Interview with Nikita Khrushchev: The David Susskind Archives

On October 9, 1960, talk show host David Susskind gave over the episode of Open End, which aired on Sunday nights on WNTA-TV (now WNET, the PBS station for the New York area), to a live interview with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who was in the U.S. for meetings at the U.N. His invitation to the Premier had been the subject of great controversy, which perhaps explains why Susskind followed the two-hour discussion with an hour of commentary by a large panel of journalists and scholars. The full three-hour block is presented on this DVD, making for an important document of  American-Russian relations at the height of the Cold War. The interview is occasionally contentious, with Khrushchev taking offense at the tone of some questions and Susskind protesting his habit of bringing up the U-2 incident that had enflamed relations between the two countries only five months earlier. It also demonstrates Khrushchev’s  ability to evade direct answers and press his talking points. The conversation did cover a surprisingly wide range of topics, however, and as the first such direct exposure of a Soviet leader to the American public undoubtedly had an impact. It is, however, rather slow going as simultaneous translation was impossible, requiring much time to be devoted to the efforts of Khrushchev’s interpreter. The transmission, moreover, is plagued by fairly frequent drop-outs when the visuals disappear in a welter of snow, although the audio is not affected. Though now little more than a curio of a bygone era, this remains an intriguing relic of U.S.-Soviet relations in the post-World War II world. Recommended, especially to educational institutions. (F. Swietek)