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

During the month of October 1962, the planet came nearer to ruin than at any other point in the contemporary era. This occurred when an American surveillance plane identified the fact that Soviet atomic weapon sites were being built on Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK ordered a naval task force to enact a maritime blockade around Cuba. What followed constituted nearly 14 days filled with extreme anxiety.

An Catastrophic Threat

The peril was clear. Should President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire against the other side, a series of worldwide atomic strikes followed by retaliatory strikes might have ensued, plunging civilization toward all-out destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered repeatedly, in volumes, films, as well as television programmes. However, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series The Bomb has brought a novel dimension to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the men who, over two tense weeks, held the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Russians considering? What were Washington considering?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant who is also a professor of international affairs.

For her, the strength of the show lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can nations hate each other and oppose each other?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable it is that humans can be friends or can become total adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and currently an author and lawyer. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when countries enter into conflict, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

A Brink Towards Disaster

What is remarkable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it unfolded so publicly, citizens around the world could watch almost as it happened while it moved towards catastrophe. Nonetheless, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike and a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba with the naval blockade, it is certain Soviet forces on the ground would have fired a nuclear warhead against the American ships, and that would have destroyed the naval vessels as well as destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. And, the U.S. would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in exercise restraint and engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements in their governments were advocating military action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from Cuba while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew his missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by a feeling of optimism.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, during those two weeks in October, the tension was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, with Nina learned about the crisis through the USSR's school curriculum, which presented a slightly different version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, describing it as a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that things are always wonderful or sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, as it was a direct confrontation. They were able to resolve it, and didn’t start the war, seen as a wonderful thing," she adds. Later on, though, that view would not be shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably balanced and well produced that Nina jokes she nearly forgot the known the ending. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most significant thing is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that relatives of the leaders of the United States and USSR to appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a sign of hope.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Nina. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame since we connected immediately and now we are friends, which is really great. Ultimately, after nearly six decades since nearly annihilating the planet, our families are now friends, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Dangers

Or is it? One reason the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is that we now are living living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to comprehend