‘After almost annihilating the planet, the families have become allies’: a gripping audio series featuring John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, humanity veered closer to destruction more so than ever during recent history. This occurred after an American reconnaissance plane identified the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon installations were being built on Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime blockade encircling Cuba. The next phase was nearly 14 days filled with unbearable tension.

The Unthinkable Threat

The danger was obvious. If President Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a chain reaction of global atomic strikes and retaliatory strikes might have followed, plunging civilization into all-out oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented repeatedly, in books, movies, as well as television programmes. However, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb has brought an unprecedented perspective to the story. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy and Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the figures who, for two tense weeks, controlled the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Russians planning? What were the American side thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also an academic of global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its endeavor to explore: "Why do nations detest one another to the point they go against one another?"

"It was not lost on me how spectacular it is that individuals can be friends or can become complete adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and currently an author as well as lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the sheer folly it is to fight."

The Precipice of Disaster

What’s striking regarding this event was that, since it transpired so publicly, people worldwide could watch almost in real time while it edged towards disaster. Nonetheless, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than anybody understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for an airstrike followed by an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've obliterated our naval vessels and destroyed America's primary fleet. And, we would have responded through massive retaliation that would have ended most life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them was pushing for military action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles from Cuba and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, as was a feeling of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Still, for those two weeks in October, the fear was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born in the years following these events, with Nina being taught about it via the USSR's education system, which portrayed a slightly different picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, describing it as a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system the official line was that things are always fine and positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, and avoided a global war, seen as a wonderful thing," she continues. In the years to come, though, that perspective was not held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is so even-handed and expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most significant aspect is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union would appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a sign of optimism.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Nina. "After 1991, my uncle moved to America and became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame because we got along really well and we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, after almost six decades since almost destroying the world, our families are now allies, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is because we once again find ourselves living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to learn