‘After nearly destroying our world, the families have become allies’: the gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, the planet veered closer toward destruction than at any other point in recent history. This happened when an American reconnaissance plane found that Soviet atomic missile bases were being built in the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK ordered a naval task force to establish a maritime blockade encircling the island. What followed was nearly two weeks filled with impossible anxiety.

The Catastrophic Danger

The danger was obvious. Should President Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a chain reaction involving worldwide nuclear strikes followed by retaliatory strikes would have ensued, casting humanity into all-out ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined extensively, in books, movies, and television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" has brought an unprecedented element to the story. The series is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy and Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the men who, over 13 days, grasped the fate of humanity within their grasp.

"What were the Soviet side thinking? What were the American side considering?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the show lies in its attempt to explore: "How can nations hate one another and confront each other?"

"I am acutely aware how spectacular it is that people can be friends or have the potential to be total enemies," states Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now an author as well as attorney. "We see this over and over when nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates the sheer folly involved to fight."

The Precipice of Catastrophe

What’s notable about this event is that, since it transpired so publicly, citizens around the world were able to observe almost in real time while it crept towards catastrophe. However, the threat of destruction came closer than anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike and a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans with the naval blockade, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, and that would have sunk the naval vessels and destroyed our largest and most important naval force. And, we would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to keep their heads while engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements around them were advocating military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew his missiles based in Turkey. The relief was worldwide, as was a feeling of optimism.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Still, for those 13 days in October, the anxiety was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, with Nina learned about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which portrayed a slightly different version of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a frightening time," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system the official line was that things are constantly wonderful and positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was distinct. "They told me what a great occasion it was, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided a global war, which was a wonderful thing," she adds. Later on, though, that perspective 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."

A Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is so balanced and well produced so much so that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from renowned scholars. But, really, the most groundbreaking aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of America and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, has to be a symbol of hope.

"Max and I aren't the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America and became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame because we got along immediately and we are friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, following almost six decades since nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now friends, so I think the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Parallels and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is because we now find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, in part because world leaders appear not to be able to learn