Following nearly annihilating the planet, our families are allies’: the gripping audio series featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, the planet veered closer toward annihilation than at any other point in the contemporary era. This happened when a US reconnaissance aircraft discovered the fact that Russian atomic missile sites were under construction on Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of American soil. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK commanded a naval task force to establish a naval quarantine around the island. What followed constituted nearly 14 days of extreme tension.

The Unthinkable Danger

The peril remained palpable. If President Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a chain reaction involving global nuclear attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have followed, casting humanity into all-out destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented endlessly, in volumes, films, and TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb has brought a completely new perspective into the story. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the men that, over two tense weeks, held the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side planning? What were Washington planning?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and a professor specializing in global relations.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast is its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can nations detest one another and oppose each other?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that people can be friends or have the potential to be complete adversaries," states Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and currently an author and lawyer. "History shows this dynamic over and over when countries enter into conflict, highlighting the sheer folly it is to fight."

The Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s notable regarding this event is that, since it transpired so publicly, citizens globally were able to observe almost as it happened while it crept closer to disaster. However, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than what most people realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and a ground invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would've launched a nuclear warhead against the American ships, and that would've obliterated our aircraft carriers as well as sunk our largest and most important fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to keep their heads and calmly negotiate when hawkish elements around them were advocating military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (although not reported then) withdrew his similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, matched by a feeling of hope.

A Divergent Perspective

Yet, for those 13 days of October 1962, the anxiety was felt globally. The podcast's co-hosts were born shortly after these events, and Nina learned about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which presented a slightly different picture of events.

"You said your parent remembers it, describing it as a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union we were told that things are constantly fine or sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, seen as a positive outcome," she adds. Later on, though, that interpretation would not be held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is remarkably balanced and expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This effect is, partly, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. But, truly, the most momentous aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of America and Soviet Union would appear together publicly. That these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"We are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Max. "Which is unfortunate because we got along really well and now we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, following almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the planet, our families are now friends, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes and Present Perils

Or is it? Part of the reason this series feels so necessary is because we now are living living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to comprehend