‘After nearly destroying the planet, our families have become allies’: a gripping podcast from JFK & Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, humanity veered nearer to destruction more so than ever during recent history. This occurred when a US surveillance plane found that Russian atomic missile sites were being assembled on the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy ordered a naval task force to enact a naval quarantine encircling the island. The next phase was almost 14 days of extreme anxiety.

An Unthinkable Danger

The threat was obvious. If President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a chain reaction of worldwide nuclear attacks and retaliatory strikes would have followed, casting civilization toward all-out ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented repeatedly, in books, movies, as well as TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb introduces an unprecedented perspective to the story. It is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the figures who, over two tense weeks, controlled the fate of the world in their hands.

"What were the Soviet side thinking? What were the American side thinking?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also a professor specializing in global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its attempt to explore: "How can people hate each other to the point they confront each other?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable the fact that individuals have the potential to be friends or else can become total enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to JFK and currently an author and attorney. "History shows this over and over in instances where countries enter into conflict, highlighting how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

A Brink of Disaster

What’s notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it unfolded in the global spotlight, people globally could watch almost in real time while it moved closer to disaster. However, the threat of destruction was more imminent than most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would have launched a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have sunk the aircraft carriers and destroyed America's largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have responded through an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended all life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to both leaders, who managed to keep their heads and calmly negotiate when everyone in their governments demanded action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American missiles from Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of hope.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, during those two weeks in October, the tension was felt globally. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world in the years following the crisis, and Nina being taught about it via the Soviet school curriculum, which painted an alternative version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was always wonderful and sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, it was different. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, and avoided the war, which was a wonderful outcome," she adds. In the years to come, though, that perspective would not be held by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so even-handed , well produced that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. But, really, the most significant aspect remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union would appear side by side. That these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a sign of progress.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle moved to America and 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 immediately and we’re friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, after nearly 60 years of almost destroying the world, our lineages have become friends, suggesting global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of why The Bomb seems so urgent is because we once again find ourselves living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight in its history, partly since world leaders appear not to be able to learn