‘After almost annihilating our planet, the families are friends’: a thrilling audio series featuring John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, the world came closer to ruin more so than ever in modern times. This transpired following the discovery that a US surveillance aircraft discovered the fact that Soviet atomic weapon sites were being built in the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, President JFK commanded a naval task force to establish a maritime blockade around the island. The ensuing period was nearly a fortnight of extreme stress.

The Unthinkable Danger

The peril was palpable. If President Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire against the other side, a chain reaction of worldwide atomic attacks and retaliatory strikes would have ensued, casting mankind into total ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented endlessly, in volumes, films, and TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series The Bomb presents a completely new perspective into the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the figures who, for two tense weeks, held the fate of the planet within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin planning? What was the United States thinking?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor of global relations.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast is its attempt to question: "How can nations detest one another and oppose one another?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that individuals can be allies or have the potential to be total enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and currently an author as well as lawyer. "History shows this dynamic over and over in instances where nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink of Disaster

What’s notable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it transpired so publicly, individuals worldwide could watch nearly as it happened as it crept closer to armageddon. Nonetheless, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for an airstrike and an invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans using the naval blockade, there is no question the Russians on the ground would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've obliterated our naval vessels and sunk our largest and most important fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, who managed to remain calm and calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors in their governments were advocating military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from Cuba and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American similar weapons from Turkey. The relief was worldwide, as was a feeling of optimism.

The Different Viewpoint

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was felt globally. The podcast's presenters were born shortly after these events, with Nina learned about it through the Soviet school curriculum, which presented an alternative picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, and it was a scary time," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are always fine and sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, it was distinct. "They told me what a great occasion it was, because it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided the war, which was a positive outcome," she adds. In the years to come, though, that perspective was not shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a setback for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so even-handed and expertly crafted that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This is, partly, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. But, really, the most groundbreaking aspect is the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that relatives of the leaders of America and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a sign of hope.

"We are not the first," smiles Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we connected really well and now we are friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, following almost six decades of nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages have become friends, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Parallels with Current Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of why this series seems so urgent is that we once again find ourselves living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to comprehend