‘After nearly destroying our planet, the families have become allies’: the gripping audio series featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, humanity veered closer toward ruin more so than ever in recent history. This transpired when a US surveillance plane found that Soviet nuclear missile sites were under construction in Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the US mainland. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK ordered a naval task force to enact a maritime quarantine around the island. What followed was almost two weeks filled with unbearable tension.

The Unthinkable Danger

The peril was palpable. If President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire against the other side, a cascade of global nuclear attacks and counterstrikes could have followed, plunging mankind toward total destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered endlessly, in books, movies, and TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series The Bomb has brought a novel dimension into the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the figures that, for 13 days, controlled the destiny of the world within their grasp.

"What were the Soviet side considering? What was Washington considering?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also an academic of global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its endeavor to explore: "Why do nations hate each other and confront each other?"

"It struck me how profound it is that humans can be friends or have the potential to be complete enemies," states Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to the late president and currently an author and attorney. "We see this over and over in instances where countries enter into conflict, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid it is to fight."

The Brink Towards Disaster

What is striking regarding this event is that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, citizens worldwide were able to observe nearly as it happened as it moved towards armageddon. However, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than what anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike and an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would've launched a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, which would've obliterated our aircraft carriers as well as sunk America's primary fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to exercise restraint while calmly negotiate when everyone around them were advocating action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American similar weapons from Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by the sense of hope.

A Different Viewpoint

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was felt globally. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, with Khrushcheva learned about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which painted a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, the public really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are always wonderful or positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, it was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, and avoided a global war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. Subsequently, though, that view would not be held by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is so balanced and expertly crafted that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from renowned scholars. But, truly, the most groundbreaking aspect is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and USSR to appear together publicly. That these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

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

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Max. "Which is unfortunate since we got along immediately and we are friends, which is really great. Ultimately, after almost 60 years since nearly annihilating the planet, our families are now friends, so I think the world is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels and Present Perils

Or is it? Part of the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is because we once again are living living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to learn