‘After almost destroying the planet, our relatives have become allies’: the thrilling audio series featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, the planet veered closer to annihilation than at any other point during recent history. This occurred following the discovery that a US surveillance aircraft discovered the fact that Soviet nuclear missile bases were being built in Cuba, a mere 100 miles from American soil. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval blockade encircling the island. What followed was almost a fortnight of extreme anxiety.

The Unthinkable Threat

The peril was clear. If President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a chain reaction of global nuclear strikes and retaliatory strikes might have ensued, casting mankind toward all-out ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented endlessly, through books, films, and television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb presents a completely new dimension into this historical narrative. It is co-presented by Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders who, over two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of humanity within their grasp.

"What was the Kremlin considering? What was the United States thinking?" ponders Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to explore: "How can people detest each other and go against one another?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that people can be allies or else can become total enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Catastrophe

What is notable about this event was that, since it unfolded so publicly, citizens globally were able to observe nearly as it happened as it edged closer to catastrophe. However, the danger of annihilation came closer than most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba with the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces stationed there would've launched a nuclear warhead against the American ships, which would have obliterated the naval vessels as well as sunk America's primary naval force. And, we would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended most life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, they succeeded in remain calm and engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements around them was pushing for military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles in Cuba while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed his missiles based in Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by a feeling of hope.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, during those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was palpable globally. The Bomb’s presenters were born shortly after the crisis, and Nina being taught about it via the USSR's school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, describing it as a frightening time," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly fine and sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, and avoided a global war, which was a wonderful outcome," she adds. In the years to come, however, that interpretation was not shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so even-handed , well produced so much so that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This is, partly, thanks to contributions from historians. But, really, the most momentous aspect remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of America and USSR to appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a sign of hope.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we got along really well and we’re friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following nearly six decades of nearly annihilating the world, our families are now allies, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes with Present Perils

Or is it? One reason why The Bomb feels so necessary is because we once again are living living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to comprehend