‘After nearly annihilating the planet, the families are friends’: the thrilling podcast from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, humanity came closer toward destruction more so than ever during modern times. This happened following the discovery that an American reconnaissance plane identified that Russian nuclear missile sites were being assembled on the island of Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, President JFK directed a naval task force to establish a naval blockade encircling Cuba. The ensuing period was almost a fortnight filled with extreme stress.

An Catastrophic Threat

The threat remained palpable. If President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a series of global nuclear attacks and retaliatory strikes would have followed, plunging civilization into total oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented extensively, in books, films, and TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb has brought a completely new element to the story. It is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders that, over 13 days, grasped the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

"What was the Soviet side thinking? What were the United States considering?" questions Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and an academic of international affairs.

In her view, the unique appeal of the show lies in its endeavor to explore: "Why do individuals hate each other to the point they go against each other?"

"It struck me how spectacular the fact that individuals have the potential to be friends or else can become complete adversaries," remarks Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to the late president and currently an author and lawyer. "We see this dynamic over and over in instances where nations enter into conflict, highlighting the profound irrationality it is to fight."

The Precipice Towards Disaster

What is striking about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, people around the world were able to observe almost as it happened as it moved towards armageddon. Nonetheless, the risk of destruction came closer than what most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike and a ground invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces on the ground would have launched a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have obliterated the naval vessels as well as destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. And, we would have retaliated through massive retaliation that would have ended most life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in keep their heads while calmly negotiate at a time when everyone around them demanded action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles from Cuba and President Kennedy (although not reported then) withdrew his similar weapons from Turkey. The relief was immense, as was the sense of hope.

The Different Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was palpable globally. The podcast's presenters came into the world in the years following these events, with Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which presented a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, and it was a scary time," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, the public were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always wonderful and positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, because it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, and avoided the war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she continues. In the years to come, however, that view would not be held by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a setback for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so even-handed and well produced that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking thing remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union would appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a sign of hope.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Nina. "After 1991, my uncle moved to America and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame because we connected really well and now we’re friends, which is really great. Finally, after almost 60 years since almost destroying the world, our families have become friends, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is that we once again find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to comprehend