Following nearly annihilating the world, our relatives have become friends’: a gripping podcast featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the world came nearer toward ruin than at any other point during modern times. This transpired after a US surveillance aircraft discovered the fact that Soviet atomic missile sites were being built on Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, U.S. President JFK directed a naval task force to enact a maritime blockade around Cuba. The ensuing period constituted nearly a fortnight of impossible anxiety.

An Unthinkable Danger

The threat remained obvious. Should Kennedy, or his Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a cascade involving global nuclear strikes and counterstrikes could have followed, casting humanity toward all-out oblivion.

The October crisis has been documented endlessly, through books, films, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a novel element to this historical narrative. It is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the leaders that, for two tense weeks, grasped the fate of the world within their grasp.

"What was the Kremlin thinking? What were Washington thinking?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor specializing in global relations.

For her, the strength of the podcast lies in its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can nations detest one another to the point they oppose each other?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that humans can be allies or else have the potential to be total adversaries," states Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of JFK and now a writer and lawyer. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

The Precipice of Disaster

What’s remarkable regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired so publicly, people worldwide could watch almost in real time while it crept towards armageddon. Even so, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone in the White House wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the naval blockade, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would've launched a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed the naval vessels and sunk our largest and most important fleet. And, we would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended most life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to exercise restraint while calmly negotiate at a time when hawkish elements around them was pushing for action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles from Cuba and President Kennedy (although not reported then) removed his missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, as was the sense of hope.

The Different Perspective

Yet, for those 13 days of October 1962, the tension was felt by everyone. The podcast's presenters came into the world shortly after the crisis, with Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the USSR's school curriculum, which presented a slightly different picture of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a scary time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system we were told that everything was constantly fine and positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, and didn’t start the war, seen as a positive thing," she continues. Later on, though, that interpretation was not shared by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is so even-handed , well produced so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, in part, due to contributions from historians. But, truly, the most momentous thing is the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of the United States and the USSR would appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm toward one another, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"Max and I are not the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Max. "That is a shame since we connected really well and now we are friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, following almost six decades since nearly annihilating the world, our families have become allies, suggesting the world is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes and Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of why this series seems so urgent is because we once again find ourselves in dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because world leaders appear not to have the capacity to grasp