Following nearly annihilating our planet, the families are friends’: the thrilling audio series featuring JFK & Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the world veered nearer to ruin more so than ever during the contemporary era. This occurred following the discovery that an American reconnaissance aircraft found that Russian atomic weapon installations were being built in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from American soil. In response, U.S. President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime quarantine around the island. What followed was nearly two weeks of extreme tension.

An Unthinkable Threat

The peril was clear. Should Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire on their enemy, a chain reaction involving global atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes might have ensued, plunging civilization into all-out ruination.

The October crisis has been examined extensively, in books, movies, and TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents a completely new perspective to the story. It is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the men that, over two tense weeks, controlled the fate of the world in their hands.

"What were the Soviet side considering? What were the United States thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also a professor specializing in international affairs.

For her, the unique appeal of the show is its attempt to question: "Why do people detest each other to the point they confront one another?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable it is that humans have the potential to be friends or have the potential to be complete adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of JFK and currently a writer as well as attorney. "We see this over and over in instances where nations have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly involved to fight."

The Precipice Towards Disaster

What is striking about this event was that, since it unfolded so publicly, people globally could watch almost as it happened while it crept towards disaster. However, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than what most people realised.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike followed by a ground invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans with the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would've fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have obliterated the naval vessels as well as destroyed our primary fleet. And, we would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate when many advisors around them were advocating military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons in Cuba and President Kennedy (although not reported then) removed American similar weapons from Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was a feeling of hope.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Still, during those two weeks in October, the tension was felt by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva learned about the crisis via the USSR's education system, which presented an alternative narrative of events.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, describing it as a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, the public were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a crisis, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was constantly wonderful or sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided the war, which was a positive outcome," she adds. Subsequently, however, that interpretation was not shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably balanced , expertly crafted so much so that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This effect is, partly, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. But, really, the most significant thing remains the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable for descendants of the heads of state of America and the USSR would appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm with each other, has to be a sign of hope.

"We are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we got along immediately and we’re friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, following almost six decades of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now friends, so I think global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels with Present Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is because we now are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight in its history, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to learn