‘After almost destroying our world, our relatives are allies’: a gripping audio series featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, the planet edged closer toward annihilation more so than ever during the contemporary era. This transpired after an American surveillance aircraft found that Soviet atomic weapon bases were being built in Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime quarantine encircling Cuba. The next phase was almost two weeks filled with unbearable stress.

An Unthinkable Threat

The danger was palpable. If President Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on the other side, a chain reaction involving global nuclear strikes and counterstrikes could have ensued, casting mankind toward all-out destruction.

The October crisis has been covered repeatedly, through volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. But, for its third season, the audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents a novel dimension to the story. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the men that, for 13 days, controlled the fate of the world in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin planning? What was the United States considering?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also an academic of international affairs.

For her, the strength of the show is its attempt to question: "Why do people hate each other and go against each other?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable the fact that people can be allies or can become complete enemies," states Max Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and currently a writer and attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality it is to fight."

The Brink Towards Catastrophe

What’s striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it transpired so publicly, citizens worldwide could watch nearly in real time as it edged closer to disaster. Even so, the risk of destruction came closer than what anybody understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans using the naval blockade, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would have fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, which would have obliterated our naval vessels as well as sunk America's largest and most important naval force. And, we would have responded through an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to keep their heads while engaging in diplomacy when many advisors around them were advocating military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was a feeling of optimism.

The Divergent Perspective

Still, during those 13 days in October, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which portrayed an alternative narrative of events.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, describing it as a frightening day," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly fine or positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, because it was a direct confrontation. They were able to resolve it, thus didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful outcome," she continues. Later on, though, that view would not be held by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed and well produced that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget the known the ending. This effect is, in part, thanks to the participation of historians. Yet, really, the most momentous aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for relatives of the leaders of America and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. That these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a sign of progress.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we had never met prior to this project," adds Max. "That is a shame since we connected really well and now we’re friends, which is really great. Finally, following almost six decades since almost destroying the planet, our lineages are now friends, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels and Current Dangers

Or is it? Part of the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight than ever before, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to comprehend