Following almost annihilating our world, the relatives are friends’: a gripping podcast from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the world veered closer to annihilation more so than ever in modern times. This transpired after a US reconnaissance plane identified that Soviet nuclear missile sites were under construction in the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval quarantine encircling the island. What followed constituted almost 14 days filled with impossible stress.

An Catastrophic Danger

The peril remained palpable. If President Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a cascade involving global atomic attacks and counterstrikes could have followed, plunging humanity toward total destruction.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered extensively, in volumes, films, as well as TV documentaries. But, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" has brought a completely new perspective to this historical narrative. It is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the figures that, for two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What was the Kremlin thinking? What were the American side considering?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and a professor specializing in international affairs.

For her, the unique appeal of the show is its endeavor to question: "Why do people hate one another to the point they oppose each other?"

"It was not lost on me how spectacular the fact that individuals can be allies or else have the potential to be total enemies," adds Max Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and currently an author as well as lawyer. "History shows this dynamic over and over in instances where countries have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s striking regarding this event was that, because it transpired in the global spotlight, citizens globally could watch nearly in real time while it crept closer to catastrophe. However, the threat of destruction was more imminent than anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and an invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the naval blockade, undoubtedly the Russians on the ground would've fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've sunk our naval vessels as well as sunk America's primary fleet. In turn, we would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended most life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone in their governments demanded action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew American similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was the sense of hope.

A Different Viewpoint

Yet, during those 13 days in October, the tension was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born shortly after the crisis, and Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the USSR's school curriculum, which presented an alternative picture of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a frightening time," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, the public really didn’t know that much about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always wonderful or positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, it was different. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, as it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. Subsequently, however, that interpretation was not shared by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is so balanced , well produced that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This is, in part, thanks to the participation of historians. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking aspect remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable for descendants of the heads of state of America and the Soviet Union would appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm with each other, has to be a sign of progress.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we had never met prior to this project," adds Max. "Which is a shame because we got along really well and now we are friends, which is really great. Finally, after almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now friends, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels and Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is that we now are living in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight in its history, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to comprehend