Following nearly destroying our planet, the families are allies’: a thrilling podcast featuring John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the world veered closer to annihilation more so than ever in recent history. This transpired following the discovery that a US surveillance plane discovered the fact that Russian atomic weapon bases were being assembled in the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the United States. In response, President John F Kennedy directed a naval task force to impose a maritime quarantine around the island. The next phase was almost a fortnight of extreme tension.

The Catastrophic Danger

The peril remained palpable. If President Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire on their enemy, a cascade of worldwide atomic attacks followed by retaliatory strikes could have ensued, thrusting civilization toward total ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented endlessly, in books, movies, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb presents a novel dimension to this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the men who, for 13 days, held the fate of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Russians planning? What was the United States thinking?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant who is also an academic of global relations.

For her, the beauty of the show lies in its attempt to explore: "How can individuals detest each other and oppose each other?"

"It struck me how remarkable the fact that people have the potential to be friends or else can become complete enemies," adds Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "We see this repeatedly in instances where countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

The Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What’s notable about this event was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, individuals worldwide were able to observe nearly in real time while it moved towards catastrophe. Even so, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than what anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the naval blockade, there is no question the Russians on the ground would've fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, which would've destroyed our naval vessels as well as destroyed our largest and most important naval force. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t stands as credit to both leaders, who succeeded in exercise restraint while calmly negotiate at a time when everyone around them were advocating military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from Cuba while President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, as was the sense of optimism.

A Different Viewpoint

Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the fear was felt by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts were born shortly after the crisis, with Nina learned about it via the Soviet education system, which presented an alternative narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, and it was a frightening day," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was constantly wonderful or sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, and didn’t start the war, which was a positive outcome," she adds. In the years to come, however, that interpretation was not held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so even-handed , well produced so much so that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot the known the ending. This effect is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking aspect remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union to appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a symbol of progress.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame since we connected really well and now we are friends, which is really great. Ultimately, following nearly six decades of nearly annihilating the world, our families have become friends, so I think the world is safer, a little bit."

Modern Echoes with Current Perils

Or is it? One reason why The Bomb seems so urgent is because we once again are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to grasp