But we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we connected immediately and we are friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, following nearly six decades of almost destroying the planet, our lineages have become allies, so I think global relations is more secure, somewhat." Contemporary Echoes with Present Dangers Or is it? Part of the reason this series feels so necessary is that we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, partly since world leaders don’t seem to be able to grasp