‘After almost annihilating the planet, our families have become friends’: a thrilling audio series featuring John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, the planet veered nearer toward ruin more so than ever in the contemporary era. This happened after a US reconnaissance aircraft found the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon installations were under construction on Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of American soil. In response, U.S. President JFK ordered a naval task force to enact a naval blockade encircling the island. The ensuing period was nearly a fortnight filled with impossible anxiety.

An Unthinkable Threat

The peril was clear. Should Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on the other side, a chain reaction involving global nuclear attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have ensued, casting civilization toward all-out ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented endlessly, through books, movies, as well as television programmes. However, for its third season, the audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" has brought a novel element into this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the figures who, over two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

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

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its attempt to question: "Why do nations detest one another to the point they go against each other?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that individuals have the potential to be friends or have the potential to be complete enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and currently an author and attorney. "We see this repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, highlighting how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What is notable regarding this event is that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, people globally were able to observe almost as it happened while it crept towards disaster. Nonetheless, the threat of annihilation came closer than what most people understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike and an invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would've fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed the aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur is a testament to both leaders, they managed to remain calm and engaging in diplomacy at a time when many advisors around them demanded military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew American similar weapons from Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by a feeling of hope.

A Divergent Perspective

Still, for those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva learned about the crisis via the Soviet education system, which painted a slightly different version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, and it was a frightening time," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware a great deal about it, because it was a crisis, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was always fine or positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, and didn’t start a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she adds. In the years to come, though, that interpretation would not be shared by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying America."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably balanced , well produced so much so that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot the known the ending. This effect is, partly, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most significant aspect is the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable for descendants of the leaders of the United States and the USSR would appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a symbol of optimism.

"We are not the first," smiles Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we got along really well and we’re friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, after almost 60 years since nearly annihilating the planet, our families have become allies, so I think global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes and Current Perils

Or is it? Part of the reason this series feels so necessary is because we once again find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, partly since world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend