Following almost annihilating our world, our relatives are allies’: the thrilling podcast from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the planet veered closer toward annihilation than at any other point in recent history. This occurred after an American surveillance aircraft identified the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon sites were being built on Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval quarantine encircling the island. What followed constituted almost 14 days of extreme anxiety.

The Unthinkable Threat

The danger was palpable. If President Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a series of worldwide atomic attacks and retaliatory strikes might have ensued, plunging civilization toward all-out destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined repeatedly, in volumes, films, as well as television programmes. But, in its latest installment, the audio documentary series The Bomb has brought an unprecedented element into the story. The series is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the men that, over two tense weeks, held the fate of the world within their grasp.

"What was the Soviet side planning? What were the United States thinking?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and a professor specializing in international affairs.

For her, the strength of the show is its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do people detest each other and oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that individuals can be allies or else have the potential to be complete adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now an author as well as lawyer. "We see this repeatedly when nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid it is to engage in warfare."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, people around the world could watch almost in real time while it moved closer to catastrophe. However, the risk of destruction was more imminent than anybody understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the naval blockade, undoubtedly the Russians on the ground would've fired a nuclear warhead against the American ships, which would've sunk our aircraft carriers as well as sunk our largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, they succeeded in exercise restraint and engaging in diplomacy when everyone in their governments were advocating military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from Cuba while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew American missiles based in Turkey. The relief was worldwide, as was a feeling of hope.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The podcast's presenters came into the world shortly after the crisis, with Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis via the USSR's school curriculum, which presented a slightly different picture of what happened.

"You said your parent remembers it, and it was a frightening day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was constantly fine or sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, it was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, and didn’t start a global war, which was a positive thing," she adds. In the years to come, though, that perspective would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so even-handed , well produced that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This effect is, partly, due to the participation of renowned scholars. But, truly, the most momentous thing is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable for relatives of the leaders of America and the USSR would appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, has to be a sign of optimism.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," adds Max. "Which is a shame since we connected really well and we are friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, following nearly six decades since nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now friends, so I think global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Echoes and Present Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason this series feels so necessary is because we once again are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, partly since today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to learn