Following nearly annihilating the world, the relatives have become allies’: a gripping audio series featuring JFK and Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, humanity edged closer to annihilation more so than ever in the contemporary era. This transpired when an American surveillance plane discovered that Russian nuclear missile bases were being assembled in Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the United States. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime quarantine encircling Cuba. What followed constituted almost a fortnight of extreme stress.

The Catastrophic Danger

The threat was palpable. If Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a chain reaction of global atomic strikes and counterstrikes could have ensued, plunging mankind toward all-out destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered repeatedly, through volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb has brought a completely new perspective into the story. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the men that, for two tense weeks, controlled the fate of humanity in their hands.

"What was the Russians considering? What were the United States considering?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also a professor of global relations.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can nations detest each other to the point they oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that humans have the potential to be allies or have the potential to be total adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and now a writer and attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when countries enter into conflict, highlighting how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s striking about this event was that, because it transpired so publicly, citizens around the world could watch almost in real time while it moved towards catastrophe. Even so, the risk of destruction came closer than most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for an airstrike followed by an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba with the naval blockade, it is certain the Russians stationed there would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, and that would have obliterated our naval vessels as well as sunk our primary naval force. And, the U.S. would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended most life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in keep their heads while calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements in their governments were advocating action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American similar weapons based in Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Still, for those two weeks in October, the tension was palpable globally. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva learned about it via the Soviet school curriculum, which painted a slightly different version of what happened.

"You said your parent remembers it, describing it as a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, the public really didn’t know that much about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that things are constantly fine or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start a global war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. In the years to come, though, that view would not be shared by everybody. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is so even-handed and expertly crafted that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, thanks to the participation of historians. Yet, really, the most significant thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable for descendants of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union would appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"We aren't the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we connected immediately and we are friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, following almost 60 years of almost destroying the planet, our families are now allies, so I think the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes with Present Dangers

Or is it? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since world leaders don’t seem to be able to grasp