‘After nearly annihilating the world, the families are allies’: the gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the planet came nearer to ruin more so than ever in modern times. This transpired following the discovery that a US surveillance plane identified the fact that Soviet atomic missile installations were being built in the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the United States. Reacting to this, President JFK directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval quarantine encircling Cuba. The next phase was almost 14 days of unbearable stress.

An Unthinkable Danger

The peril remained palpable. If President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a series involving worldwide atomic strikes followed by counterstrikes might have ensued, casting humanity into all-out oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered extensively, through books, movies, as well as TV documentaries. However, for its third season, the audio documentary series The Bomb introduces an unprecedented element into the story. It is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders that, over 13 days, grasped the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin thinking? What were the United States considering?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor specializing in international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the show lies in its attempt to objectively ask: "How can nations hate each other to the point they go against each other?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable the fact that individuals can be allies or else can become total adversaries," states Max Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of JFK and currently a writer and lawyer. "History shows this over and over when nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

The Brink of Disaster

What’s striking regarding this event is that, because it transpired so publicly, people worldwide were able to observe nearly in real time as it edged closer to disaster. Even so, the risk of destruction was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike followed by an invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the naval blockade, undoubtedly the Russians on the ground would have launched a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed our aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. And, we would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in keep their heads and calmly negotiate when many advisors around them were advocating action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew his similar weapons from Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was the sense of optimism.

The Divergent Perspective

Yet, for those 13 days in October, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born shortly after these events, and Nina learned about it via the USSR's school curriculum, which portrayed an alternative version of what happened.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a frightening day," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly fine and sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, it was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, thus avoided the war, which was a positive outcome," she adds. Later on, though, that interpretation was not held by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying America."

An Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is so even-handed and well produced that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget the known outcome. This is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. But, really, the most groundbreaking thing is the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of America and the Soviet Union to appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

"We aren't the pioneers," smiles Nina. "After 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we got along immediately and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, following nearly six decades of almost destroying the planet, our families are now allies, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes with Current Perils

Or is it? Part of the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is because we now are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to comprehend