‘After nearly destroying our world, our relatives have become friends’: the gripping podcast from John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, the planet veered nearer toward annihilation than at any other point in the contemporary era. This occurred following the discovery that an American reconnaissance plane found the fact that Soviet atomic weapon installations were being built in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval quarantine around the island. What followed constituted almost 14 days of impossible stress.

An Unthinkable Threat

The threat was clear. If President Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a cascade involving global nuclear attacks followed by retaliatory strikes might have followed, thrusting civilization toward all-out destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered extensively, through volumes, films, and television programmes. However, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb introduces a novel element into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the leaders who, over two tense weeks, held the fate of the world within their grasp.

"What were the Russians thinking? What were Washington thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also an academic of international affairs.

For her, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to question: "Why do individuals detest each other and go against each other?"

"It was not lost on me how spectacular the fact that humans have the potential to be friends or else have the potential to be total adversaries," states Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of JFK and now an author as well as attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s notable about this event is that, because it unfolded so publicly, people worldwide could watch nearly as it happened while it edged closer to armageddon. However, the danger of annihilation came closer than what anybody realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for a military strike followed by an invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the naval blockade, there is no question the Russians stationed there would've deployed a nuclear warhead against the American ships, and that would have sunk our naval vessels and sunk America's primary naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, they succeeded in exercise restraint while calmly negotiate when many advisors around them were advocating action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons in Cuba and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by the sense of hope.

The Different Perspective

Still, for those two weeks in October, the fear was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which portrayed an alternative version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that everything was constantly fine and positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, thus didn’t start the war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she adds. Subsequently, however, that interpretation was not shared by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying America."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is so even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from renowned scholars. But, really, the most groundbreaking thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of the United States and Soviet Union would appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

"Max and I aren't the first," smiles Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame because we got along really well and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, after nearly 60 years of nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages are now allies, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of why The Bomb seems so urgent is because we now find ourselves living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, partly since world leaders appear not to have the capacity to grasp