‘After nearly destroying our world, the relatives are friends’: a gripping audio series featuring JFK and Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the planet edged nearer to ruin than at any other point during recent history. This happened when an American reconnaissance plane identified the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon bases were being assembled on Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK commanded a naval task force to impose a maritime blockade around the island. The next phase was almost 14 days filled with impossible stress.

An Catastrophic Threat

The threat was clear. If President Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a cascade involving worldwide atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes might have ensued, plunging civilization into all-out oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered repeatedly, through volumes, films, as well as television programmes. However, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb has brought an unprecedented perspective to this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the men that, over two tense weeks, held the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin planning? What was Washington considering?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor specializing in international affairs.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its attempt to question: "How can nations detest one another and go against one another?"

"It struck me how spectacular the fact that people have the potential to be friends or else have the potential to be complete adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to JFK and now a writer and attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the sheer folly involved to fight."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What is notable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it unfolded so publicly, people around the world were able to observe nearly as it happened while it crept closer to disaster. Even so, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than most people realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for a military strike and an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, and that would've obliterated the aircraft carriers and sunk our primary fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur highlights the composure of both leaders, who succeeded in remain calm and engaging in diplomacy when everyone around them was pushing for action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from Cuba and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew his similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of optimism.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Still, during those two weeks in October, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva being taught about it through the USSR's school curriculum, which painted an alternative picture of what happened.

"You said your father recalls it, and it was a scary time," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware a great deal about it, since it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly wonderful and positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, and didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful outcome," she continues. Subsequently, though, that view would not be shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a setback for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up America."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is so even-handed and well produced that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, partly, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. But, truly, the most groundbreaking thing remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable for relatives of the leaders of the United States and Soviet Union to appear side by side. That these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"We are not the first," smiles Nina. "Following 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we connected immediately and we are friends, which is really great. Finally, after almost six decades of nearly annihilating the planet, our families have become allies, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes with Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason this series feels so necessary is that we now are living living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend