Following nearly annihilating our world, our families have become allies’: the gripping audio series featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the world came nearer to destruction more so than ever in the contemporary era. This happened after a US surveillance plane discovered that Soviet atomic missile sites were being built in Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. Reacting to this, President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval blockade encircling the island. The next phase constituted nearly a fortnight of extreme stress.

The Catastrophic Threat

The danger remained obvious. If Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a series of worldwide nuclear attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have followed, thrusting civilization into all-out destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined extensively, through books, movies, and TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb presents an unprecedented element into this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the men that, for two tense weeks, controlled the fate of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Russians considering? What were the American side thinking?" ponders Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and an academic of global relations.

In her view, the strength of the show is its endeavor to explore: "Why do people hate one another to the point they confront each other?"

"I am acutely aware how spectacular it is that individuals have the potential to be allies or have the potential to be complete enemies," adds Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and now a writer and lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly in instances where countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid it is to engage in warfare."

A Brink Towards Catastrophe

What’s notable about this event is that, because it transpired so publicly, citizens worldwide could watch nearly in real time while it crept closer to armageddon. However, the risk of annihilation came closer than what anybody realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," says Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain the Russians on the ground would've launched a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, and that would have destroyed our aircraft carriers and destroyed America's largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in remain calm while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them was pushing for action. Consequently, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed his similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was immense, as was a feeling of optimism.

The Divergent Perspective

Yet, during those 13 days of October 1962, the tension was palpable globally. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following these events, with Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different version of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know that much about it, because it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that things are constantly wonderful and positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, it was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus avoided the war, which was a positive outcome," she continues. In the years to come, however, that perspective would not be held by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so balanced , well produced so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, partly, due to the participation of renowned scholars. But, truly, the most momentous thing remains the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable for descendants of the leaders of America and Soviet Union to appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a symbol of optimism.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate because we got along immediately and we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, after nearly six decades of nearly annihilating the planet, our families are now friends, so I think global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels and Present Dangers

Or is it? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is because we once again are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend