Following nearly destroying the planet, our families are friends’: the thrilling podcast from John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, the planet veered closer toward ruin than at any other point during recent history. This happened when a US reconnaissance aircraft discovered the fact that Russian atomic weapon installations were being assembled on the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a naval blockade around the island. The next phase was almost two weeks of impossible anxiety.

An Unthinkable Threat

The peril was clear. If Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a chain reaction of global atomic strikes and counterstrikes would have followed, casting humanity toward all-out oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered repeatedly, in volumes, films, as well as television programmes. However, for its third season, the audio documentary series The Bomb introduces a novel dimension into this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the leaders that, for 13 days, held the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What were the Soviet side thinking? What were the United States planning?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also a professor specializing in global relations.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do nations hate one another to the point they go against one another?"

"It was not lost on me how spectacular the fact that people can be friends or else have the potential to be total adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and currently a writer and lawyer. "History shows this over and over when countries enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink of Disaster

What’s remarkable about this event was that, since it unfolded so publicly, people worldwide could watch nearly in real time while it crept towards catastrophe. However, the threat of annihilation came closer than what most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike and an invasion," explains Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba using the naval blockade, there is no question the Russians stationed there would have fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, which would have sunk our aircraft carriers as well as sunk America's primary naval force. In turn, we would have responded with massive retaliation which would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to remain calm and calmly negotiate when everyone in their governments were advocating military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was immense, as was a feeling of hope.

A Different Perspective

Still, during those two weeks in October, the tension was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, with Nina learned about it via the USSR's education system, which portrayed a slightly different narrative of events.

"You said your parent remembers it, describing it as a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly fine and sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, it was distinct. "They told me what a great moment it was, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, and avoided the war, which was a positive outcome," she adds. Subsequently, however, that interpretation would not be shared by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up America."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget she already knew outcome. This is, partly, due to the participation of historians. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking thing remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and USSR to appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a symbol of hope.

"We are not the first," smiles Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Max. "That is a shame because we got along really well and now we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, following nearly 60 years since almost destroying the world, our lineages are now friends, so I think the world is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes and Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason this series feels so necessary is because we now are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe in its history, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to grasp