Following almost destroying the planet, our relatives are friends’: the gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the planet came closer to annihilation than at any other point during recent history. This happened following the discovery that a US surveillance plane found the fact that Russian atomic weapon sites were being assembled on the island of Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime quarantine around Cuba. The ensuing period was nearly two weeks of extreme anxiety.

The Catastrophic Danger

The threat was obvious. Should Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on the other side, a series of global atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes might have ensued, plunging mankind into all-out destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented repeatedly, through books, films, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, the audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents a completely new element to the story. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the men who, over 13 days, controlled the fate of the world in their hands.

"What was the Russians planning? What was the United States planning?" ponders Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and an academic specializing in global relations.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do individuals hate each other and oppose each other?"

"I am acutely aware how profound it is that people have the potential to be friends or else can become total enemies," remarks Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and now an author as well as lawyer. "History shows this over and over in instances where countries enter into conflict, highlighting the profound irrationality it is to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Disaster

What is notable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, citizens around the world could watch almost as it happened while it crept towards disaster. However, the danger of destruction came closer than what anybody realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House wanted a military strike and an invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba with the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would've deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, which would've destroyed our aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's primary naval force. And, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t is a testament to both leaders, they succeeded in remain calm and calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements around them demanded action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (although not reported then) removed American similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was the sense of optimism.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, during those two weeks of October 1962, the fear was palpable globally. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following the crisis, with Khrushcheva learned about it via the USSR's school curriculum, which presented a slightly different picture of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a frightening time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly fine or sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great occasion it was, as it represented a direct confrontation. They were able to resolve it, thus avoided a global war, which was a wonderful outcome," she adds. In the years to come, however, that perspective would not be shared by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up America."

A Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so balanced , well produced so much so that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, partly, due to contributions from renowned scholars. But, really, the most groundbreaking thing is the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable that relatives of the leaders of America and Soviet Union to appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a symbol of progress.

"We aren't the first," notes Nina. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"But we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame because we got along immediately and we are friends, which is really great. Ultimately, after almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our families have become allies, suggesting the world is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes and Current Dangers

Or is it? One reason the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is that we once again are living living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to learn