‘After almost annihilating the planet, the relatives are allies’: a thrilling podcast featuring JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, the planet came closer to ruin more so than ever during the contemporary era. This occurred when a US surveillance plane identified that Soviet atomic weapon installations were being assembled on the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from American soil. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime blockade encircling Cuba. The next phase was nearly a fortnight filled with impossible stress.

The Catastrophic Threat

The danger remained clear. If President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a cascade involving worldwide nuclear strikes followed by counterstrikes would have ensued, casting mankind into all-out destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined endlessly, through volumes, films, and television programmes. However, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" introduces an unprecedented dimension into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives belonging to the men who, for two tense weeks, controlled the fate of humanity within their grasp.

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

For her, the strength of the show lies in its attempt to explore: "Why do people detest one another to the point they oppose one another?"

"It struck me how remarkable the fact that people can be allies or can become total adversaries," remarks Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of JFK and currently an author and lawyer. "We see this repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the sheer folly involved to fight."

A Brink of Disaster

What is remarkable regarding this event is that, because it transpired so publicly, people around the world could watch nearly in real time while it crept towards armageddon. Nonetheless, the risk of annihilation came closer than what anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike and a ground invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would have deployed a nuclear warhead against the American ships, and that would've destroyed the aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to keep their heads while engaging in diplomacy when everyone in their governments were advocating military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew his missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by a feeling of optimism.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, during those 13 days in October, the fear was palpable globally. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the Soviet education system, which presented a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system we were told that everything was constantly wonderful and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed what a great moment it was, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, and didn’t start the war, which was a positive thing," she continues. In the years to come, however, that view was not shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying America."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is so balanced , well produced that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to contributions from historians. But, truly, the most significant thing is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and USSR would appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a sign of optimism.

"We aren't the pioneers," notes Nina. "After 1991, my uncle moved to America and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate because we got along really well and now we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, after nearly six decades since almost destroying the planet, our lineages are now friends, suggesting the world is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Echoes and Present Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to learn