‘After almost annihilating our world, the families have become allies’: a thrilling audio series from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, the world veered nearer to annihilation than at any other point in recent history. This occurred when an American surveillance plane identified that Soviet atomic missile bases were being built in the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from American soil. In response, U.S. President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval quarantine around the island. The next phase constituted almost 14 days of extreme anxiety.

The Catastrophic Threat

The threat was clear. If Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a series of global nuclear attacks and counterstrikes could have ensued, thrusting civilization toward total ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered repeatedly, in volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. But, for its third season, the audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" introduces a completely new element to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the leaders who, for 13 days, held the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

"What were the Soviet side considering? What were the American side thinking?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant who is also a professor specializing in global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its attempt to objectively ask: "How can individuals detest one another to the point they oppose each other?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable it is that people can be friends or have the potential to be total adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the sheer folly it is to fight."

The Brink Towards Disaster

What is striking about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, individuals globally were able to observe almost as it happened as it crept towards armageddon. Even so, the threat of destruction came closer than anybody understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for a military strike followed by an invasion," notes Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba with the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces stationed there would have deployed a nuclear warhead against the American ships, which would have sunk our aircraft carriers and sunk our primary fleet. And, the U.S. would have responded through massive retaliation that would have ended most life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in remain calm and calmly negotiate when hawkish elements around them were advocating action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew American similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by the sense of hope.

A Divergent Perspective

Yet, during those two weeks in October, the anxiety was felt by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva being taught about it through the Soviet education system, which portrayed an alternative narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a scary time," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always fine and positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, it was different. "I was informed what a great moment it was, because it was a direct confrontation. They were able to resolve it, and avoided the war, seen as a positive outcome," she continues. Later on, though, that interpretation would not be shared by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is so balanced and well produced so much so that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot the known the ending. This is, partly, thanks to contributions from historians. Yet, really, the most momentous thing is the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of America and USSR to appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a sign of hope.

"Max and I aren't the first," smiles Nina. "Following 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Max. "Which is unfortunate since we got along really well and we are friends, which is wonderful. Finally, following almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the planet, our families are now allies, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels with Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why The Bomb feels so necessary is because we once again are living in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to learn