Following nearly annihilating our world, the families are friends’: the thrilling audio series featuring John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the world came nearer to destruction than at any other point in recent history. This happened when a US surveillance plane found the fact that Soviet atomic missile sites were being built on Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a maritime quarantine around Cuba. The ensuing period was almost two weeks filled with impossible tension.

The Unthinkable Danger

The peril was palpable. If Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on their enemy, a cascade involving global atomic attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have ensued, thrusting mankind into all-out oblivion.

The October crisis has been documented endlessly, through books, films, as well as television programmes. But, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb introduces a novel perspective to this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives belonging to the leaders that, over two tense weeks, held the destiny of humanity within their grasp.

"What were the Soviet side considering? What were the United States planning?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant who is also a professor of global relations.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do people hate each other and go against each other?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that people can be friends or else have the potential to be complete enemies," remarks Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of the late president and now a writer as well as lawyer. "We see this dynamic over and over in instances where countries have gone to war, demonstrating the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, citizens around the world were able to observe nearly as it happened as it crept towards armageddon. Even so, the danger of annihilation came closer than what anybody understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for a military strike and a ground invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba with the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces stationed there would've deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, and that would have sunk the naval vessels as well as sunk America's primary naval force. In turn, we would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t stands as credit to both leaders, they managed to exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy at a time when many advisors around them were advocating military action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from Cuba while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew his missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by the sense of hope.

The Divergent Perspective

Yet, during those two weeks in October, the fear was palpable globally. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following the crisis, with Khrushcheva being taught about it via the USSR's education system, which portrayed a slightly different picture of events.

"You said your father recalls it, describing it as a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly wonderful or positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, it was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment it was, because it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus didn’t start a global war, seen as a wonderful thing," she adds. Subsequently, however, that perspective would not be shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed and expertly crafted that Nina quips it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. But, really, the most momentous aspect is the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of America and the Soviet Union to appear side by side. That these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a sign of progress.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," smiles Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America and became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Max. "That is a shame because we got along really well and now we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, after nearly 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our families have become friends, suggesting global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels and Current Perils

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 than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to grasp