Following nearly annihilating our planet, our relatives are allies’: a thrilling audio series featuring John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, humanity came nearer to destruction more so than ever in recent history. This transpired after an American reconnaissance aircraft found that Soviet nuclear missile sites were being assembled in Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK directed a naval task force to impose a naval quarantine around Cuba. The next phase constituted almost two weeks of extreme tension.

An Catastrophic Threat

The peril remained clear. Should President Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a chain reaction involving global atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes might have followed, plunging civilization toward all-out oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered repeatedly, through books, films, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" introduces a completely new dimension to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the men that, over 13 days, grasped the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Russians thinking? What were the American side considering?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also an academic of international affairs.

In her view, the strength of the show is its attempt to question: "Why do nations detest one another to the point they oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable the fact that humans have the potential to be allies or have the potential to be complete adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now a writer and attorney. "We see this dynamic over and over in instances where countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

A Brink Towards Catastrophe

What’s striking about the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired so publicly, citizens globally could watch almost as it happened as it moved towards disaster. Even so, the risk of destruction was more imminent than anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike and a ground invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba with the naval blockade, it is certain the Russians stationed there would have fired a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have obliterated the aircraft carriers as well as sunk our primary fleet. And, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to remain calm while engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements around them demanded action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the missiles from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American similar weapons from Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, matched by a feeling of hope.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Still, during 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 it through the Soviet education system, which presented an alternative narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a frightening time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know that much about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was constantly fine or positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she continues. Later on, however, that view would not be held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is remarkably balanced and well produced that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, thanks to contributions from historians. Yet, truly, the most momentous thing remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable for descendants of the leaders of America and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm with each other, has to be a symbol of progress.

"We aren't the first," smiles Nina. "After 1991, a relative moved to America where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Max. "That is a shame because we connected immediately and we are friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, following nearly 60 years since nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages are now friends, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes and Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why The Bomb seems so urgent is because we once again find ourselves in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to midnight than ever before, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to comprehend