Following nearly annihilating our planet, our families have become friends’: a gripping podcast featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, the planet edged closer toward destruction than at any other point in recent history. This occurred following the discovery that an American reconnaissance aircraft found that Russian nuclear weapon installations were being assembled on Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, President JFK commanded a naval task force to enact a naval quarantine around the island. The ensuing period constituted almost a fortnight filled with unbearable stress.

An Catastrophic Threat

The danger remained clear. If Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a chain reaction of global nuclear attacks and counterstrikes might have ensued, thrusting humanity into all-out destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered extensively, in books, films, as well as TV documentaries. However, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb presents a novel element into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented by Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the men who, over two tense weeks, grasped the fate of the planet within their grasp.

"What was the Russians thinking? What were the United States planning?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and a professor specializing in global relations.

For her, the strength of the show is its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do nations detest one another to the point they go against each other?"

"It struck me how profound it is that individuals can be allies or can become total adversaries," adds Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to the late president and currently a writer and lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink of Catastrophe

What is remarkable about the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, individuals around the world could watch nearly as it happened as it crept closer to armageddon. Nonetheless, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans using the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces stationed there would have fired a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, which would have obliterated the aircraft carriers and destroyed our primary fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have ended all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to both leaders, they succeeded in remain calm and engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements around them was pushing for military action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American similar weapons from Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of hope.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about it via the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed an alternative version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, describing it as a frightening day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system we were told that everything was always fine and sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, it was different. "I was informed what a great moment it was, as it represented a direct confrontation. They were able to resolve it, thus avoided the war, seen as a positive thing," she continues. Subsequently, however, that perspective was not held by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed and well produced so much so that Nina quips it almost made her forget the known outcome. This is, partly, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. But, truly, the most significant thing is the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for descendants of the leaders of America and Soviet Union would appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

"We are not the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame because we connected immediately and we’re friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, following nearly six decades since almost destroying the world, our families have become allies, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes and Present Perils

Or is it? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is that we once again are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to grasp