‘After nearly destroying the world, the relatives are allies’: a gripping podcast from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, humanity came nearer toward ruin than at any other point during the contemporary era. This happened after an American surveillance aircraft discovered that Soviet atomic missile sites were under construction on Cuba, less than 100 miles from the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy ordered a naval task force to establish a maritime blockade encircling Cuba. The ensuing period was nearly a fortnight filled with extreme stress.

An Unthinkable Danger

The peril was clear. If President Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against their enemy, a series of worldwide atomic strikes followed by counterstrikes might have followed, plunging civilization toward total ruination.

The October crisis has been covered repeatedly, in volumes, movies, and television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents a novel element to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy and Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the men that, over 13 days, held the fate of the planet within their grasp.

"What were the Russians planning? What were the United States planning?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also a professor of international affairs.

In her view, the strength of the show is its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do individuals hate each other and go against each other?"

"It struck me how remarkable it is that people can be allies or else can become total enemies," adds Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and now a writer as well as attorney. "We see this repeatedly when countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to fight."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s remarkable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it unfolded so publicly, individuals globally were able to observe almost as it happened as it crept closer to disaster. Even so, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than what most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians stationed there would've deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed the naval vessels and destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated with massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements around them demanded military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from Cuba while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was the sense of hope.

The Different Perspective

Still, for those 13 days in October, the tension was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following these events, with Nina learned about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which painted an alternative picture of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, describing it as a frightening time," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly wonderful and sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, it was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, because it was a direct confrontation. They were able to resolve it, thus avoided a global war, which was a wonderful thing," she adds. Subsequently, though, that interpretation was not shared by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed and well produced that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This is, partly, due to contributions from historians. Yet, truly, the most momentous thing is the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for descendants of the heads of state of America and USSR would appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, a relative moved to America and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we connected immediately and we are friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, following almost 60 years since almost destroying the world, our lineages are now friends, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes and Present Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe in its history, partly since world leaders don’t seem to be able to comprehend