‘After almost annihilating our planet, the families have become allies’: the gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, the planet came nearer to ruin than at any other point in recent history. This transpired after a US surveillance aircraft identified the fact that Soviet atomic missile installations were under construction in Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK directed a naval task force to establish a maritime blockade around Cuba. The ensuing period was nearly two weeks filled with unbearable tension.

The Catastrophic Danger

The peril remained clear. If President Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on their enemy, a cascade involving worldwide atomic strikes followed by retaliatory strikes might have followed, thrusting civilization into total ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined extensively, through books, films, as well as TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents a completely new element to this historical narrative. It is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the figures who, over two tense weeks, held the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

"What were the Russians planning? What were the American side thinking?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor specializing in global relations.

For her, the beauty of the show lies in its attempt to question: "How can nations hate one another and oppose each other?"

"I am acutely aware how profound it is that people can be allies or else can become total enemies," states Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to the late president and currently a writer and lawyer. "We see this repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, demonstrating the profound irrationality it is to fight."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s striking about this event is that, because it transpired so publicly, people globally could watch nearly as it happened as it crept towards armageddon. However, the danger of destruction came closer than what anybody realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question Soviet forces stationed there would have fired a nuclear warhead against the American ships, and that would have obliterated our naval vessels as well as destroyed our primary naval force. And, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur is a testament to both leaders, who managed to remain calm while calmly negotiate at a time when everyone in their governments was pushing for military action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew his similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of hope.

A Different Viewpoint

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was felt globally. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world shortly after these events, with Nina being taught about the crisis via the Soviet education system, which presented a slightly different narrative of events.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know that much about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that things are always wonderful or positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion it was, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus avoided the war, seen as a positive thing," she adds. Subsequently, however, that perspective was not shared by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably balanced , well produced so much so that Nina quips it almost made her forget the known outcome. This is, partly, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. But, truly, the most groundbreaking thing remains the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of America and the USSR to appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a sign of hope.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, a relative moved to America where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," adds Max. "That is unfortunate since we got along immediately and we are friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, following nearly 60 years since nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages have become friends, so I think global relations is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes and Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of why this series seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves in dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to grasp