‘After almost annihilating our planet, our families are friends’: the gripping podcast featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, humanity edged nearer toward annihilation than at any other point during recent history. This transpired after a US reconnaissance aircraft identified that Russian atomic weapon sites were being assembled in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the United States. In response, President JFK directed a naval task force to enact a maritime blockade around the island. The ensuing period was almost a fortnight filled with extreme tension.

An Catastrophic Danger

The threat remained palpable. Should Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a cascade of worldwide nuclear attacks and retaliatory strikes would have followed, casting civilization into total destruction.

The October crisis has been examined extensively, through volumes, movies, as well as TV documentaries. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb introduces a completely new element to this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy alongside Khrushchev's descendant, relatives belonging to the figures that, for 13 days, held the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Russians planning? What were the American side considering?" questions Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and an academic of global relations.

For her, the beauty of the show is its attempt to objectively ask: "How can people detest each other to the point they confront one another?"

"It struck me how spectacular it is that people have the potential to be allies or can become complete adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now an author as well as lawyer. "We see this over and over when nations enter into conflict, demonstrating the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

The Brink Towards Catastrophe

What is striking about the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, people around the world could watch almost in real time while it edged towards armageddon. Even so, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than anybody understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for a military strike and a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians on the ground would have fired a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, which would've obliterated our naval vessels as well as sunk America's largest and most important fleet. And, we would have responded through an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in remain calm and engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them were advocating action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from Cuba while President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew American similar weapons from Turkey. The relief was immense, as was the sense of optimism.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Still, for those 13 days in October, the fear was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva learned about it through the USSR's education system, which portrayed a slightly different version of events.

"You said your parent remembers it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was constantly fine and sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was different. "They told me what a great occasion for the USSR, because it was a direct confrontation. They were able to resolve it, thus avoided a global war, which was a positive outcome," she adds. Later on, however, that interpretation was not held by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is so balanced and expertly crafted that Nina quips it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from historians. But, really, the most significant thing is the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of America and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. 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 progress.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, a relative moved to America and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"But we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Max. "Which is unfortunate since we got along immediately and we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, following almost six decades of nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages have become allies, suggesting the world is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels and Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason why this series feels so necessary is that we now are living living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight in its history, partly since world leaders appear not to be able to grasp