Following almost annihilating our planet, our relatives are friends’: the gripping podcast from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, humanity came closer to destruction than at any other point in the contemporary era. This happened when an American surveillance aircraft found the fact that Russian atomic missile sites were being assembled in Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, President John F Kennedy ordered a naval task force to establish a naval quarantine encircling the island. The ensuing period constituted almost a fortnight of impossible anxiety.

The Unthinkable Danger

The peril remained palpable. If Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire against the other side, a cascade of global nuclear attacks and counterstrikes might have followed, thrusting civilization toward total ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered repeatedly, in books, films, as well as television programmes. However, for its third season, the audio documentary series The Bomb presents a completely new element into the story. The series is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the figures who, over two tense weeks, controlled the fate of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side considering? What was the United States planning?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and an academic of international affairs.

For her, the strength of the podcast lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can people detest each other and go against each other?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable the fact that individuals have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be total adversaries," adds Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this dynamic over and over when nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality it is to fight."

A Brink Towards Catastrophe

What’s striking about the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, individuals worldwide could watch almost as it happened while it crept towards disaster. However, the risk of destruction was more imminent than most people realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would've fired a nuclear warhead at the American ships, and that would've destroyed our naval vessels as well as sunk America's largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have responded through an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended all life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them was pushing for action. Consequently, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles from Cuba while President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew American missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was a feeling of hope.

A Different Perspective

Yet, during those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was felt globally. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world shortly after these events, with Nina learned about it via the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different picture of events.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that everything was constantly wonderful and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment it was, because it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus didn’t start a global war, which was a positive thing," she continues. Later on, though, that perspective was not shared by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, partly, due to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable for relatives of the heads of state of America and the USSR to appear together publicly. That these two individuals can do that, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a symbol of progress.

"We are not the first," smiles Nina. "After 1991, a relative moved to America where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we had never met prior to this project," adds Max. "That is unfortunate since we got along really well and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, after nearly 60 years of almost destroying the world, our families are now allies, so I think global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Echoes with Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason this series feels so necessary is that we once again find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight in its history, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to comprehend