Following nearly annihilating the planet, the families have become allies’: the gripping podcast from John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, humanity came nearer toward ruin than at any other point during the contemporary era. This transpired when a US surveillance plane identified that Russian nuclear weapon sites were being built in the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the US mainland. In response, President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval quarantine encircling the island. The ensuing period constituted almost two weeks filled with extreme stress.

The Catastrophic Threat

The threat remained palpable. If President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a cascade of worldwide atomic strikes and retaliatory strikes would have followed, thrusting humanity into total ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered endlessly, through books, films, as well as television programmes. But, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents a completely new dimension to the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders that, over two tense weeks, grasped the fate of the planet within their grasp.

"What was the Russians planning? What was the American side thinking?" questions Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and an academic of international affairs.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast is its attempt to objectively ask: "How can individuals detest one another and confront one another?"

"I am acutely aware how profound it is that people can be friends or else have the potential to be total enemies," states Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and now a writer as well as attorney. "History shows this repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid it is to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Disaster

What is remarkable regarding this event was that, since it transpired so publicly, people globally were able to observe nearly as it happened while it moved closer to armageddon. However, the risk of destruction came closer than what most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike followed by a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would have fired a nuclear warhead at the American ships, which would have sunk our naval vessels and sunk our largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, who succeeded in remain calm and calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors around them demanded action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American similar weapons from Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was the sense of hope.

A Different Viewpoint

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world in the years following these events, with Nina being taught about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which painted a slightly different version of what happened.

"You said your parent remembers it, describing it as a frightening day," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly wonderful or sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, because it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, and avoided a global war, seen as a wonderful thing," she continues. Subsequently, however, that interpretation was not shared by everybody. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so balanced and expertly crafted that Nina quips it almost made her forget she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of historians. But, really, the most momentous aspect remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable for relatives of the leaders of America and Soviet Union would appear together publicly. That these two individuals can do that, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a sign of progress.

"We aren't the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame because we got along really well and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, after almost six decades since almost destroying the world, our families have become friends, suggesting the world is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels with Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason why this series feels so necessary is that we now are living living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to be able to grasp