‘After nearly destroying our world, the relatives are friends’: a thrilling audio series featuring JFK and Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, the planet veered nearer to annihilation more so than ever in the contemporary era. This occurred following the discovery that an American surveillance plane discovered that Russian nuclear weapon bases were being built on Cuba, less than 100 miles from the US mainland. In response, President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime quarantine around the island. The next phase constituted nearly two weeks filled with extreme stress.

An Catastrophic Threat

The danger remained obvious. If President Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a chain reaction involving global nuclear attacks and counterstrikes might have ensued, thrusting humanity into total oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered endlessly, through books, movies, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, the audio documentary series The Bomb has brought an unprecedented element to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the men who, for two tense weeks, controlled the destiny of humanity within their grasp.

"What were the Soviet side planning? What were Washington considering?" questions Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also an academic of global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do individuals hate each other and oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable it is that individuals have the potential to be friends or else have the potential to be total adversaries," states Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations enter into conflict, demonstrating the profound irrationality it is to fight."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s notable regarding this event is that, since it unfolded so publicly, people worldwide were able to observe almost in real time while it moved closer to armageddon. Nonetheless, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than most people understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would've deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've obliterated our aircraft carriers as well as destroyed our primary naval force. And, we would have responded through massive retaliation which would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur is a testament to both leaders, who managed to exercise restraint while calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors around them was pushing for action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the missiles in the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed his missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by the sense of hope.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, for those 13 days in October, the anxiety was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following the crisis, and Nina being taught about it through the Soviet education system, which portrayed a slightly different version of events.

"You said your father recalls it, describing it as a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly fine or positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, as it was a direct confrontation. They were able to resolve it, and avoided the war, seen as a positive outcome," she adds. Later on, though, that view was not held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a setback for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is remarkably even-handed and well produced so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This is, in part, due to the participation of historians. But, truly, the most momentous thing remains the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and USSR to appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a sign of hope.

"We are not the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Max. "Which is a shame since we connected really well and we are friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, after nearly 60 years since nearly annihilating the planet, our families are now friends, so I think the world is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of why this series seems so urgent is that we now are living living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight than ever before, partly since world leaders appear not to have the capacity to grasp