Following nearly destroying our world, our families are friends’: a gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, humanity came closer toward destruction more so than ever in the contemporary era. This occurred following the discovery that a US surveillance aircraft found that Soviet atomic weapon bases were under construction on the island of Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from the US mainland. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK ordered a naval task force to establish a maritime blockade encircling the island. The ensuing period constituted nearly 14 days filled with impossible anxiety.

An Unthinkable Threat

The threat was clear. If Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire against their enemy, a series involving worldwide nuclear attacks and counterstrikes would have ensued, casting civilization toward total destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined repeatedly, in volumes, movies, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents an unprecedented perspective into this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders that, for two tense weeks, controlled the fate of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin thinking? What were the American side thinking?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and an academic specializing in global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do nations hate one another and oppose each other?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that humans can be friends or else can become total adversaries," remarks Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of JFK and now a writer and lawyer. "We see this repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, highlighting the profound irrationality it is to fight."

The Precipice of Catastrophe

What is striking regarding this event was that, because it transpired so publicly, people globally could watch almost in real time as it moved closer to catastrophe. However, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than anybody realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for a military strike and an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would've launched a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, which would've destroyed the naval vessels and sunk our largest and most important naval force. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t stands as credit to both leaders, who succeeded in remain calm while engaging in diplomacy when many advisors in their governments were advocating military action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the missiles in Cuba while Kennedy (although not reported then) withdrew his similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of optimism.

The Divergent Perspective

Still, during those two weeks in October, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the USSR's school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, and it was a scary time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know that much about it, since it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly wonderful or positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, it was different. "They told me what a great occasion it was, because it represented a direct confrontation. They were able to find a solution, thus didn’t start a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she adds. In the years to come, however, that view was not held by everybody. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a failure for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is so even-handed and well produced so much so that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget the known the ending. This is, partly, thanks to contributions from historians. Yet, truly, the most momentous thing remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. That these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a sign of progress.

"We aren't the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame because we got along really well and now we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, after nearly six decades since almost destroying the planet, our lineages are now allies, so I think global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Parallels with Current Dangers

Or is it? One reason why this series feels so necessary is because we once again are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to comprehend