Following almost destroying the planet, our families are friends’: a gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the planet veered nearer to ruin than at any other point during recent history. This transpired following the discovery that a US surveillance plane identified that Russian atomic missile sites were being assembled on the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles from the United States. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime quarantine around Cuba. What followed was almost two weeks of extreme anxiety.

An Unthinkable Danger

The peril remained obvious. Should Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on their enemy, a series involving worldwide nuclear attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have ensued, casting civilization toward total ruination.

The October crisis has been examined extensively, in volumes, films, and TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent audio documentary series The Bomb introduces a novel perspective to the story. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the leaders who, for two tense weeks, controlled the fate of the planet in their hands.

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

For her, the strength of the show lies in its attempt to objectively ask: "How can individuals hate one another to the point they confront one another?"

"It struck me how spectacular the fact that humans have the potential to be friends or have the potential to be total adversaries," adds Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now an author and lawyer. "We see this repeatedly when nations have gone to war, highlighting the profound irrationality involved to fight."

A Brink Towards Disaster

What’s striking about the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired so publicly, individuals around the world could watch nearly in real time as it crept closer to disaster. However, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than anybody realised.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike followed by a ground invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, there is no question Soviet forces stationed there would've launched a nuclear warhead against the American ships, which would've obliterated the naval vessels and destroyed our largest and most important naval force. And, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, they succeeded in remain calm while calmly negotiate when hawkish elements around them was pushing for military action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island while Kennedy (although not reported then) removed American similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, matched by a feeling of optimism.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, for those 13 days in October, the fear was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, with Nina being taught about the crisis through the Soviet education system, which presented a slightly different narrative of events.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always fine and sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, because it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, and didn’t start the war, seen as a wonderful thing," she adds. Later on, though, that view was not held by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a setback for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying America."

An Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so balanced , well produced that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot the known the ending. This is, in part, due to the participation of historians. But, really, the most momentous thing remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable that relatives of the leaders of America and USSR to appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we connected really well and now we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, after nearly 60 years since nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now friends, suggesting the world is safer, a little bit."

Modern Parallels and Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason this series feels so necessary is that we now are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because world leaders appear not to be able to grasp