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

In October 1962, the world came closer toward ruin more so than ever in the contemporary era. This occurred following the discovery that a US surveillance plane discovered the fact that Soviet atomic weapon installations were under construction on the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, President JFK ordered a naval task force to impose a naval quarantine around Cuba. What followed was nearly a fortnight of impossible tension.

An Unthinkable Danger

The peril remained palpable. Should President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on their enemy, a cascade involving worldwide nuclear strikes and counterstrikes would have ensued, plunging mankind into total ruination.

The October crisis has been examined repeatedly, through volumes, movies, as well as TV documentaries. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb introduces a completely new perspective to the story. The series is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the figures that, over two tense weeks, held the fate of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin considering? What was the United States thinking?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and an academic specializing in global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the podcast is its endeavor to explore: "How can individuals detest one another to the point they oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that individuals have the potential to be allies or have the potential to be total adversaries," states Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to JFK and currently an author and lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Disaster

What’s striking about this event was that, because it transpired so publicly, citizens worldwide were able to observe nearly in real time as it moved towards catastrophe. However, the danger of destruction was more imminent than most people realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," notes Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would have fired a nuclear warhead against the American ships, which would have obliterated our aircraft carriers and destroyed our largest and most important fleet. And, we would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of both leaders, who managed to keep their heads and calmly negotiate when many advisors in their governments were advocating military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from Cuba and President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew his missiles based in Turkey. The relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of optimism.

A Different Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the tension was palpable by everyone. The podcast's presenters came into the world in the years following these events, and Nina learned about it via the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different narrative of events.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, and it was a scary time," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know that much about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that everything was always wonderful or positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided the war, which was a positive thing," she adds. In the years to come, however, that view would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget the known the ending. This effect is, in part, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. But, truly, the most significant aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the USSR to appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a symbol of progress.

"We are not the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America where he formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we connected immediately and now we’re friends, which is wonderful. Finally, following almost 60 years since almost destroying the planet, our families have become allies, so I think the world is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels and Present Perils

Or is it? Part of the reason this series seems so urgent is because we now are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight in its history, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to comprehend