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

During October 1962, humanity came nearer toward ruin more so than ever during modern times. This happened following the discovery that a US reconnaissance plane found the fact that Russian nuclear missile sites were being built in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval quarantine around the island. The ensuing period was nearly 14 days of impossible stress.

An Catastrophic Danger

The danger remained clear. If Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a series of global atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes might have ensued, plunging humanity toward all-out ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined repeatedly, in volumes, movies, as well as television programmes. However, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought an unprecedented dimension into the story. It is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the leaders who, for 13 days, held the destiny of the world in their hands.

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

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

"It struck me how profound the fact that people can be allies or else can become total adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to JFK and currently an author and lawyer. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, highlighting the profound irrationality it is to fight."

A Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What’s remarkable about this event was that, because it unfolded in the global spotlight, individuals globally could watch almost as it happened as it crept closer to disaster. However, the risk of annihilation came closer than anybody understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba using the naval blockade, there is no question Soviet forces stationed there would have launched a nuclear warhead at the American ships, and that would've destroyed our aircraft carriers as well as sunk our primary naval force. And, we would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, they succeeded in keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements in their governments were advocating military action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons in Cuba while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed his missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by a feeling of optimism.

The Different Viewpoint

Yet, for those 13 days in October, the fear was felt globally. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, and Khrushcheva being taught about it via the Soviet education system, which painted a slightly different picture of what happened.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a scary time," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are constantly fine or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start a global war, which was a positive thing," she adds. Later on, though, that perspective would not be shared by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a failure for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably balanced and expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most groundbreaking thing remains the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of America and USSR to appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

"We aren't the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame since we got along really well and now we’re friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, following almost 60 years since almost destroying the world, our lineages have become allies, so I think the world is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels and Present Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is that we once again find ourselves living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight in its history, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to grasp