‘After nearly annihilating the world, our relatives have become allies’: the gripping podcast from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, the world edged closer toward destruction more so than ever during modern times. This happened when a US surveillance aircraft found that Russian nuclear missile installations were being built in Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. In response, President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime quarantine around Cuba. What followed was nearly 14 days filled with impossible stress.

An Catastrophic Threat

The danger was obvious. If Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a chain reaction of global atomic strikes followed by retaliatory strikes might have followed, casting humanity toward all-out oblivion.

The October crisis has been covered extensively, through volumes, movies, as well as television programmes. However, for its third season, the audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" has brought a completely new dimension to the story. It is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders who, over two tense weeks, held the fate of the planet within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin planning? What was Washington thinking?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also an academic of international affairs.

In her view, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to question: "Why do people detest one another to the point they confront each other?"

"It struck me how remarkable the fact that people can be friends or else can become complete adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of JFK and now a writer and attorney. "We see this repeatedly when nations have gone to war, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid it is to fight."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired so publicly, individuals worldwide could watch nearly in real time as it moved closer to catastrophe. However, the risk of destruction was more imminent than most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would've launched a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, which would have sunk our aircraft carriers and destroyed our primary naval force. In turn, we would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in exercise restraint while calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors around them demanded military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the missiles in Cuba and Kennedy (although not reported then) removed American missiles from Turkey. The relief was immense, as was the sense of hope.

The Different Perspective

Yet, during those two weeks of October 1962, the fear was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters were born shortly after the crisis, and Khrushcheva learned about it via the Soviet education system, which portrayed an alternative picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that things are always wonderful or positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, it was different. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided a global war, which was a positive outcome," she continues. Subsequently, however, that interpretation would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time 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 even-handed and well produced so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most significant thing remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable for descendants of the heads of state of America and the Soviet Union would appear together publicly. That these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a sign of hope.

"We are not the first," notes Nina. "Following 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Max. "That is a shame because we connected really well and now we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, following almost 60 years since almost destroying the world, our lineages are now friends, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Modern Parallels with Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is that we once again are living living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to midnight than ever before, partly since world leaders appear not to be able to grasp