‘After almost destroying our planet, the relatives are allies’: the gripping audio series featuring JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, humanity veered nearer to ruin than at any other point in the contemporary era. This transpired following the discovery that a US surveillance aircraft identified that Russian nuclear missile sites were under construction in the island of Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy directed a naval task force to impose a maritime quarantine encircling Cuba. The next phase was nearly two weeks of unbearable anxiety.

The Catastrophic Danger

The peril remained obvious. If President Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire on their enemy, a chain reaction of global nuclear attacks and counterstrikes might have ensued, plunging humanity into total destruction.

The October crisis has been covered repeatedly, in books, movies, and TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" has brought a completely new dimension to the story. The series is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the men that, for 13 days, held the fate of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Soviet side considering? What were the United States planning?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and a professor of international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the podcast is its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can individuals hate each other to the point they confront each other?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable the fact that individuals have the potential to be allies or can become total adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and currently an author as well as lawyer. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to fight."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What is notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it transpired so publicly, citizens around the world could watch nearly as it happened while it crept towards armageddon. Even so, the risk of annihilation came closer than what most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike and a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians on the ground would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, which would have sunk our aircraft carriers and destroyed America's primary naval force. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of both leaders, who succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate when hawkish elements in their governments were advocating military action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The relief was palpable, matched by the sense of hope.

The Different Perspective

Yet, during those 13 days of October 1962, the tension was palpable by everyone. The podcast's presenters came into the world in the years following these events, with Nina being taught about it via the Soviet education system, which presented an alternative version of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a frightening time," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that things are always fine or sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, it was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. In the years to come, though, that view would not be shared by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is remarkably balanced and expertly crafted that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. But, truly, the most significant thing is the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union to appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a sign of optimism.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," smiles Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America where he formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we got along really well and we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, after nearly six decades since nearly annihilating the world, our lineages have become allies, suggesting global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Echoes and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of the reason this series seems so urgent is that we now are living living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to grasp