Following nearly annihilating our planet, our relatives are friends’: the gripping podcast featuring JFK and Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, the world veered nearer toward destruction more so than ever in the contemporary era. This transpired following the discovery that an American reconnaissance aircraft identified the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon bases were under construction in the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles from American soil. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded a naval task force to enact a maritime quarantine encircling the island. What followed was almost two weeks of extreme tension.

The Catastrophic Threat

The peril was clear. Should President Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on the other side, a chain reaction of global nuclear strikes and counterstrikes could have followed, plunging mankind into total ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined repeatedly, through books, movies, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents a completely new element into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the figures who, over 13 days, grasped the fate of the world within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin considering? What was the United States planning?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and a professor of international affairs.

For her, the unique appeal of the show is its attempt to explore: "How can people detest one another and confront one another?"

"It was not lost on me how spectacular the fact that individuals can be allies or else have the potential to be total enemies," states Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now an author and lawyer. "We see this repeatedly in instances where countries have gone to war, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid it is to fight."

The Precipice of Disaster

What is notable about this event was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, people worldwide could watch nearly as it happened as it crept closer to catastrophe. Even so, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and a ground invasion," says Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces on the ground would've deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, which would have destroyed the aircraft carriers and destroyed America's largest and most important fleet. And, we would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in exercise restraint while engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the missiles from Cuba while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of hope.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Still, during those 13 days of October 1962, the anxiety was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis via the Soviet education system, which presented an alternative picture of events.

"You said your father recalls it, and it was a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly fine or sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus didn’t start a global war, seen as a positive thing," she continues. In the years to come, however, that perspective would not be shared by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up America."

A Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is so even-handed and well produced that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from historians. But, truly, the most significant thing is the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable that relatives of the leaders of America and the USSR would appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a symbol of hope.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America and became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame because we got along really well and we are friends, which is wonderful. Finally, after almost six decades of nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages are now friends, so I think global relations is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Dangers

Or is it? Part of why The Bomb seems so urgent is because we now are living living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to midnight than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to learn