Following almost destroying our planet, our relatives are friends’: the gripping podcast from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, the planet came nearer to ruin more so than ever in the contemporary era. This occurred following the discovery that a US surveillance plane identified the fact that Soviet nuclear missile sites were under construction in the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy ordered a naval task force to impose a maritime quarantine encircling Cuba. The ensuing period was almost two weeks of unbearable anxiety.

An Catastrophic Danger

The peril was clear. Should President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on the other side, a cascade of worldwide nuclear attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have followed, thrusting humanity into all-out oblivion.

The October crisis has been documented extensively, in volumes, movies, and television programmes. However, for its third season, the audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents a novel perspective to this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives belonging to the men who, for two tense weeks, held the destiny of the world in their hands.

"What were the Russians considering? What were Washington planning?" ponders Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and an academic of international affairs.

In her view, the beauty of the podcast lies in its attempt to question: "Why do people detest one another to the point they go against each other?"

"It struck me how spectacular the fact that people can be friends or else have the potential to be complete enemies," adds Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of the late president and now an author as well as lawyer. "We see this dynamic repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, highlighting the sheer folly it is to fight."

The Precipice of Disaster

What is remarkable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it transpired so publicly, people around the world could watch nearly in real time while it crept towards disaster. Even so, the danger of annihilation came closer than what anybody understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike and an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians on the ground would have fired a nuclear warhead against the American ships, and that would have sunk our aircraft carriers and sunk our primary fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated with massive retaliation which would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to both leaders, they managed to keep their heads and calmly negotiate when many advisors around them were advocating military action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) withdrew American similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by a feeling of hope.

The Divergent Perspective

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was felt globally. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following the crisis, with Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the Soviet education system, which presented a slightly different version of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, describing it as a scary time," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly fine or positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful thing," she adds. Subsequently, however, that interpretation was not held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a failure for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is remarkably even-handed , well produced that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of historians. Yet, really, the most significant aspect remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of America and the USSR would appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a symbol of hope.

"We aren't the pioneers," notes Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we got along immediately and we’re friends, which is really great. Finally, following nearly 60 years of almost destroying the world, our lineages have become friends, suggesting global relations is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes and Current Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of 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 midnight in its history, partly since world leaders don’t seem to have the capacity to comprehend