Following nearly annihilating the world, the relatives are allies’: a gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, the world veered closer to annihilation than at any other point in the contemporary era. This occurred when a US reconnaissance plane found the fact that Russian atomic weapon sites were being assembled on Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. In response, U.S. President JFK directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval quarantine around the island. The ensuing period was nearly a fortnight filled with extreme stress.

An Unthinkable Danger

The danger remained clear. Should Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a chain reaction involving worldwide nuclear strikes and counterstrikes might have ensued, plunging civilization toward total destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented repeatedly, through books, movies, and television programmes. However, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents an unprecedented element into this historical narrative. It is co-presented by Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the leaders who, for two tense weeks, grasped the fate of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Russians planning? What was the American side considering?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also a professor of international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the podcast is its attempt to question: "How can individuals detest each other and oppose each other?"

"It struck me how spectacular the fact that people have the potential to be friends or else have the potential to be complete adversaries," remarks Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now an author as well as lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, highlighting the profound irrationality it is to engage in warfare."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s notable about this event is that, because it transpired so publicly, citizens around the world could watch almost as it happened as it moved closer to disaster. Even so, the risk of destruction was more imminent than most people realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House wanted an airstrike and an invasion," says Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the naval blockade, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would've launched a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, which would've destroyed our naval vessels as well as destroyed America's largest and most important fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded through massive retaliation which would have ended all life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, who managed to remain calm while engaging in diplomacy when many advisors around them were advocating action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles from the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed American similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was the sense of hope.

A Different Viewpoint

Still, during those 13 days in October, the fear was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, with Nina learned about the crisis via the Soviet education system, which painted a slightly different version of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a frightening day," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly fine or sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was distinct. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, and avoided the war, which was a positive thing," she adds. In the years to come, however, that perspective would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed and well produced that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known the ending. This is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. But, really, the most significant aspect remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable for descendants of the heads of state of America and the USSR would appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a symbol of hope.

"We aren't the pioneers," smiles Nina. "After 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we had never met before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate because we connected really well and now we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, following nearly 60 years of almost destroying the world, our lineages have become allies, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels and Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason this series feels so necessary is because we now find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, partly since world leaders appear not to have the capacity to learn