Following almost destroying our world, our families have become friends’: the gripping audio series from John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, the planet came nearer toward destruction more so than ever during modern times. This transpired after a US reconnaissance plane discovered the fact that Russian nuclear weapon sites were being assembled in Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a maritime quarantine encircling the island. The ensuing period was nearly a fortnight of impossible tension.

The Unthinkable Danger

The threat was obvious. If President Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on their enemy, a cascade of global atomic attacks and counterstrikes would have followed, thrusting humanity into total oblivion.

The October crisis has been documented endlessly, in books, movies, and television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" presents a completely new dimension to the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the figures who, over two tense weeks, held the fate of humanity in their hands.

"What was the Russians thinking? What was the United States considering?" questions Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and a professor specializing in international affairs.

For her, the strength of the podcast is its endeavor to explore: "How can people hate each other to the point they go against one another?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable the fact that people have the potential to be allies or can become complete adversaries," states Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and currently a writer as well as attorney. "We see this dynamic over and over in instances where nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid it is to engage in warfare."

A Brink of Disaster

What’s striking about this event was that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, citizens around the world could watch nearly as it happened while it moved towards armageddon. Nonetheless, the threat of destruction came closer than most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the naval blockade, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would have deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, which would have sunk our naval vessels and sunk America's primary naval force. And, we would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements around them was pushing for action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in Cuba while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed his missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Still, during those two weeks in October, the fear was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born in the years following these events, with Nina being taught about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which portrayed a slightly different picture of what happened.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was always fine or sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed what a great moment it was, as it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, and avoided a global war, which was a positive outcome," she adds. In the years to come, though, that view would not be held by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is so balanced , well produced that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This is, partly, due to contributions from historians. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking thing is the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union would appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a sign of progress.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Max. "Which is a shame because we got along immediately and we’re friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following nearly six decades of almost destroying the world, our families are now friends, so I think the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Parallels and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of why this series feels so necessary is that we now find ourselves living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to be able to grasp