Following almost annihilating the planet, the families have become friends’: a gripping audio series featuring John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, the planet veered closer toward annihilation than at any other point in modern times. This transpired after an American surveillance aircraft found the fact that Soviet atomic missile installations were being assembled in Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the US mainland. In response, President JFK commanded a naval task force to impose a maritime quarantine around the island. What followed constituted nearly a fortnight filled with extreme tension.

The Unthinkable Threat

The threat was clear. Should Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a cascade involving worldwide nuclear strikes followed by retaliatory strikes could have followed, thrusting humanity toward total ruination.

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 a novel element to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented by Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the figures who, for 13 days, held the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin planning? What were the American side considering?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and a professor of global relations.

For her, the beauty of the podcast lies in its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do people hate one another to the point they oppose each other?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that humans can be friends or else can become total enemies," states Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and now a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this over and over in instances where nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

The Brink of Catastrophe

What’s striking about this event is that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, individuals around the world could watch almost as it happened as it moved towards catastrophe. Even so, the danger of annihilation came closer than most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted an airstrike and an invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans using the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces stationed there would have fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, which would've destroyed the aircraft carriers and destroyed our largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have responded through massive retaliation that would have ended most life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to exercise restraint and engaging in diplomacy when many advisors in their governments were advocating action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from Cuba and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American similar weapons based in Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by the sense of hope.

A Different Viewpoint

Yet, during those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was felt by everyone. The podcast's presenters were born shortly after the crisis, and Khrushcheva being taught about it through the Soviet school curriculum, which presented a slightly different picture of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, describing it as a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, the public were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union we were told that things are always fine or positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was distinct. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, and didn’t start the war, which was a positive thing," she continues. In the years to come, however, that perspective would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is so balanced , expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget the known the ending. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. But, really, the most significant aspect is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of America and Soviet Union to appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," smiles Nina. "After 1991, my uncle moved to America and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Max. "That is a shame because we connected immediately and now we are friends, which is really great. Ultimately, following almost 60 years since almost destroying the planet, our families are now friends, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes and Current Dangers

Or is it? One reason why The Bomb feels so necessary is that we now find ourselves living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight in its history, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend