Following almost annihilating the world, the families are friends’: the thrilling audio series featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, humanity edged nearer to ruin than at any other point during recent history. This happened when a US reconnaissance aircraft found the fact that Russian nuclear missile sites were being assembled on the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of American soil. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded a naval task force to establish a naval blockade encircling the island. What followed constituted almost 14 days filled with impossible anxiety.

An Unthinkable Threat

The danger was clear. Should President Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a cascade of worldwide atomic strikes and retaliatory strikes would have ensued, thrusting humanity into total oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered repeatedly, through volumes, films, as well as television programmes. However, for its third season, the audio documentary series The Bomb presents a completely new element into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the figures that, over 13 days, grasped the destiny of the world in their hands.

"What were the Russians thinking? What was the American side thinking?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and a professor of international affairs.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast is its attempt to explore: "How can nations hate each other and go against one another?"

"I am acutely aware how profound it is that people have the potential to be friends or have the potential to be complete adversaries," adds Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to JFK and currently a writer and attorney. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when countries have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

The Precipice of Catastrophe

What is striking about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it unfolded so publicly, individuals worldwide were able to observe almost as it happened while it moved towards disaster. Nonetheless, the danger of destruction came closer than what anybody realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans with the naval blockade, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would have launched a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, which would've obliterated our naval vessels as well as sunk America's largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t is a testament to both leaders, they succeeded in remain calm while calmly negotiate at a time when everyone around them demanded military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in Cuba and Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of optimism.

A Different Viewpoint

Still, during those two weeks of October 1962, the fear was palpable globally. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world shortly after these events, and Nina learned about it through the USSR's education system, which presented an alternative version of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware a great deal about it, because it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system we were told that everything was always wonderful and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion 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 outcome," she continues. In the years to come, though, that interpretation would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a setback for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known the ending. This effect is, in part, thanks to contributions from historians. Yet, really, the most significant thing remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that descendants of the leaders of America and the Soviet Union to appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals can do that, and be so warm with each other, has to be a sign of progress.

"Max and I aren't the first," smiles Nina. "After 1991, a relative moved to America where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "Which is unfortunate because we got along immediately and we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, following nearly six decades since almost destroying the world, our lineages have become friends, so I think global relations is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes and Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is because we now are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to grasp