‘After nearly destroying our planet, the families are allies’: the gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the world came nearer toward annihilation than at any other point during the contemporary era. This happened following the discovery that a US surveillance plane identified the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon installations were being built in the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the US mainland. Reacting to this, President JFK commanded a naval task force to enact a maritime quarantine encircling the island. The ensuing period constituted almost 14 days of unbearable tension.

An Unthinkable Threat

The threat was obvious. If Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a series involving global atomic strikes and counterstrikes might have followed, casting mankind toward total ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered endlessly, in books, movies, and TV documentaries. But, for its third season, the audio documentary series The Bomb introduces a completely new perspective to the story. It is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy alongside Khrushchev's descendant, relatives belonging to the leaders that, for 13 days, controlled the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Soviet side considering? What were the American side thinking?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also a professor specializing in international affairs.

In her view, the strength of the show lies in its endeavor to question: "Why do people detest one another to the point they confront each other?"

"It struck me how spectacular the fact that people have the potential to be allies or can become total adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now a writer and lawyer. "History shows this over and over in instances where countries enter into conflict, highlighting the sheer folly involved to fight."

The Precipice of Disaster

What is notable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it unfolded so publicly, people worldwide could watch nearly as it happened while it moved closer to disaster. Even so, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than what anybody understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and a ground invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would've deployed a nuclear warhead against the American ships, and that would've sunk the aircraft carriers as well as sunk our primary fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in keep their heads while calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors around them was pushing for military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed his missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was the sense of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Still, for those two weeks in October, the tension was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world shortly after the crisis, and Nina being taught about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which painted an alternative picture of events.

"As you mentioned your father remembers it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly fine and positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, it was different. "They told me what a great occasion for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus avoided a global war, seen as a positive outcome," she continues. Later on, however, that perspective would not be held by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed , expertly crafted that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most significant thing remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable for relatives of the heads of state of America and the USSR to appear together publicly. That these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a symbol of hope.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we connected really well and now we are friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, after nearly 60 years since almost destroying the world, our families are now allies, suggesting global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Parallels and Current Perils

Or is it? Part of why this series seems so urgent is because we now are living living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, partly since today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to learn