‘After nearly annihilating our world, our relatives are friends’: the thrilling podcast from JFK & Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, humanity edged closer toward destruction than at any other point during modern times. This occurred following the discovery that a US surveillance aircraft found the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon bases were under construction on the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed a naval task force to enact a maritime quarantine encircling the island. The ensuing period constituted almost 14 days filled with extreme stress.

An Catastrophic Threat

The danger was obvious. If Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a cascade involving worldwide atomic attacks and counterstrikes might have followed, thrusting civilization toward total destruction.

The October crisis has been examined extensively, through books, films, and television programmes. However, for its third season, the audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" has brought a completely new dimension into the story. It is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives belonging to the figures that, over two tense weeks, controlled the destiny of the world in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin considering? What were Washington planning?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and a professor of international affairs.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do people hate one another and oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that individuals can be allies or else have the potential to be total enemies," adds Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and currently an author and lawyer. "We see this over and over when countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink of Disaster

What’s notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, people globally could watch almost in real time while it edged closer to catastrophe. Nonetheless, the danger of destruction came closer than what most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, there is no question Soviet forces stationed there would have fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, and that would have sunk the aircraft carriers and sunk America's largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, who managed to keep their heads and calmly negotiate at a time when everyone around them were advocating military action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island and Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew American missiles based in Turkey. The relief was immense, matched by the sense of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, with Nina learned about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which painted an alternative picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that things are always wonderful or positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, because it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided a global war, which was a wonderful outcome," she adds. In the years to come, however, that view was not held by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a failure for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is so balanced , expertly crafted so much so that Nina jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, partly, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking aspect remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for relatives of the leaders of America and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a sign of optimism.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is unfortunate because we got along really well and we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, after almost 60 years since almost destroying the planet, our families are now allies, so I think the world is safer, a little bit."

Modern Echoes and Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason this series feels so necessary is that we now are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to learn