‘After almost destroying our planet, our families have become friends’: a thrilling podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, the world came closer toward annihilation more so than ever in modern times. This happened when an American surveillance aircraft identified the fact that Russian atomic missile installations were under construction in the island of Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy directed a naval task force to impose a naval blockade encircling Cuba. The ensuing period constituted nearly 14 days of impossible tension.

The Unthinkable Threat

The peril remained clear. If President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on the other side, a series involving global nuclear strikes followed by retaliatory strikes could have followed, plunging mankind into all-out destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined endlessly, in volumes, films, and television programmes. But, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series The Bomb has brought a completely new element to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the figures who, for 13 days, grasped the fate of the world in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side planning? What were the United States thinking?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and an academic of global relations.

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

"I am acutely aware how spectacular the fact that humans have the potential to be friends or can become complete enemies," states Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this dynamic over and over in instances where countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

The Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What’s remarkable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, people globally were able to observe almost in real time while it edged closer to armageddon. Nonetheless, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than anybody realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would've deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, and that would have obliterated our aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's primary fleet. In turn, we would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t stands as credit to both leaders, who managed to keep their heads and calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in Cuba and President Kennedy (although not reported then) withdrew his similar weapons based in Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, as was a feeling of optimism.

A Divergent Perspective

Yet, during those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was palpable globally. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the USSR's school curriculum, which presented a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a scary time," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly fine or sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was distinct. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, and didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. Subsequently, though, that view would not be held by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a setback for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is so balanced , expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, in part, thanks to contributions from historians. But, truly, the most groundbreaking aspect remains the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable for relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union to appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a symbol of progress.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Max. "Which is unfortunate since we connected immediately and we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, after almost six decades since almost destroying the planet, our lineages have become allies, suggesting the world is safer, a little bit."

Modern Echoes with Present Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is because we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to learn