‘After nearly destroying our planet, our families are friends’: the thrilling audio series featuring John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, humanity edged nearer toward ruin more so than ever during modern times. This happened when an American reconnaissance plane discovered that Soviet nuclear missile installations were being built on the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded a naval task force to enact a naval blockade around the island. What followed constituted almost 14 days filled with impossible stress.

The Unthinkable Danger

The danger was clear. If Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a chain reaction of worldwide atomic attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have followed, plunging mankind into all-out oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered endlessly, in volumes, films, as well as television programmes. However, for its third season, the audio documentary series The Bomb introduces a completely new perspective into this historical narrative. It is co-presented by Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the men that, for two tense weeks, held the fate of the planet within their grasp.

"What were the Russians considering? What was the United States thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also a professor specializing in international affairs.

For her, the strength of the podcast is its endeavor to explore: "How can individuals detest each other and go against each other?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable it is that humans have the potential to be friends or have the potential to be total enemies," adds Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and currently an author as well as attorney. "History shows this over and over in instances where countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality it is to engage in warfare."

The Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What’s remarkable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it unfolded so publicly, individuals worldwide were able to observe nearly in real time while it moved towards disaster. Nonetheless, the danger of annihilation came closer than what anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike and a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would've deployed a nuclear warhead at the American ships, which would've obliterated our aircraft carriers and destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of both leaders, who managed to remain calm while engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements around them were advocating action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the missiles in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of hope.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, with Nina learned about it via the USSR's education system, which painted a slightly different picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly fine and sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, it was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, because it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start the war, seen as a wonderful thing," she continues. Later on, though, that perspective was not shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed , well produced that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of historians. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking thing remains the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that descendants of the leaders of America and the USSR would appear side by side. That these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a sign of hope.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we had never met prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we got along immediately and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, following almost six decades of nearly annihilating the planet, our families have become allies, suggesting global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Echoes with Current Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of why The Bomb feels so necessary is that we once again are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to comprehend