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

In October 1962, the planet edged closer to destruction more so than ever in modern times. This transpired after an American reconnaissance aircraft discovered the fact that Russian atomic weapon sites were being assembled in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of American soil. In response, President JFK directed a naval task force to establish a maritime quarantine around the island. The next phase was almost a fortnight of impossible tension.

The Catastrophic Threat

The peril remained obvious. If Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a chain reaction involving global nuclear attacks followed by counterstrikes would have ensued, thrusting civilization into all-out destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered repeatedly, through volumes, movies, and television programmes. However, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb has brought a novel perspective to the story. It is co-presented by Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the leaders who, over 13 days, grasped the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side considering? What were the American side thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the show lies in its endeavor to explore: "Why do nations detest each other and confront one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that individuals have the potential to be allies or have the potential to be total adversaries," remarks Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now a writer and lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations have gone to war, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid it is to fight."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What is striking about the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, citizens globally could watch nearly in real time as it crept towards disaster. However, the threat of destruction was more imminent than anybody understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike followed by a ground invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans with the naval blockade, it is certain the Russians on the ground would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, which would have obliterated the aircraft carriers as well as sunk our largest and most important fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate when everyone around them were advocating action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American missiles from Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was the sense of hope.

The Divergent Perspective

Yet, during those 13 days of October 1962, the tension was felt globally. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, and Nina being taught about the crisis through the Soviet education system, which presented a slightly different version of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a scary day," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly fine or positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, it was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, as it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, and avoided the war, seen as a positive thing," she adds. Later on, though, that view would not be shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably balanced and expertly crafted that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking aspect is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a sign of hope.

"Max and I aren't the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle moved to America where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we had never met prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame because we got along immediately and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, following nearly 60 years since almost destroying the planet, our lineages are now allies, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is because we once again are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since world leaders appear not to be able to grasp