‘After almost annihilating the world, the relatives are friends’: a gripping audio series from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, the world came closer to ruin than at any other point in modern times. This happened after a US reconnaissance aircraft discovered the fact that Russian nuclear weapon sites were being built in the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the US mainland. In response, U.S. President JFK directed a naval task force to establish a naval blockade around the island. The next phase was nearly 14 days filled with extreme stress.

An Unthinkable Threat

The danger remained clear. If President Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a series involving worldwide nuclear strikes and retaliatory strikes could have followed, casting mankind toward total oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented extensively, through books, films, as well as TV documentaries. However, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb presents a novel dimension into the story. The series is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the men that, for two tense weeks, controlled the fate of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Russians considering? What were the American side planning?" ponders Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor specializing in international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the show lies in its attempt to question: "How can people detest each other and oppose each other?"

"It struck me how spectacular it is that individuals can be friends or else can become total adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and currently an author as well as attorney. "We see this repeatedly when countries have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly involved to fight."

A Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What’s notable about this event was that, because it transpired so publicly, individuals around the world were able to observe nearly as it happened while it moved towards disaster. However, the threat of destruction came closer than most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted a military strike and an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question Soviet forces stationed there would've launched a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, which would've sunk the naval vessels as well as destroyed America's primary fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended all life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to remain calm and calmly negotiate when hawkish elements around them demanded military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (although not reported then) removed his similar weapons based in Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was a feeling of hope.

A Different Viewpoint

Yet, during those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was palpable globally. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva learned about it through the Soviet education system, which painted an alternative version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, describing it as a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was constantly fine and positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, it was different. "They told me what a great occasion for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, and avoided the war, which was a wonderful thing," she adds. Subsequently, however, that perspective was not shared by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is so even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known the ending. This is, in part, thanks to the participation of historians. But, really, the most momentous thing is the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of America and the Soviet Union to appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm with each other, has to be a sign of hope.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Max. "Which is unfortunate because we connected immediately and we are friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, after almost six decades of almost destroying the world, our lineages have become friends, so I think the world is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes and Current Dangers

Or is it? One reason the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is because we now find ourselves in dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, partly since world leaders appear not to have the capacity to grasp