Following nearly annihilating the planet, the families are friends’: a gripping audio series from JFK & Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, the planet veered nearer to destruction than at any other point during recent history. This happened after an American reconnaissance aircraft discovered the fact that Russian atomic missile bases were being built on the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime quarantine around the island. What followed was nearly a fortnight filled with extreme tension.

The Unthinkable Threat

The threat was obvious. If Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a chain reaction of worldwide atomic attacks and counterstrikes might have ensued, thrusting humanity into all-out destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined repeatedly, in volumes, movies, as well as TV documentaries. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb introduces an unprecedented element into the story. It is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the figures that, over two tense weeks, held the fate of the planet within their grasp.

"What was the Russians thinking? What were the American side thinking?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and an academic specializing in global relations.

In her view, the unique appeal of the show is its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do people detest one another and go against one another?"

"It struck me how remarkable it is that humans can be friends or can become total enemies," states Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and now an author as well as lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly when nations have gone to war, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid it is to fight."

A Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What is remarkable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, citizens around the world were able to observe almost as it happened as it edged closer to armageddon. Nonetheless, the threat of destruction 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 with the naval blockade, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've destroyed the naval vessels as well as sunk America's largest and most important naval force. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur is a testament to both leaders, who succeeded in remain calm while engaging in diplomacy when many advisors in their governments demanded action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles from Cuba and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American missiles from Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of hope.

The Divergent Perspective

Yet, during those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, and Nina being taught about the crisis via the USSR's school curriculum, which painted a slightly different narrative of events.

"You said your parent remembers it, describing it as a frightening day," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly fine and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great occasion for the USSR, because it was a direct confrontation. They were able to find a solution, thus avoided the war, seen as a positive outcome," she continues. Subsequently, however, that interpretation would not be held by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a setback for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying America."

A Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is so balanced , well produced that Nina quips it almost made her forget the known outcome. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking thing is the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union 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," notes Nina. "Following 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Max. "Which is a shame because we got along really well and now we’re friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following nearly 60 years since nearly annihilating the world, our lineages have become friends, so I think the world is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Parallels and Present Perils

Or is it? Part of why this series seems so urgent is that we now are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to comprehend