Following nearly annihilating our world, our relatives are friends’: a gripping podcast from John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, humanity veered nearer to annihilation than at any other point in recent history. This occurred when an American reconnaissance plane identified that Soviet nuclear missile sites were being assembled on Cuba, less than 100 miles from the US mainland. Reacting to this, President JFK commanded a naval task force to enact a maritime quarantine encircling Cuba. What followed constituted almost 14 days of impossible anxiety.

An Catastrophic Danger

The peril remained obvious. Should President Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against their enemy, a series involving global nuclear strikes and counterstrikes could have followed, plunging mankind into all-out ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered extensively, through volumes, movies, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" introduces an unprecedented dimension into the story. It is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders who, for two tense weeks, grasped the fate of humanity in their hands.

"What was the Kremlin planning? What was the United States thinking?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the podcast lies in its attempt to explore: "How can nations hate each other and confront one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that people can be friends or else can become complete adversaries," adds Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and now an author as well as lawyer. "We see this repeatedly in instances where nations have gone to war, highlighting how unbelievably stupid it is to engage in warfare."

A Brink of Disaster

What is striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it unfolded so publicly, people globally were able to observe nearly in real time while it crept closer to armageddon. Even so, the danger of destruction came closer than what most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians on the ground would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, which would've sunk the aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to keep their heads while calmly negotiate at a time when everyone in their governments was pushing for military action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles from the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew his missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by a feeling of optimism.

The Divergent Perspective

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was felt globally. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world in the years following these events, with Nina being taught about it through the Soviet education system, which presented an alternative version of events.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, and it was a scary day," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, the public really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly fine and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, because it was a direct confrontation. They were able to find a solution, and didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. In the years to come, however, that view would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a setback for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so balanced , expertly crafted that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking thing remains the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for relatives of the leaders of America and the USSR to appear side by side. 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 symbol of optimism.

"Max and I are not the first," smiles Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America where he formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we had never met before the podcast," adds Max. "That is unfortunate since we got along really well and we are friends, which is wonderful. Finally, after nearly 60 years since nearly annihilating the world, our lineages have become allies, so I think the world is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels with Current Perils

Or is it? Part of the reason this series seems so urgent is that we once again find ourselves living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to midnight than ever before, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to learn