Following nearly annihilating the world, our relatives have become allies’: the thrilling audio series from JFK & Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, humanity edged nearer to destruction than at any other point in the contemporary era. This transpired after an American surveillance plane identified the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon sites were under construction in Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. In response, U.S. President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime blockade around Cuba. The ensuing period was nearly a fortnight of unbearable anxiety.

An Unthinkable Threat

The threat remained clear. If Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a cascade of worldwide atomic strikes and retaliatory strikes might have ensued, casting civilization into all-out destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered endlessly, through volumes, movies, as well as television programmes. But, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents a completely new perspective into this historical narrative. It is co-presented by Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders that, for two tense weeks, grasped the fate of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin thinking? What was Washington considering?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor specializing in international affairs.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast is its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do individuals detest one another and oppose one another?"

"It struck me how spectacular the fact that individuals have the potential to be allies or else can become complete enemies," states Max Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and now a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality it is to fight."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s remarkable about this event is that, since it transpired so publicly, individuals globally were able to observe nearly as it happened while it crept closer to armageddon. However, the threat of destruction was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted an airstrike and an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians on the ground would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've destroyed the aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur is a testament to both leaders, who succeeded in keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy when everyone around them demanded military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew American similar weapons based in Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was the sense of hope.

The Divergent Perspective

Still, during those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was palpable globally. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following the crisis, and Nina learned about it through the Soviet education system, which presented an alternative version of events.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, describing it as a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, the public were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly fine or sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, it was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus didn’t start a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she continues. In the years to come, however, that perspective would not be held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is so even-handed and expertly crafted that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget she already knew outcome. This is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. But, really, the most momentous thing remains the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable that descendants of the leaders of America and the Soviet Union to appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a symbol of optimism.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Max. "Which is unfortunate because we got along immediately and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, after almost six decades of almost destroying the world, our families have become allies, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes with Present Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is that we now are living in dark times. 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