‘After almost annihilating our planet, the families are friends’: the gripping podcast featuring JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, the planet veered closer to destruction more so than ever during the contemporary era. This transpired following the discovery that an American surveillance plane found that Russian atomic weapon sites were being built on Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK directed a naval task force to enact a maritime quarantine encircling Cuba. What followed was almost a fortnight filled with unbearable tension.

The Catastrophic Danger

The danger remained palpable. Should President Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire on their enemy, a chain reaction of worldwide nuclear strikes and counterstrikes might have ensued, plunging mankind into total ruination.

The October crisis has been examined repeatedly, in books, movies, and television programmes. However, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" has brought a completely new element to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented by Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the men that, over two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of the world within their grasp.

"What was the Russians thinking? What were the American side considering?" questions Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the strength of the show is its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do individuals hate one another to the point they oppose each other?"

"It was not lost on me how spectacular it is that individuals have the potential to be allies or can become complete adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality it is to fight."

A Precipice of Disaster

What’s striking about the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it unfolded so publicly, individuals worldwide could watch nearly as it happened while it moved closer to armageddon. However, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike followed by a ground invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians on the ground would've launched a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed our aircraft carriers as well as destroyed our largest and most important fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated with massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of both leaders, they managed to keep their heads while calmly negotiate when everyone around them were advocating action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed his missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was a feeling of optimism.

The Different Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the fear was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva learned about it through the USSR's education system, which painted a slightly different picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father remembers it, describing it as a scary time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was constantly fine and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "They told me what a great occasion for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start a global war, which was a positive thing," she adds. Later on, however, that perspective would not be shared by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably balanced , well produced so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This is, in part, due to contributions from historians. But, really, the most groundbreaking thing remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable for descendants of the leaders of America and USSR to appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a sign of hope.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "Following 1991, a relative moved to America and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we had never met prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we got along really well and we are friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, following almost six decades of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now friends, so I think global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes and Present Dangers

Or is it? One reason the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is because we once again are living living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to comprehend