Following almost destroying the planet, the relatives have become friends’: a gripping audio series from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the planet edged nearer to ruin than at any other point in the contemporary era. This transpired after a US reconnaissance aircraft found the fact that Russian atomic missile bases were being assembled in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the US mainland. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK commanded a naval task force to impose a maritime quarantine encircling Cuba. The ensuing period was nearly two weeks filled with impossible anxiety.

An Unthinkable Threat

The peril was clear. Should President Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a chain reaction involving global nuclear strikes followed by counterstrikes could have ensued, casting humanity toward all-out ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined repeatedly, through books, films, as well as TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series The Bomb introduces an unprecedented perspective into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented by Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders who, over 13 days, grasped the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side planning? What was the American side planning?" questions Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor specializing in global relations.

In her view, the strength of the show lies in its endeavor to question: "How can people detest each other and confront one another?"

"It struck me how spectacular the fact that individuals have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be complete enemies," states Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of the late president and now an author and attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations have gone to war, demonstrating the profound irrationality it is to fight."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s notable about the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired so publicly, citizens around the world could watch almost in real time as it crept towards catastrophe. Even so, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than what most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the naval blockade, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would have deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed the aircraft carriers as well as sunk America's primary naval force. In turn, we would have responded with massive retaliation that would have ended all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to both leaders, they managed to exercise restraint while calmly negotiate when many advisors around them was pushing for military action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from Cuba while Kennedy (although not reported then) withdrew American similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of hope.

A Divergent Perspective

Still, during those 13 days in October, the tension was palpable globally. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world in the years following these events, with Nina being taught about it through the USSR's education system, which portrayed an alternative version of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always fine and positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, it was different. "They told me what a great occasion it was, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, thus didn’t start a global war, seen as a wonderful thing," she continues. Later on, though, that interpretation would not be held by everybody. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up America."

An Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably balanced and well produced so much so that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of historians. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking thing remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that relatives of the leaders of the United States and the USSR to appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a sign of progress.

"We are not the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we connected really well and now we are friends, which is really great. Finally, after almost six decades since nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now allies, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels with Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason this series feels so necessary is that we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe in its history, partly since world leaders don’t seem to be able to learn