‘After nearly destroying the planet, our relatives have become allies’: a thrilling podcast from JFK & Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, humanity came closer toward annihilation than at any other point in the contemporary era. This transpired following the discovery that a US surveillance aircraft found the fact that Soviet nuclear missile installations were being assembled on the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from American soil. In response, U.S. President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime blockade around the island. The ensuing period was nearly a fortnight filled with impossible stress.

An Catastrophic Threat

The peril remained clear. Should President Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire against the other side, a cascade of worldwide atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes would have ensued, plunging civilization into all-out oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered endlessly, through volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents an unprecedented perspective into the story. The series is co-presented by Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the figures who, for 13 days, grasped the fate of the world within their grasp.

"What were the Russians planning? What was the United States considering?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and an academic of global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its attempt to objectively ask: "How can people detest one another to the point they go against one another?"

"It struck me how remarkable it is that individuals can be friends or else can become total enemies," states Max Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and currently a writer and attorney. "We see 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 of Disaster

What is striking regarding this event was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, people globally could watch nearly in real time as it crept closer to catastrophe. However, the threat of annihilation came closer than anybody understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for an airstrike and a ground invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians on the ground would have deployed a nuclear warhead at the American ships, which would have sunk the aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's largest and most important fleet. And, we would have responded with massive retaliation which would have ended most life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, they succeeded in exercise restraint and engaging in diplomacy at a time when many advisors around them was pushing for action. Consequently, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles in Cuba while President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed American similar weapons based in Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of optimism.

A Different Perspective

Still, during those two weeks in October, the anxiety was felt by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about it through the USSR's education system, which portrayed a slightly different picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, describing it as a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware a great deal about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that things are constantly wonderful or positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start the war, seen as a positive thing," she adds. In the years to come, however, that interpretation was not held by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying America."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is so even-handed , well produced that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from historians. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking thing is the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable that relatives of the leaders of America and the USSR would appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a symbol of optimism.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we got along really well and now we’re friends, something that is really great. Finally, following almost six decades of almost destroying the planet, our families have become friends, so I think global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes and Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason why this series seems so urgent is that we once again find ourselves living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight in its history, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend