‘After nearly annihilating our planet, our relatives have become friends’: a gripping podcast featuring JFK & Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, the world came nearer toward destruction than at any other point in recent history. This occurred after an American surveillance plane identified the fact that Soviet atomic missile bases were being assembled in Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK ordered a naval task force to establish a naval blockade encircling the island. The next phase was nearly 14 days filled with extreme stress.

The Unthinkable Danger

The peril was palpable. If Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a series of global atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes might have ensued, casting mankind toward all-out destruction.

The October crisis has been covered repeatedly, through volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb introduces an unprecedented element to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented by Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the leaders that, for two tense weeks, controlled the destiny of humanity within their grasp.

"What was the Russians planning? What were Washington thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also an academic specializing in global relations.

In her view, the unique appeal of the show is its attempt to objectively ask: "How can individuals detest one another and confront one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that humans can be allies or can become complete enemies," states Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and currently a writer and attorney. "History shows this dynamic over and over in instances where countries enter into conflict, highlighting the profound irrationality it is to engage in warfare."

The Brink Towards Disaster

What is striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it transpired so publicly, people around the world could watch nearly in real time as it edged towards armageddon. Nonetheless, the risk of annihilation came closer than what anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted a military strike and an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians on the ground would've launched a nuclear warhead against the American ships, which would have sunk the aircraft carriers and destroyed America's primary fleet. And, we would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended most life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t is a testament to both leaders, they managed to keep their heads while engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements around them demanded action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed his missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by the sense of hope.

The Divergent Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was felt by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva learned about the crisis via the USSR's education system, which presented a slightly different version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, describing it as a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know that much about it, since it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was always fine or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, it was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, and didn’t start a global war, seen as a positive outcome," she adds. Subsequently, though, that view was not shared by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is so even-handed and well produced so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, partly, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. But, truly, the most groundbreaking thing is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that relatives of the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union would appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a symbol of optimism.

"We aren't the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame since we got along immediately and we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, after almost six decades of almost destroying the world, our lineages are now allies, so I think the world is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes with Present Perils

Or is it? Part of the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is because we once again are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight in its history, in part because world leaders appear not to be able to grasp