‘After almost annihilating the world, the families have become friends’: the thrilling podcast featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, humanity edged nearer to ruin than at any other point during the contemporary era. This occurred when an American reconnaissance aircraft discovered the fact that Soviet atomic weapon installations were being built on Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of American soil. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval blockade encircling Cuba. What followed constituted nearly two weeks of impossible stress.

An Catastrophic Threat

The threat was obvious. If President Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a series involving worldwide atomic attacks and counterstrikes might have followed, plunging mankind toward total destruction.

The October crisis has been documented extensively, in volumes, films, and TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces a novel perspective to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the men that, over 13 days, held the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Kremlin considering? What were the United States considering?" ponders Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also an academic specializing in international affairs.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast is its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can nations hate one another and go against one another?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable it is that individuals can be allies or have the potential to be total adversaries," states Max Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of the late president and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when countries have gone to war, highlighting how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s remarkable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired so publicly, citizens worldwide were able to observe almost in real time while it crept closer to disaster. However, the threat of annihilation came closer than what most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted a military strike and a ground invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans using the naval blockade, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would have deployed a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have sunk the naval vessels as well as sunk our primary fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded through an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to both leaders, they managed to remain calm and calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements in their governments was pushing for military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles in the Caribbean island while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew his similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of hope.

The Divergent Perspective

Still, during those 13 days in October, the fear was palpable by everyone. The podcast's presenters came into the world shortly after the crisis, with Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed an alternative picture of events.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, and it was a frightening time," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know that much about it, since it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system we were told that everything was constantly wonderful and sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was distinct. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus avoided the war, seen as a positive outcome," she continues. In the years to come, however, that view would not be shared by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is remarkably balanced , expertly crafted that Nina jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most significant thing is the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable that descendants of the leaders of America and USSR to appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, has to be a symbol of optimism.

"We are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate because we connected really well and we are friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, following almost six decades since nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages are now allies, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Parallels and Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, partly since world leaders don’t seem to have the capacity to learn