Following almost annihilating our world, our families are friends’: the thrilling podcast featuring JFK and Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, the world came nearer to annihilation than at any other point in modern times. This transpired following the discovery that an American surveillance aircraft found the fact that Russian atomic weapon sites were being assembled on Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, President John F Kennedy ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval blockade around the island. The ensuing period constituted nearly 14 days of impossible stress.

The Unthinkable Threat

The danger was clear. Should President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a series involving global nuclear strikes followed by retaliatory strikes might have followed, plunging humanity into all-out oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented extensively, in books, films, as well as television programmes. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces an unprecedented dimension to the story. It is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the figures that, for 13 days, controlled the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

"What was the Kremlin considering? What were the American side thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also an academic of global relations.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its endeavor to explore: "Why do nations hate each other and confront each other?"

"I am acutely aware how profound it is that humans have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be complete enemies," adds Max Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of the late president and currently an author and lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when nations enter into conflict, highlighting the profound irrationality involved to fight."

The Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s notable regarding this event was that, because it transpired so publicly, citizens worldwide could watch almost as it happened as it moved closer to armageddon. Nonetheless, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces on the ground would have fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've obliterated our aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's primary fleet. And, we would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, who managed to remain calm and calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements around them was pushing for military action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the missiles in the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed his missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by a feeling of hope.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, during those two weeks in October, the fear was palpable globally. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world in the years following these events, and Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which presented an alternative narrative of events.

"You said your father recalls it, and it was a scary day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system we were told that everything was always fine or sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great moment it was, because it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus avoided the war, which was a wonderful thing," she adds. Later on, however, that perspective was not held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed and well produced that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known the ending. This effect is, in part, thanks to the participation of historians. Yet, truly, the most significant thing is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union to appear side by side. That these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a symbol of optimism.

"We aren't the first," notes Khrushcheva. "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."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Max. "Which is unfortunate since we got along immediately and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, following almost 60 years of almost destroying the world, our families have become allies, so I think global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Perils

Or is it? One reason why this series seems so urgent is that we now find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, partly since world leaders don’t seem to be able to comprehend