‘After almost destroying the planet, the families are friends’: the thrilling podcast from JFK and Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, the planet edged closer toward ruin than at any other point in modern times. This transpired when an American reconnaissance aircraft found the fact that Soviet atomic missile bases were being built in the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of American soil. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval blockade around Cuba. The ensuing period was nearly a fortnight of extreme tension.

The Catastrophic Danger

The peril remained palpable. Should President Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a cascade involving worldwide nuclear strikes and retaliatory strikes would have followed, plunging mankind into total oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented repeatedly, through volumes, movies, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" introduces a completely new dimension into the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the leaders who, over 13 days, grasped the destiny of the world in their hands.

"What was the Russians considering? What were the United States planning?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the strength of the show is its attempt to objectively ask: "How can people detest one another to the point they confront each other?"

"I am acutely aware how profound it is that individuals can be friends or else have the potential to be total adversaries," remarks Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of the late president and currently a writer and lawyer. "We see this dynamic over and over when countries enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to engage in warfare."

A Brink Towards Disaster

What is striking about this event was that, because it transpired so publicly, individuals around the world were able to observe nearly as it happened while it moved towards armageddon. Even so, the danger of destruction came closer than anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for a military strike and an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the naval blockade, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, and that would've sunk the aircraft carriers and sunk our largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation which would have ended most life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur highlights the composure of both leaders, who succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements around them demanded action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from Cuba while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American similar weapons from Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of hope.

A Divergent Perspective

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was felt globally. The podcast's presenters came into the world shortly after the crisis, and Nina learned about the crisis via the USSR's school curriculum, which presented an alternative version of what happened.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly fine or positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it represented a direct confrontation. They were able to find a solution, and didn’t start a global war, which was a wonderful outcome," she adds. Later on, however, that interpretation was not held by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so balanced , well produced that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This is, partly, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. But, truly, the most momentous aspect remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of America and USSR 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 symbol of progress.

"Max and I aren't the first," smiles Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"But we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate because we connected immediately and we’re friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages have become allies, suggesting the world is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes and Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason why The Bomb feels so necessary is that we once again find ourselves living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, partly since world leaders don’t seem to have the capacity to comprehend