Following almost annihilating our world, our families are allies’: the gripping podcast from John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, humanity came nearer toward ruin than at any other point in modern times. This occurred when a US reconnaissance aircraft discovered the fact that Russian atomic missile sites were under construction in Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the United States. Reacting to this, President JFK directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime quarantine around Cuba. What followed constituted nearly two weeks of unbearable anxiety.

The Unthinkable Danger

The peril was palpable. Should Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on the other side, a cascade of global atomic strikes and retaliatory strikes might have ensued, plunging mankind toward total oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined endlessly, through volumes, movies, and television programmes. However, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents an unprecedented element into the story. It is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the men that, for 13 days, held the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

"What were the Soviet side planning? What was the United States thinking?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor of global relations.

For her, the strength of the podcast lies in its attempt to explore: "Why do people detest each other and oppose one another?"

"It struck me how profound the fact that people have the potential to be friends or can become total adversaries," adds Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now a writer as well as attorney. "History shows this over and over when countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What’s remarkable regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, people globally were able to observe nearly in real time while it crept closer to catastrophe. Nonetheless, the danger of destruction was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces on the ground would have fired a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, which would have obliterated the aircraft carriers and sunk America's largest and most important naval force. In turn, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation that would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, they succeeded in exercise restraint while calmly negotiate when everyone around them was pushing for action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in Cuba and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of optimism.

The Different Viewpoint

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the fear was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, with Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which painted an alternative picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, describing it as a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always fine or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion it was, because it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided a global war, seen as a positive outcome," she continues. Subsequently, however, that perspective was not shared by everybody. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a setback for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably balanced and expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most significant thing remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable for relatives of the leaders of America and Soviet Union to appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm toward one another, must be seen as a sign of progress.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, a relative moved to America where he formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," adds Max. "Which is unfortunate because we connected really well and we’re friends, which is wonderful. Finally, after almost six decades since nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now friends, suggesting the world is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Dangers

Or is it? Part of why The Bomb feels so necessary is that we now are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight than ever before, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to learn