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

In the month of October 1962, humanity veered nearer toward ruin than at any other point during recent history. This occurred after a US surveillance aircraft identified the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon sites were under construction in the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the US mainland. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval quarantine encircling Cuba. The ensuing period constituted nearly a fortnight filled with unbearable tension.

The Unthinkable Threat

The threat remained palpable. If Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a series of global nuclear strikes and counterstrikes could have followed, casting humanity into all-out oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented extensively, in volumes, movies, as well as TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series The Bomb has brought a novel element to this historical narrative. It is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the men that, over two tense weeks, held the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Russians planning? What was the United States planning?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also a professor specializing in international affairs.

In her view, the beauty of the podcast lies in its attempt to explore: "Why do nations detest each other and confront each other?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable it is that individuals have the potential to be friends or else can become total enemies," states Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of JFK and currently a writer and lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly in instances where countries have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly it is to fight."

A Brink Towards Catastrophe

What is striking about the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it unfolded so publicly, individuals worldwide were able to observe almost in real time as it moved closer to disaster. Even so, the threat of annihilation came closer than what anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians on the ground would've deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've obliterated the naval vessels as well as sunk America's largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have responded with massive retaliation that would have ended all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to exercise restraint and calmly negotiate when hawkish elements around them demanded action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons from Cuba while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew his missiles from Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by the sense of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Yet, during those 13 days of October 1962, the tension was palpable by everyone. The podcast's presenters came into the world shortly after the crisis, with Khrushcheva being taught about it through the USSR's education system, which presented an alternative version of events.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, describing it as a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly fine and positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, it was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, as it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided the war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she continues. Later on, however, that view was not held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a setback for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up America."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Nina quips it almost made her forget the known the ending. This effect is, partly, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most significant thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for descendants of the heads of state of America and USSR would appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a symbol of progress.

"We are not the pioneers," smiles Nina. "After 1991, my uncle moved to America and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we got along immediately and now we are friends, which is really great. Finally, following nearly 60 years since nearly annihilating the world, our families are now allies, so I think global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes with Present Perils

Or is it? One reason the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight than ever before, partly since today's statesmen appear not to be able to learn