Following almost destroying our world, the families have become allies’: the thrilling podcast from John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the world edged nearer to ruin than at any other point during the contemporary era. This occurred when an American surveillance aircraft found the fact that Soviet atomic missile installations were being assembled on Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of American soil. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval blockade around the island. The ensuing period constituted almost 14 days of impossible anxiety.

An Catastrophic Danger

The threat remained obvious. If President Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against their enemy, a cascade involving global nuclear attacks and retaliatory strikes would have ensued, plunging civilization toward total ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined repeatedly, in books, movies, and TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series The Bomb has brought a novel dimension into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy and Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the leaders who, over 13 days, controlled the fate of humanity within their grasp.

"What was the Soviet side thinking? What was Washington planning?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also an academic of global relations.

For her, the strength of the podcast lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do nations hate each other to the point they go against one another?"

"It struck me how remarkable the fact that humans can be friends or else have the potential to be total enemies," remarks Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and currently an author as well as attorney. "We see this over and over in instances where countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink Towards Disaster

What’s remarkable regarding this event is that, since it unfolded so publicly, citizens globally could watch almost as it happened while it moved towards armageddon. However, the risk of destruction was more imminent than what most people realised.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, 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 primary naval force. And, we would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended most life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements around them demanded military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons in Cuba while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed American similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by a feeling of hope.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the tension was palpable by everyone. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following these events, with Nina learned about the crisis via the USSR's school curriculum, which presented an alternative narrative of what happened.

"You said your father recalls it, and it was a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware a great deal about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly wonderful and positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, thus avoided a global war, which was a wonderful outcome," she adds. Subsequently, though, that view was not shared by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is remarkably balanced , expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget the known outcome. This effect is, partly, due to the participation of renowned scholars. But, truly, the most groundbreaking thing remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of America and the Soviet Union to appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a symbol of optimism.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Nina. "Following 1991, my uncle moved to America and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame because we connected immediately and now we are friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, following nearly six decades since nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages are now friends, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."

Modern Parallels with Present Perils

Or is it? Part of why this series feels so necessary is because we once again find ourselves living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to grasp