Following nearly annihilating our world, our families have become friends’: the gripping podcast from John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the world edged closer toward ruin more so than ever in the contemporary era. This happened after an American reconnaissance aircraft discovered the fact that Russian nuclear weapon installations were being assembled in Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from American soil. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded a naval task force to establish a naval quarantine encircling Cuba. The next phase was nearly a fortnight filled with impossible anxiety.

The Catastrophic Danger

The peril was palpable. Should Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a series of global nuclear attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have ensued, casting civilization toward all-out oblivion.

The October crisis has been covered extensively, through books, movies, as well as television programmes. However, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series The Bomb has brought an unprecedented dimension into this historical narrative. It is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the leaders who, for two tense weeks, controlled the fate of the world in their hands.

"What was the Kremlin considering? What was Washington planning?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor of global relations.

For her, the strength of the podcast lies in its attempt to explore: "Why do individuals detest one another and oppose each other?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that humans have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be total enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and currently an author as well as lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly when countries enter into conflict, demonstrating the sheer folly involved to fight."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What is remarkable about the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it unfolded so publicly, people around the world could watch nearly as it happened while it moved towards armageddon. Nonetheless, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than most people realised.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would've deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, which would have destroyed the aircraft carriers as well as sunk America's largest and most important fleet. And, we would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur is a testament to both leaders, who managed to exercise restraint while calmly negotiate when many advisors around them demanded military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the missiles from Cuba while President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew American missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was a feeling of optimism.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, during those two weeks in October, the fear was felt by everyone. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following these events, with Nina being taught about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which presented an alternative picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, describing it as a frightening day," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was constantly fine or positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great moment it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, and didn’t start a global war, which was a wonderful thing," she adds. Subsequently, though, that view was not shared by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a failure for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is so balanced and expertly crafted so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known the ending. This is, in part, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking aspect is the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of America and the USSR would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a symbol of optimism.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is unfortunate because we connected immediately and we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, following almost 60 years since almost destroying the world, our lineages are now allies, suggesting the world is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Parallels with Current Perils

Or is it? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is because we once again are living living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to comprehend