Following nearly annihilating the planet, the families have become friends’: the gripping podcast from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the world edged nearer to destruction more so than ever during recent history. This occurred after a US reconnaissance plane identified the fact that Soviet atomic missile bases were being built in Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval blockade encircling the island. What followed constituted nearly a fortnight of extreme anxiety.

An Unthinkable Threat

The peril was obvious. If Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on their enemy, a chain reaction involving global nuclear attacks followed by retaliatory strikes could have followed, casting mankind into all-out oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined endlessly, through books, movies, as well as TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents a completely new dimension to this historical narrative. It is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the men that, for 13 days, grasped the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

"What was the Russians thinking? What was the United States planning?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also an academic of global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the show lies in its endeavor to explore: "How can people hate each other to the point they oppose one another?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable it is that people have the potential to be allies or can become total enemies," remarks Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this over and over in instances where nations have gone to war, demonstrating the profound irrationality involved to fight."

The Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s remarkable regarding this event is that, since it unfolded so publicly, people globally were able to observe nearly as it happened as it edged towards disaster. Even so, the threat of destruction came closer than most people understood at the time.

"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 with the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces stationed there would have fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, which would've destroyed the aircraft carriers as well as sunk our primary naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended most life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to keep their heads while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone in their governments were advocating military action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew his missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of optimism.

A Divergent Perspective

Still, during those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which portrayed a slightly different version of events.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, and it was a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are always wonderful and sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective 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, thus avoided the war, seen as a wonderful thing," she adds. Subsequently, though, that view was not held by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying America."

An Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is remarkably balanced , well produced so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This is, partly, due to contributions from historians. Yet, truly, the most momentous aspect is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that relatives of the leaders of the United States and Soviet Union would appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we had never met prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate since we connected really well and we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, following almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages are now friends, so I think global relations is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes with Present Perils

Or is it? One reason why The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now are living living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, in part because world leaders don’t seem to have the capacity to learn