‘After almost annihilating the planet, our relatives are friends’: a thrilling podcast featuring JFK and Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, humanity veered closer to annihilation than at any other point in modern times. This happened after an American reconnaissance aircraft found that Soviet atomic missile installations were being built in Cuba, less than 100 miles from the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval blockade around the island. The next phase constituted nearly 14 days of unbearable tension.

The Unthinkable Threat

The danger remained clear. If Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a series of worldwide nuclear strikes followed by retaliatory strikes could have ensued, plunging civilization into all-out destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered extensively, through books, movies, as well as TV documentaries. However, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb has brought a completely new element into the story. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy alongside Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the leaders that, over 13 days, controlled the destiny of humanity within their grasp.

"What was the Soviet side considering? What were Washington thinking?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor of international affairs.

In her view, the beauty of the podcast is its attempt to question: "Why do nations detest one another to the point they oppose each other?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable the fact that humans can be friends or have the potential to be complete adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now a writer and attorney. "History shows this dynamic over and over when countries enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Catastrophe

What’s striking about the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired so publicly, citizens around the world were able to observe almost as it happened while it edged closer to catastrophe. Nonetheless, the threat of destruction was more imminent than most people realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would've deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, which would've sunk our aircraft carriers as well as sunk our primary fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded through an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to remain calm while calmly negotiate at a time when everyone around them were advocating military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American missiles based in Turkey. The relief was palpable, matched by the sense of hope.

The Divergent Perspective

Still, during those two weeks in October, the fear was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, with Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis via the USSR's education system, which presented an alternative version of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly fine and positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great occasion for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus avoided the war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she adds. Later on, however, that perspective was not shared by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed and well produced that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This is, partly, thanks to contributions from historians. But, really, the most momentous aspect remains the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable for descendants of the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union to appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Max. "Which is unfortunate since we got along really well and now we’re friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, after nearly 60 years since almost destroying the world, our families are now friends, suggesting global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes and Present Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason this series feels so necessary is because we now are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight in its history, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend