‘After nearly annihilating the planet, the families are allies’: the thrilling podcast featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, humanity veered nearer to annihilation than at any other point in the contemporary era. This transpired following the discovery that a US reconnaissance aircraft found the fact that Soviet atomic missile bases were being built in Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy ordered a naval task force to establish a maritime quarantine encircling the island. What followed constituted nearly 14 days filled with extreme anxiety.

An Catastrophic Threat

The threat was palpable. Should President Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a cascade of global nuclear attacks and retaliatory strikes might have followed, plunging civilization into all-out destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined endlessly, through volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb presents a completely new perspective into the story. The series is co-presented by Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives belonging to the leaders that, for 13 days, controlled the fate of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin thinking? What were the United States thinking?" ponders Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also a professor of global relations.

For her, the beauty of the podcast lies in its endeavor to question: "How can people detest each other and oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how spectacular it is that people have the potential to be allies or else can become total adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to JFK and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly in instances where nations have gone to war, highlighting how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink Towards Catastrophe

What’s notable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it unfolded so publicly, citizens globally were able to observe nearly as it happened as it edged towards disaster. However, the risk of destruction came closer than what most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba using the naval blockade, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would have fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, and that would've obliterated the aircraft carriers and sunk America's primary fleet. And, we would have responded with massive retaliation that would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, who succeeded in exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy when many advisors around them were advocating action. Consequently, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles in the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed his similar weapons based in Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of optimism.

The Divergent Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the fear was palpable by everyone. The podcast's presenters were born shortly after these events, with Nina learned about it through the Soviet school curriculum, which painted an alternative narrative of events.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union we were told that things are constantly fine or positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed what a great moment it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, and avoided a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she adds. In the years to come, though, that perspective was not held by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying America."

An Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so balanced , well produced that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget the known outcome. This is, partly, due to the participation of historians. Yet, really, the most significant thing is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for descendants of the leaders of the United States and USSR to appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a sign of progress.

"Max and I aren't the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, a relative moved to America and became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate because we connected really well and we’re friends, which is really great. Finally, after nearly six decades of nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages have become allies, suggesting the world is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Echoes with Current Perils

Or is it? Part of why this series seems so urgent is that we once again are living living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, partly since world leaders don’t seem to be able to comprehend