Following almost annihilating our planet, the families are friends’: a thrilling podcast featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, the world edged nearer to destruction than at any other point during the contemporary era. This occurred after a US reconnaissance aircraft discovered that Russian nuclear missile bases were being assembled on the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a maritime blockade around the island. The ensuing period was nearly 14 days filled with extreme anxiety.

An Catastrophic Danger

The danger was palpable. If President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire against the other side, a cascade involving worldwide nuclear strikes and retaliatory strikes might have ensued, plunging humanity toward total oblivion.

The October crisis has been examined endlessly, in volumes, movies, as well as TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb introduces a completely new perspective into the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the men that, over 13 days, grasped the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

"What was the Soviet side planning? What was the United States thinking?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast is its endeavor to question: "How can nations hate each other and confront each other?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that humans have the potential to be allies or have the potential to be complete adversaries," remarks Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now an author and lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations enter into conflict, demonstrating the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, people around the world could watch nearly in real time as it moved towards disaster. However, the risk of annihilation came closer than what most people realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for an airstrike followed by an invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would have fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, and that would have destroyed the aircraft carriers as well as destroyed our primary fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have ended all life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy when many advisors in their governments demanded action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the missiles in the Caribbean island and Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew his missiles based in Turkey. The relief was immense, as was a feeling of hope.

A Different Perspective

Yet, during those two weeks of October 1962, the fear was felt globally. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world shortly after the crisis, and Khrushcheva being taught about it via the Soviet education system, which portrayed a slightly different picture of what happened.

"You said your parent remembers it, and it was a frightening time," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly fine and positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, as it was a direct confrontation. They were able to resolve it, thus avoided a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she adds. Later on, however, that interpretation was not shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a setback for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up America."

A Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so even-handed and well produced so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most momentous aspect remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable that relatives of the leaders of America and Soviet Union would appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Max. "Which is a shame since we got along really well and we are friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, after almost six decades since nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages have become friends, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Modern Echoes and Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason why this series seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since today's statesmen appear not to be able to grasp