‘After almost annihilating the world, our relatives are friends’: a gripping podcast from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, the world came closer toward ruin more so than ever in recent history. This transpired following the discovery that an American reconnaissance aircraft discovered the fact that Soviet nuclear missile sites were being assembled on Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK ordered a naval task force to impose a maritime blockade around Cuba. What followed constituted nearly a fortnight filled with extreme anxiety.

An Unthinkable Danger

The danger was palpable. Should President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a chain reaction involving worldwide atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes would have ensued, casting mankind into total ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered extensively, in volumes, films, as well as TV documentaries. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb introduces an unprecedented dimension to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the men that, over 13 days, held the fate of humanity within their grasp.

"What was the Russians considering? What were Washington thinking?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant who is also a professor specializing in global relations.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast is its attempt to explore: "Why do people detest one another and confront each other?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that humans can be friends or else can become total adversaries," states Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to JFK and currently an author and lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly when nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates the sheer folly it is to fight."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What is striking about this event was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, individuals globally could watch almost in real time while it crept towards catastrophe. Even so, the danger of annihilation came closer than most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain the Russians on the ground would have fired a nuclear warhead at the American ships, and that would have destroyed the naval vessels as well as destroyed our largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements in their governments demanded military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American missiles from Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by the sense of hope.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, during those 13 days of October 1962, the anxiety was felt globally. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following the crisis, and Nina being taught about it via the Soviet education system, which painted an alternative version of what happened.

"You said your father recalls it, and it was a frightening time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always wonderful or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great occasion it was, because it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful outcome," she adds. Subsequently, though, that interpretation was not shared by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a setback for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so balanced , well produced so much so that Nina jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This is, in part, thanks to the participation of historians. But, really, the most significant aspect remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of America and the USSR to appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a symbol of progress.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Nina. "Following 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame since we got along really well and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, after almost six decades of nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages have become allies, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels and Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason this series seems so urgent is that we once again are living living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to learn