Following almost annihilating our world, our families have become allies’: the gripping podcast featuring JFK & Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, the world veered nearer to annihilation more so than ever in recent history. This happened when an American reconnaissance aircraft found the fact that Russian atomic missile bases were being assembled on Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of American soil. Reacting to this, President JFK commanded a naval task force to impose a naval quarantine encircling Cuba. What followed was nearly a fortnight filled with unbearable stress.

The Unthinkable Threat

The danger remained obvious. Should President Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against their enemy, a chain reaction of worldwide nuclear strikes and retaliatory strikes would have followed, casting civilization toward all-out oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered repeatedly, through books, movies, and TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces a completely new dimension into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the figures that, over two tense weeks, grasped the fate of the world in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin thinking? What was Washington planning?" questions Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also a professor specializing in global relations.

For her, the strength of the show lies in its attempt to question: "Why do nations detest each other and confront each other?"

"It struck me how remarkable it is that individuals have the potential to be friends or have the potential to be total enemies," states Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and now a writer as well as attorney. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink Towards Catastrophe

What’s striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it unfolded so publicly, people worldwide were able to observe almost as it happened as it crept towards disaster. Nonetheless, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than what anybody realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House wanted an airstrike and an invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain the Russians stationed there would have fired a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, which would have obliterated our aircraft carriers as well as destroyed our primary fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to keep their heads while engaging in diplomacy when many advisors in their governments were advocating military action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American similar weapons from Turkey. The relief was immense, matched by a feeling of optimism.

A Divergent Perspective

Yet, for those 13 days in October, the tension was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva being taught about it through the USSR's education system, which presented a slightly different picture of what happened.

"You said your parent remembers it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware that much regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system the official line was that things are always fine or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment it was, as it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided the war, seen as a positive thing," she continues. In the years to come, however, that interpretation was not shared by everybody. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is so even-handed , expertly crafted that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget the known the ending. This is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. But, really, the most momentous aspect is the involvement of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union to appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a symbol of progress.

"We aren't the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, a relative moved to America and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we connected really well and now we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, following almost six decades since nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now friends, so I think the world is safer, a little bit."

Modern Parallels with Present Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of why this series feels so necessary is that we now are living living through a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to catastrophe in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to learn