Following almost annihilating our planet, our families are allies’: a gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the planet came closer to destruction more so than ever in recent history. This happened after a US surveillance aircraft discovered that Soviet nuclear weapon sites were under construction in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed a naval task force to enact a maritime blockade around the island. The next phase was nearly two weeks filled with unbearable tension.

The Unthinkable Danger

The threat remained clear. Should Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against their enemy, a cascade involving global atomic strikes followed by counterstrikes might have followed, casting civilization toward total oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented endlessly, through volumes, films, as well as television programmes. However, for its third season, the audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" introduces an unprecedented dimension into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the figures who, over 13 days, grasped the fate of humanity within their grasp.

"What were the Russians planning? What was the United States thinking?" ponders Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also a professor of international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the show lies in its attempt to objectively ask: "How can individuals hate one another and confront one another?"

"I am acutely aware how spectacular the fact that people have the potential to be friends or have the potential to be total enemies," adds Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and currently a writer as well as attorney. "We see this repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, highlighting the profound irrationality it is to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Disaster

What’s notable regarding this event is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, individuals globally were able to observe almost as it happened as it edged towards armageddon. Nonetheless, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted a military strike and a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians on the ground would have deployed a nuclear warhead against the American ships, and that would've sunk the naval vessels as well as sunk America's largest and most important fleet. And, we would have responded with massive retaliation which would have ended all life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, who managed to exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy when many advisors in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (although not reported then) removed his similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was immense, matched by a feeling of optimism.

The Different Viewpoint

Still, during those two weeks of October 1962, the fear was palpable by everyone. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva learned about it through the USSR's school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different version of events.

"You said your parent remembers it, describing it as a frightening day," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always fine and sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, it was distinct. "They told me what a great occasion it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus avoided a global war, seen as a positive thing," she continues. Subsequently, though, that perspective was not held by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is so balanced and well produced that Nina jokes it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most significant aspect remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable for descendants of the heads of state of America and USSR to appear together publicly. 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 first," smiles Nina. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Max. "That is a shame since we connected immediately and we are friends, which is wonderful. Finally, following nearly six decades since nearly annihilating the world, our families are now friends, so I think global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Parallels with Present Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason this series feels so necessary is because we once again find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to be able to learn