Following nearly annihilating the planet, our relatives are friends’: a thrilling podcast featuring JFK and Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, humanity veered nearer to ruin than at any other point in recent history. This transpired following the discovery that an American reconnaissance aircraft discovered the fact that Russian atomic missile bases were being built on the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles from the United States. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy ordered a naval task force to enact a maritime blockade around Cuba. The ensuing period was nearly 14 days filled with extreme stress.

An Catastrophic Threat

The peril was palpable. Should President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on the other side, a cascade involving worldwide nuclear strikes and counterstrikes could have followed, thrusting humanity toward all-out destruction.

The October crisis has been documented repeatedly, in books, movies, and television programmes. But, for its third season, the audio documentary series The Bomb introduces a completely new element to the story. It is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the men who, over two tense weeks, controlled the fate of the world in their hands.

"What was the Kremlin considering? What was the United States planning?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant who is also a professor of global relations.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its attempt to question: "How can nations hate each other to the point they go against one another?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that people have the potential to be allies or have the potential to be complete enemies," states Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and currently an author as well as attorney. "We see this dynamic over and over in instances where nations enter into conflict, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

A Brink Towards Disaster

What is notable about the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it transpired so publicly, citizens worldwide could watch almost in real time while it crept towards disaster. Even so, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike and an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the naval blockade, it is certain Soviet forces on the ground would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've sunk our naval vessels and sunk our largest and most important fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they succeeded in keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them demanded military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was the sense of optimism.

A Different Viewpoint

Still, during those 13 days in October, the tension was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world shortly after the crisis, and Nina being taught about it via the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different narrative of events.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly fine or sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, thus avoided the war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she adds. Subsequently, however, that perspective would not be held by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up America."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed and well produced so much so that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from historians. But, truly, the most significant thing remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union would appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals can do that, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a sign of hope.

"We aren't the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we connected really well and we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, following nearly 60 years of almost destroying the planet, our lineages are now allies, suggesting the world is safer, a little bit."

Modern Echoes with Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is because we now are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend