Following almost destroying the planet, the families have become allies’: the thrilling podcast featuring JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, the world edged closer toward annihilation than at any other point during recent history. This transpired when an American reconnaissance plane discovered that Soviet atomic weapon sites were being assembled in Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a maritime blockade encircling the island. What followed constituted nearly two weeks of unbearable tension.

The Unthinkable Threat

The danger remained obvious. If President Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a chain reaction of worldwide atomic strikes followed by counterstrikes might have ensued, thrusting humanity toward total oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined repeatedly, through books, movies, as well as television programmes. But, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces a novel dimension into the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the men that, for two tense weeks, held the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Soviet side thinking? What were the United States thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also a professor of international affairs.

For her, the strength of the show lies in its attempt to question: "Why do individuals hate each other and oppose each other?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable the fact that humans have the potential to be allies or can become total enemies," adds Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of the late president and now a writer as well as attorney. "We see this dynamic over and over when countries have gone to war, highlighting how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Disaster

What’s striking about this event was that, since it unfolded so publicly, individuals around the world could watch nearly in real time as it moved towards armageddon. Even so, the threat of destruction was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for a military strike followed by an invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the American ships, and that would have obliterated our naval vessels as well as destroyed our largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated through massive retaliation that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t is a testament to both leaders, they succeeded in keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements in their governments was pushing for action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles from Cuba and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of hope.

The Different Perspective

Yet, during those two weeks in October, the anxiety was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born in the years following these events, with Khrushcheva being taught about it via the USSR's education system, which painted an alternative version of what happened.

"You said your father recalls it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always wonderful and positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, because it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided the war, seen as a positive thing," she adds. Later on, though, that interpretation would not be shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed and expertly crafted that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from historians. But, really, the most groundbreaking thing is the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that relatives of the heads of state of America and USSR would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a symbol of hope.

"We aren't the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we got along really well and we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following nearly six decades of nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages have become friends, suggesting global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels and Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason why this series feels so necessary is that we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to be able to comprehend