Following nearly destroying the planet, our relatives are friends’: the thrilling podcast from JFK and Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, the world veered closer toward ruin more so than ever in modern times. This happened after a US surveillance aircraft discovered that Russian atomic weapon bases were being built on Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of American soil. In response, President John F Kennedy ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a naval blockade around Cuba. What followed was nearly 14 days filled with extreme tension.

The Unthinkable Danger

The danger was palpable. If President Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire against the other side, a series involving global nuclear attacks followed by counterstrikes might have ensued, casting civilization into total oblivion.

The October crisis has been documented endlessly, through volumes, movies, as well as TV documentaries. However, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents a completely new perspective into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the figures that, for two tense weeks, held the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Soviet side considering? What was the United States considering?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also an academic of global relations.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its attempt to question: "How can individuals detest each other to the point they go against one another?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable the fact that humans have the potential to be friends or else can become complete enemies," adds Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now an author and attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when nations have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly involved to fight."

The Precipice Towards Disaster

What is remarkable about the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it unfolded so publicly, citizens globally could watch almost in real time as it crept towards catastrophe. Even so, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than what anybody understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for an airstrike followed by an invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would've fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, which would have obliterated the aircraft carriers and destroyed America's largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended most life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, who succeeded in exercise restraint and engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements in their governments were advocating military action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew his similar weapons from Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Still, for those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was palpable globally. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed an alternative picture of events.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, and it was a scary time," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, the public were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was constantly fine or positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus didn’t start a global war, seen as a positive thing," she continues. Later on, however, that interpretation would not be held by everybody. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably balanced , well produced so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This effect is, partly, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. But, really, the most significant thing is the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. That these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a sign of hope.

"We aren't the pioneers," smiles Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame because we got along immediately and now we are friends, which is wonderful. Finally, following almost six decades of almost destroying the world, our lineages have become allies, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."

Modern Parallels and Current Perils

Or is it? One reason why The Bomb 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 today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to grasp