‘After almost annihilating the world, the families are allies’: a gripping podcast from John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, the planet came closer toward ruin than at any other point during recent history. This happened when an American surveillance plane found the fact that Russian atomic missile installations were under construction on the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles from American soil. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a maritime blockade encircling the island. The next phase was nearly 14 days of impossible stress.

The Unthinkable Threat

The peril was obvious. Should Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a cascade involving global atomic strikes followed by counterstrikes could have followed, plunging mankind into total ruination.

The October crisis has been covered repeatedly, through books, movies, and television programmes. However, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" has brought a completely new element into this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the figures that, for 13 days, controlled the fate of humanity within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin planning? What was the United States considering?" ponders Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant who is also a professor of international affairs.

For her, the unique appeal of the show lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do individuals hate each other and go against one another?"

"It struck me how spectacular the fact that humans can be allies or else can become complete adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of the late president and currently an author and lawyer. "History shows this over and over when nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid it is to fight."

The Brink of Disaster

What’s remarkable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, individuals around the world could watch almost as it happened as it crept closer to armageddon. However, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than what anybody realised.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike followed by a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans using the naval blockade, there is no question the Russians on the ground would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, and that would've destroyed our naval vessels and destroyed our largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur is a testament to both leaders, who managed to exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy when many advisors around them demanded action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in Cuba and Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew American missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was a feeling of optimism.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which painted a slightly different picture of what happened.

"You said your father recalls it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was always fine or positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was distinct. "They told me what a great moment it was, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided the war, which was a wonderful outcome," she adds. Subsequently, though, that interpretation was not held by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is remarkably even-handed and well produced that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from historians. But, truly, the most groundbreaking aspect is the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable for relatives of the heads of state of America and the USSR would appear side by side. That these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a sign of hope.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes 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."

"However we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Max. "That is a shame because we got along immediately and now we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, following nearly 60 years of almost destroying the world, our lineages are now allies, suggesting the world is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Echoes and Present Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now are living living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since world leaders appear not to be able to comprehend