Following almost annihilating the planet, the families are allies’: the gripping podcast featuring JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, humanity came nearer to annihilation more so than ever during recent history. This occurred when an American reconnaissance aircraft discovered that Soviet nuclear weapon installations were being built on Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime quarantine around Cuba. What followed constituted nearly a fortnight filled with unbearable anxiety.

The Unthinkable Threat

The threat remained clear. Should President Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a series involving global atomic attacks and retaliatory strikes would have ensued, plunging mankind toward total ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented extensively, through books, movies, as well as television programmes. But, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series The Bomb has brought a completely new element into the story. It is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the men that, for 13 days, controlled the destiny of the world within their grasp.

"What were the Soviet side considering? What was the American side planning?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and a professor of international affairs.

For her, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do individuals hate one another to the point they oppose one another?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable the fact that individuals can be allies or have the potential to be complete adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now a writer as well as attorney. "We see this dynamic over and over when nations have gone to war, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

The Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What’s striking about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it transpired so publicly, citizens globally could watch nearly in real time while it crept towards disaster. Nonetheless, the threat of destruction came closer than what most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for an airstrike and a ground invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would've launched a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, and that would've destroyed the naval vessels as well as sunk America's largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to keep their heads and calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors in their governments demanded military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles in the Caribbean island and Kennedy (although not reported then) withdrew his similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The relief was immense, matched by the sense of hope.

A Divergent Perspective

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was felt globally. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following these events, and Nina being taught about it through the Soviet school curriculum, which painted a slightly different version of what happened.

"You said your father recalls it, describing it as a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was always wonderful and sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start a global war, seen as a wonderful thing," she continues. In the years to come, though, that view was not shared by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a setback for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying America."

A Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so balanced , expertly crafted that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known the ending. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from renowned scholars. But, really, the most significant aspect is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable for relatives of the leaders of the United States and USSR would appear together publicly. That these two individuals can do that, and be so warm with each other, has to be a symbol of hope.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, my uncle moved to America and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Max. "Which is unfortunate because we connected immediately and now we’re friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, after nearly six decades of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now allies, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."

Modern Parallels with Present Perils

Or is it? One reason the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is because we now find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to comprehend