‘After nearly annihilating the planet, our relatives have become friends’: a thrilling audio series from JFK and Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, the planet came nearer toward annihilation than at any other point in the contemporary era. This happened after an American reconnaissance aircraft discovered that Soviet atomic weapon bases were under construction on Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, President JFK directed a naval task force to impose a naval blockade encircling the island. The next phase was almost 14 days filled with extreme anxiety.

An Unthinkable Danger

The danger was obvious. If Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a series involving global atomic strikes followed by counterstrikes might have ensued, plunging civilization into total oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined repeatedly, in books, films, and TV documentaries. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb presents an unprecedented perspective to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the leaders who, over two tense weeks, held the fate of the world in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin planning? What were the American side planning?" questions Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor of international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the show is its attempt to question: "How can individuals hate each other to the point they go against one another?"

"It struck me how profound it is that humans can be allies or can become complete adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and now a writer and attorney. "We see this over and over in instances where nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality it is to fight."

The Brink Towards Disaster

What is notable about this event is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, citizens around the world could watch almost in real time while it edged towards disaster. However, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for an airstrike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans with the naval blockade, undoubtedly the Russians on the ground would have launched a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, and that would've sunk the aircraft carriers as well as sunk our primary naval force. In turn, we would have responded through massive retaliation which would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t stands as credit to both leaders, they managed to exercise restraint and calmly negotiate at a time when everyone around them demanded military action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American similar weapons based in Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by a feeling of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Still, for those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following these events, with Khrushcheva learned about it via the USSR's education system, which portrayed an alternative version of what happened.

"You said your parent remembers it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that things are constantly wonderful and sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, it was distinct. "They told me what a great moment 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. Subsequently, 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 the United States."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is so even-handed , expertly crafted that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget the known the ending. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking aspect is the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of America and USSR would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm toward one another, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"We are not the pioneers," smiles Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we had never met before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "Which is a shame because we got along really well and we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following nearly six decades of almost destroying the world, our families have become friends, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Parallels and Present Perils

Or is it? Part of the reason this series feels so necessary is because we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to midnight in its history, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to comprehend