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

In the month of October 1962, the planet veered nearer toward annihilation more so than ever during recent history. This happened following the discovery that an American surveillance aircraft found the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon installations were under construction on the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of American soil. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval blockade encircling Cuba. What followed constituted nearly 14 days of unbearable tension.

An Catastrophic Danger

The danger was obvious. Should President Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a cascade involving worldwide atomic attacks and counterstrikes would have followed, plunging humanity into all-out oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented endlessly, through volumes, movies, and television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb presents a novel perspective to the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the leaders who, for 13 days, controlled the destiny of humanity within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin planning? What were the United States thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also an academic of global relations.

For her, the beauty of the podcast is its attempt to explore: "How can individuals hate each other and oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how spectacular it is that individuals can be allies or have the potential to be complete adversaries," states Max Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and now an author as well as attorney. "We see this over and over when nations have gone to war, demonstrating the sheer folly involved to fight."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s striking regarding this event was that, since it transpired so publicly, people around the world were able to observe almost as it happened as it edged closer to armageddon. However, the danger of annihilation came closer than what most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, and that would have obliterated our aircraft carriers and destroyed America's primary fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded through an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements in their governments demanded action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, as was a feeling of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the fear was palpable globally. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva learned about the crisis via the Soviet education system, which presented an alternative version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a frightening day," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union we were told that things are always wonderful and positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, and avoided a global war, which was a positive outcome," she adds. Later on, though, that perspective was not shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up America."

A Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is so even-handed and expertly crafted that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most momentous thing remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable for descendants of the leaders of America and USSR would appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"We aren't the first," smiles Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America where he formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we had never met before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate because we got along really well and now we’re friends, which is wonderful. Finally, following almost six decades since almost destroying the planet, our families are now friends, suggesting global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels with Current Perils

Or is it? Part of why The Bomb feels so necessary is because we once again find ourselves in dark times. The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight than ever before, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to learn