Ep 90: Soviet Union (Part 1)

Ep 90: Soviet Union (Part 1)

From Solving JFK by Matt Crumpton

March 18, 2026 · 29 min · Season 3 · Episode 90

About this episode

This episode examines the Cold War backdrop leading up to President Kennedy's assassination, focusing on U.S.-Soviet tensions and key geopolitical events of 1961.

In Part 1 of this new series, Solving JFK zooms out to examine the Cold War backdrop that shaped the world leading up to President Kennedy’s assassination. From the so-called “missile gap” and early U.S.–Soviet tensions to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, this episode explores the fragile and often volatile relationship between Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. While often portrayed as either a Cold War hawk or dove, Kennedy emerges here as something more complex—navigating intense pressure from both sides while attempting to avoid catastrophic conflict. The episode also dives into the high-stakes geopolitical flashpoints of 1961, including Berlin, Vienna, and the creation of a secret backchannel between the White House and the Kremlin through Soviet agent Georgi Bolshakov. As tensions escalate to the brink of nuclear confrontation at Checkpoint Charlie, listeners begin to see how close the world came to disaster—and how critical Kennedy’s decision-making may have been in preventing it. This foundational episode sets the stage for examining the Soviet angle in the JFK assassination, including Lee Harvey Oswald’s connections to the USSR and the mysterious events in…

People in this episode

Host: Matt Crumpton

Topics covered

  • Cold War
  • JFK assassination
  • U.S.-Soviet relations
  • geopolitical tensions
  • Kennedy's decision-making
  • nuclear confrontation

Keywords

  • JFK
  • Soviet Union
  • Cold War
  • Nikita Khrushchev
  • Bay of Pigs
  • Lee Harvey Oswald
  • geopolitical flashpoints
  • nuclear confrontation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Soviet Union, U.S.

Places: Berlin, Vienna, Mexico City

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