‘After almost destroying our planet, the families have become friends’: a thrilling audio series from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, humanity edged nearer toward annihilation than at any other point in modern times. This occurred after a US reconnaissance plane discovered that Russian nuclear missile installations were being built in the island of Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. In response, President JFK ordered a naval task force to establish a maritime quarantine around the island. What followed was nearly 14 days of unbearable tension.

An Catastrophic Danger

The danger remained clear. Should Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a cascade of global nuclear strikes and retaliatory strikes would have ensued, plunging humanity into all-out oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined repeatedly, in books, movies, as well as television programmes. However, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" introduces a completely new perspective into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented by Max Kennedy alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the men who, for two tense weeks, held the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Russians planning? What were the United States thinking?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant who is also a professor of international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the podcast is its attempt to explore: "Why do individuals detest one another to the point they go against one another?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable the fact that humans have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be total enemies," adds Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of JFK and now a writer and attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when nations have gone to war, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid it is to fight."

The Brink of Catastrophe

What’s striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it unfolded so publicly, people around the world were able to observe nearly as it happened as it edged towards catastrophe. Even so, the threat of destruction was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would have fired a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, which would've destroyed our naval vessels as well as sunk America's primary naval force. And, we would have responded with massive retaliation which would have ended most life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to exercise restraint while calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors in their governments were advocating military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was immense, as was the sense of optimism.

A Different Perspective

Still, for those 13 days in October, the tension was palpable globally. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world shortly after the crisis, with Khrushcheva being taught about it through the USSR's school curriculum, which painted a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"You said your parent remembers it, describing it as a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always fine or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed what a great occasion for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus didn’t start a global war, seen as a wonderful thing," she adds. In the years to come, however, that perspective was not shared by everybody. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is so even-handed , expertly crafted that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most momentous thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable for relatives of the heads of state of America and USSR would appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a symbol of progress.

"We are not the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "After 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"But we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we got along really well and we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, after nearly six decades since almost destroying the planet, our families are now allies, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels and Present Perils

Or is it? One reason why The Bomb feels so necessary is that we now find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to be able to grasp