Following almost destroying the world, the relatives have become friends’: a thrilling podcast from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, the world veered nearer toward annihilation than at any other point in modern times. This transpired following the discovery that a US surveillance aircraft found that Russian nuclear weapon bases were being built in Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a naval blockade around the island. What followed was almost a fortnight filled with impossible anxiety.

The Unthinkable Danger

The danger was clear. Should President Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a chain reaction involving worldwide atomic strikes followed by retaliatory strikes might have ensued, casting civilization into total ruination.

The October crisis has been examined extensively, in volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. But, for its third season, the audio documentary series The Bomb introduces a completely new element to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented by Max Kennedy and Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the leaders who, over 13 days, held the destiny of humanity within their grasp.

"What were the Russians thinking? What were the United States considering?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and a professor of global relations.

For her, the unique appeal of the show lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do nations hate one another and confront one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound it is that humans have the potential to be friends or else have the potential to be total adversaries," adds Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of the late president and now an author and lawyer. "We see this over and over in instances where nations enter into conflict, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid it is to fight."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s remarkable about this event is that, because it transpired so publicly, people globally were able to observe almost in real time while it crept closer to armageddon. However, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than what anybody realised.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike and an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians stationed there would have launched a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've sunk our naval vessels as well as sunk our primary naval force. In turn, we would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have ended most life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in keep their heads while engaging in diplomacy when everyone around them were advocating military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons from Cuba while President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The relief was immense, as was the sense of hope.

A Different Viewpoint

Still, during those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born in the years following these events, with Nina learned about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which presented a slightly different narrative of events.

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

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great moment it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she adds. Subsequently, though, that view was not held by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a setback for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying America."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is so balanced , expertly crafted that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This is, partly, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most significant aspect remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of America and the USSR would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a symbol of hope.

"We aren't the first," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame since we connected really well and we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following nearly six decades of almost destroying the world, our families are now allies, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Parallels with Present Perils

Or is it? Part of the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight in its history, partly since world leaders don’t seem to have the capacity to learn