‘After almost annihilating our planet, the families have become friends’: the gripping podcast from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, the world came closer to ruin than at any other point during recent history. This happened following the discovery that a US surveillance plane found the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon bases were being built in the island of Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. In response, President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval blockade encircling Cuba. The ensuing period constituted almost two weeks of impossible stress.

An Catastrophic Threat

The danger was obvious. Should President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a series involving worldwide nuclear strikes and counterstrikes could have followed, casting mankind into total ruination.

The October crisis has been examined repeatedly, in books, films, and TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" has brought a novel dimension into the story. It is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the leaders that, over 13 days, grasped the destiny of the world within their grasp.

"What were the Soviet side considering? What was the United States considering?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the podcast is its attempt to question: "How can individuals detest one another and confront each other?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable the fact that humans have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be total enemies," states Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now a writer and lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to fight."

The Brink of Catastrophe

What is notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it unfolded so publicly, people around the world could watch almost as it happened as it moved closer to armageddon. However, the risk of destruction came closer than anybody realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and an invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would've fired a nuclear warhead at the American ships, which would have sunk the naval vessels and sunk our primary fleet. And, we would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in remain calm while engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements around them were advocating military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles from the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (although not reported then) withdrew American similar weapons from Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was the sense of hope.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, during those 13 days in October, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born shortly after the crisis, with Nina learned about it via the Soviet education system, which presented a slightly different picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, and it was a scary day," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, the public really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that things are always fine and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was different. "They told me what a great occasion it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, and avoided the war, seen as a positive thing," she continues. Later on, however, that interpretation was not held by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is remarkably even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Nina quips it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and USSR to appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a sign of hope.

"We are not the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame since we connected immediately and now we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, following nearly six decades since almost destroying the planet, our lineages have become allies, so I think global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes and Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because world leaders don’t seem to have the capacity to learn