‘After nearly annihilating our planet, our families have become allies’: the gripping podcast from JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, humanity came nearer to ruin than at any other point in the contemporary era. This occurred following the discovery that an American reconnaissance aircraft identified that Soviet atomic weapon installations were being built on the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from American soil. Reacting to this, President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval quarantine encircling the island. The next phase constituted nearly two weeks of extreme stress.

An Catastrophic Danger

The peril was obvious. Should Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a cascade of global atomic attacks followed by counterstrikes might have followed, plunging humanity into all-out destruction.

The October crisis has been covered repeatedly, through volumes, films, and television programmes. But, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents a novel element to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented by Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the men who, for 13 days, held the destiny of the world in their hands.

"What was the Russians thinking? What was Washington planning?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter and a professor specializing in global relations.

For her, the beauty of the show lies in its attempt to objectively ask: "How can people hate each other to the point they confront one another?"

"It struck me how remarkable the fact that humans can be allies or can become total enemies," remarks Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to the late president and currently an author as well as lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, demonstrating the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

A Brink Towards Disaster

What’s notable about the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired so publicly, individuals worldwide were able to observe nearly in real time while it edged closer to disaster. Nonetheless, the threat of annihilation came closer than anybody realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by a ground invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the naval blockade, it is certain Soviet forces on the ground would've fired a nuclear warhead at the American ships, which would've destroyed our aircraft carriers as well as sunk America's largest and most important naval force. In turn, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation which would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t stands as credit to both leaders, who managed to exercise restraint while calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was immense, as was a feeling of hope.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, during those two weeks in October, the tension was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, with Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the USSR's school curriculum, which painted a slightly different version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, describing it as a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was constantly fine or sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, and avoided a global war, seen as a wonderful thing," she continues. Subsequently, though, that interpretation would not be held by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is so even-handed and well produced so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from historians. But, truly, the most momentous aspect is the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for relatives of the leaders of the United States and the USSR would 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 symbol of progress.

"We aren't the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "After 1991, a relative moved to America where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we got along really well and we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, after almost 60 years since almost destroying the planet, our families have become friends, so I think global relations is safer, somewhat."

Modern Parallels and Current Perils

Or is it? One reason why The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now are living living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight in its history, partly since today's statesmen appear not to be able to learn