Following almost annihilating our world, our families have become allies’: a thrilling podcast featuring JFK and Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, the world came closer to destruction than at any other point during the contemporary era. This happened after a US surveillance plane found that Soviet nuclear weapon installations were under construction in Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. In response, President John F Kennedy directed a naval task force to impose a maritime quarantine around Cuba. What followed was almost a fortnight filled with extreme stress.

The Unthinkable Threat

The peril was palpable. Should Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire on their enemy, a chain reaction involving worldwide atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes might have followed, thrusting civilization toward total ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented repeatedly, in volumes, movies, as well as television programmes. But, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a novel dimension to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, family members belonging to the men who, for 13 days, controlled the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side thinking? What were Washington considering?" asks Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant who is also an academic specializing in global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the podcast lies in its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do nations hate one another and confront each other?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that individuals can be friends or have the potential to be complete adversaries," remarks Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of JFK and currently a writer and lawyer. "We see this dynamic repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, highlighting the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

The Brink of Catastrophe

What is notable about the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, citizens worldwide were able to observe almost in real time while it crept closer to catastrophe. Nonetheless, the risk of annihilation came closer than anybody realised.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," says Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would've launched a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed our aircraft carriers and destroyed our largest and most important naval force. In turn, we would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to exercise restraint while calmly negotiate at a time when everyone around them was pushing for military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons in Cuba while President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, as was the sense of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Still, during those two weeks in October, the fear was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world shortly after the crisis, with Khrushcheva being taught about it via the Soviet education system, which portrayed an alternative narrative of what happened.

"You said your father recalls it, describing it as a scary time," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly wonderful and positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, and avoided a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she continues. Subsequently, though, that view was not shared by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of historians. Yet, truly, the most momentous aspect is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the USSR to appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, has to be a symbol of hope.

"We are not the first," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Max. "Which is unfortunate because we connected really well and now we are friends, which is really great. Finally, after almost 60 years since almost destroying the planet, our lineages have become allies, so I think the world is safer, a little bit."

Modern Parallels with Present Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of why The Bomb feels so necessary is that we once again find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to learn