‘After nearly annihilating our world, our relatives have become friends’: the thrilling podcast from John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, humanity came nearer toward annihilation than at any other point during modern times. This transpired after an American surveillance aircraft discovered the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon sites were being assembled in the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles from the United States. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval blockade around the island. The ensuing period constituted nearly a fortnight of unbearable stress.

An Unthinkable Threat

The threat was palpable. Should Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a chain reaction involving global atomic attacks and retaliatory strikes could have followed, casting civilization toward all-out ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered endlessly, in books, films, as well as TV documentaries. However, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents an unprecedented element into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the men who, for 13 days, held the fate of the world in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin planning? What was the American side considering?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor of global relations.

For her, the beauty of the show lies in its attempt to question: "Why do people detest one another to the point they go against one another?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable it is that individuals can be allies or can become complete adversaries," remarks Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of JFK and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, highlighting how unbelievably stupid it is to engage in warfare."

The Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s remarkable about this event is that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, people worldwide could watch almost as it happened while it edged closer to disaster. Nonetheless, the danger of destruction was more imminent than anybody realised.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba using the naval blockade, undoubtedly the Russians on the ground would've fired a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, which would have obliterated the naval vessels as well as destroyed America's primary naval force. In turn, we 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 succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements in their governments were advocating military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in Cuba while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed American missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by the sense of optimism.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, during those two weeks in October, the tension was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born shortly after these events, and Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which presented a slightly different picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father remembers it, and it was a frightening day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, because it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was always wonderful or positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, it was different. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, thus avoided the war, which was a wonderful outcome," she continues. In the years to come, however, that view would not be shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed , well produced so much so that Nina jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This is, in part, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. But, truly, the most significant thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable that descendants 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 be so warm with each other, has to be a symbol of optimism.

"We are not the first," smiles Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we got along really well and we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, after nearly 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages have become friends, suggesting the world is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes and Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why this series feels so necessary is because we once again are living living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because world leaders don’t seem to have the capacity to grasp