‘After nearly annihilating the planet, the relatives are friends’: a thrilling podcast featuring JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, the planet edged nearer to destruction more so than ever during modern times. This occurred following the discovery that an American surveillance aircraft found the fact that Soviet nuclear missile installations were being built on the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles from the US mainland. In response, President JFK ordered a naval task force to impose a maritime quarantine encircling the island. What followed constituted almost 14 days filled with unbearable tension.

An Catastrophic Danger

The threat was palpable. Should Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a chain reaction of worldwide nuclear strikes followed by retaliatory strikes might have ensued, casting mankind into total ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented extensively, in books, movies, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb introduces a novel perspective to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented by Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the men that, for 13 days, grasped the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Russians planning? What was the United States thinking?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and an academic of global relations.

For her, the strength of the podcast lies in its endeavor to question: "How can nations hate one another and confront one another?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable the fact that individuals can be allies or have the potential to be complete adversaries," states Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to the late president and now an author and attorney. "We see this over and over in instances where nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink Towards Disaster

What is striking regarding this event was that, because it unfolded so publicly, citizens worldwide could watch nearly in real time as it crept closer to disaster. Even so, the threat of annihilation came closer than what anybody realised.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike followed by an invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would have deployed a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed our aircraft carriers as well as sunk America's largest and most important naval force. In turn, we would have responded through an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended all life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur highlights the composure of both leaders, who managed to remain calm while calmly negotiate at a time when everyone around them was pushing for action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew his similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by a feeling of optimism.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, for those 13 days in October, the tension was felt by everyone. The podcast's presenters came into the world shortly after these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about it via the Soviet education system, which presented an alternative picture of events.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a scary day," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know that much about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that everything was constantly fine and positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was different. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided a global war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. Later on, however, that interpretation was not held by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed and well produced that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. But, truly, the most significant aspect is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and USSR would appear together publicly. That these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a symbol of progress.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "Following 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we got along immediately and we are friends, which is wonderful. Finally, after nearly 60 years of almost destroying the world, our lineages are now friends, so I think the world is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Echoes and Present Perils

Or is it? One reason the reason this series feels so necessary is that we once again find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to learn