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

During October 1962, humanity edged nearer to ruin than at any other point in the contemporary era. This transpired when an American surveillance aircraft discovered that Soviet atomic missile bases were being assembled in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from American soil. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime blockade around the island. The next phase was nearly a fortnight filled with impossible tension.

An Unthinkable Threat

The peril was palpable. Should Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on the other side, a series of worldwide atomic strikes and retaliatory strikes would have followed, casting civilization into all-out oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented repeatedly, through volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" has brought an unprecedented element to the story. It is co-presented by Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the men that, over two tense weeks, held the destiny of humanity within their grasp.

"What was the Russians thinking? What were Washington planning?" ponders Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also a professor of global relations.

In her view, the unique appeal of the show is its attempt to objectively ask: "How can nations hate one another to the point they confront one another?"

"It struck me how remarkable it is that humans can be friends or can become complete enemies," adds Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to the late president and now an author as well as attorney. "History shows this dynamic over and over in instances where nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

A Precipice of Catastrophe

What’s striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, citizens worldwide were able to observe almost in real time while it crept closer to catastrophe. However, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than what most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted a military strike followed by a ground invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the naval blockade, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would've fired a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed the aircraft carriers and destroyed our primary fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in exercise restraint while calmly negotiate when many advisors in their governments were advocating action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew American similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by the sense of optimism.

The Divergent Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the fear was felt globally. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world shortly after these events, and Khrushcheva learned about it via the USSR's school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different picture of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, describing it as a frightening time," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that things are constantly wonderful or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, as it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, and didn’t start a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she adds. Later on, though, that view would not be shared by everybody. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying America."

A Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is so balanced and well produced that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This is, partly, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. But, really, the most momentous thing is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union to 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 hope.

"We are not the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Max. "Which is a shame because we connected immediately and now we’re friends, which is wonderful. Finally, after almost 60 years of almost destroying the planet, our lineages are now allies, suggesting global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of why this series seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, partly since world leaders appear not to have the capacity to learn