Following almost annihilating the planet, our relatives are allies’: a gripping audio series from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, the world came closer toward annihilation than at any other point during the contemporary era. This transpired when an American reconnaissance aircraft discovered that Soviet nuclear weapon installations were being built in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK directed a naval task force to establish a maritime quarantine around the island. The next phase constituted nearly a fortnight of impossible tension.

An Catastrophic Danger

The danger was clear. If Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a chain reaction involving global atomic attacks and counterstrikes might have followed, thrusting humanity into total ruination.

The October crisis has been examined endlessly, through books, films, as well as television programmes. But, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb presents a novel element into this historical narrative. It is co-presented by Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the figures who, over two tense weeks, held the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Soviet side planning? What was the American side thinking?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and an academic of international affairs.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can individuals detest one another to the point they oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable it is that individuals have the potential to be allies or can become complete adversaries," states Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now a writer as well as lawyer. "We see this repeatedly in instances where countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s striking about this event is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, people worldwide were able to observe almost as it happened as it edged towards catastrophe. However, the threat of destruction was more imminent than what anybody realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and an invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans using the naval blockade, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would have launched a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, and that would've destroyed the aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's primary naval force. And, the U.S. would have responded through massive retaliation which would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in remain calm and calmly negotiate when hawkish elements in their governments demanded action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of optimism.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, for those 13 days of October 1962, the tension was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, and Nina learned about it through the USSR's school curriculum, which presented a slightly different version of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system we were told that everything was always wonderful or positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed 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 the war, which was a positive thing," she adds. Later on, though, that interpretation was not held by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a setback for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is remarkably even-handed and well produced that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This is, partly, due to contributions from renowned scholars. But, really, the most groundbreaking aspect is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of America and the USSR to appear side by side. That these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a sign of optimism.

"We are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, my uncle moved to America where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Max. "Which is a shame because we connected really well and now we are friends, which is really great. Ultimately, after almost 60 years since nearly annihilating the planet, our families are now friends, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."

Modern Parallels and Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why this series feels so necessary is because we now are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight in its history, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to grasp