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

During the month of October 1962, the planet edged closer toward destruction more so than ever during recent history. This transpired after a US surveillance aircraft found that Russian atomic missile sites were being assembled on the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime blockade encircling the island. What followed was nearly a fortnight of extreme tension.

An Unthinkable Danger

The danger remained clear. Should Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on the other side, a chain reaction involving worldwide nuclear attacks and counterstrikes would have ensued, casting civilization into total ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined endlessly, through books, movies, as well as TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb has brought a completely new dimension to the story. It is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the figures who, for 13 days, controlled the fate of the world in their hands.

"What were the Soviet side planning? What was the United States planning?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also a professor of global relations.

For her, the beauty of the podcast is its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can people hate each other and go against one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound it is that people have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be total enemies," adds Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now an author as well as lawyer. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, highlighting the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink Towards Disaster

What’s notable about this event was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, citizens globally could watch almost as it happened as it moved towards catastrophe. Nonetheless, the risk of destruction came closer than most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for a military strike followed by a ground invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces on the ground would've deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have sunk the naval vessels and sunk America's largest and most important naval force. And, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation which would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, they managed to keep their heads while engaging in diplomacy when everyone in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons from Cuba while Kennedy (although not reported then) removed his missiles from Turkey. The relief was immense, matched by a feeling of optimism.

A Different Viewpoint

Still, for those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was palpable by everyone. The podcast's presenters were born shortly after the crisis, and Nina learned about it via the USSR's school curriculum, which presented a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father remembers it, describing it as a frightening time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that things are always fine and positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, it was different. "They told me what a great occasion for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus avoided the war, which was a positive outcome," she continues. Later on, though, that interpretation was not held by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a setback for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is remarkably even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This is, in part, due to contributions from historians. Yet, really, the most significant aspect is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable for relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

"We are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame because we got along immediately and now we are friends, which is really great. Finally, following nearly six decades since almost destroying the world, our lineages have become friends, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels and Present Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why this series seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to comprehend