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

During October 1962, the planet edged closer to ruin than at any other point during modern times. This happened following the discovery that an American reconnaissance aircraft found the fact that Soviet nuclear missile bases were under construction on Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the US mainland. In response, U.S. President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a naval blockade around the island. The ensuing period was nearly a fortnight of extreme stress.

The Catastrophic Danger

The peril was palpable. If President Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on the other side, a series of global atomic attacks and counterstrikes would have ensued, casting humanity toward all-out ruination.

The October crisis has been covered extensively, in volumes, films, as well as television programmes. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought an unprecedented perspective into the story. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the leaders that, for two tense weeks, controlled the fate of humanity within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin thinking? What was the United States planning?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and a professor of international affairs.

For her, the beauty of the show lies in its endeavor to question: "Why do people hate one another and go against one another?"

"I am acutely aware how profound the fact that individuals have the potential to be friends or can become complete adversaries," remarks Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of JFK and now a writer and lawyer. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when nations have gone to war, demonstrating the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink of Catastrophe

What is notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it unfolded in the global spotlight, citizens globally were able to observe almost as it happened as it crept towards catastrophe. Even so, the risk of annihilation came closer than most people realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House wanted a military strike and an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the naval blockade, it is certain the Russians stationed there would have launched a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've sunk our aircraft carriers and destroyed our primary naval force. And, we would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in remain calm while calmly negotiate when many advisors in their governments were advocating military action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the missiles in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed American missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by the sense of hope.

The Different Viewpoint

Still, for those 13 days of October 1962, the tension was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world shortly after the crisis, with Khrushcheva learned about it through the USSR's school curriculum, which presented an alternative version of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, whereas under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was always wonderful and sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start a global war, seen as a positive thing," she adds. Subsequently, however, that view would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed , expertly crafted that Nina jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most significant aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of America and the Soviet Union to appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a sign of optimism.

"We aren't the first," notes Nina. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America and became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame since we got along immediately and now we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, after nearly 60 years of almost destroying the world, our families are now allies, so I think the world is safer, a little bit."

Modern Parallels with Present Perils

Or is it? One reason the reason this series feels so necessary is that we once again find ourselves living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight than ever before, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to grasp