‘After nearly destroying our planet, our families have become friends’: a gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, humanity veered closer to ruin than at any other point during the contemporary era. This transpired following the discovery that a US surveillance plane identified that Soviet nuclear weapon bases were under construction on Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from American soil. In response, U.S. President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval quarantine around Cuba. What followed was almost 14 days of unbearable stress.

The Unthinkable Threat

The danger remained palpable. Should President Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a cascade involving worldwide nuclear strikes and counterstrikes might have ensued, plunging humanity into total oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been documented repeatedly, through books, movies, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a completely new dimension to the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the men who, over 13 days, grasped the destiny of the world within their grasp.

"What was the Russians thinking? What were the American side considering?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant who is also an academic specializing in global relations.

For her, the beauty of the show is its attempt to question: "Why do people detest each other to the point they oppose one another?"

"It struck me how spectacular it is that people can be friends or else can become total adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and now a writer and attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when nations have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly it is to fight."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What’s remarkable about the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it unfolded so publicly, people around the world could watch almost in real time while it crept towards armageddon. Even so, the danger of annihilation was more imminent than what anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike and an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians on the ground would have fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have destroyed the aircraft carriers as well as sunk America's primary naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have retaliated with massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone in their governments demanded military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed his similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of optimism.

A Different Viewpoint

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the anxiety was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which presented a slightly different picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union we were told that things are constantly wonderful or positive."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, as it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start the war, seen as a positive outcome," she continues. Subsequently, though, that perspective would not be shared by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a failure for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably balanced , well produced so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known outcome. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from renowned scholars. But, truly, the most significant thing remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that relatives of the leaders of the United States and Soviet Union to appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a sign of hope.

"Max and I are not the first," smiles Nina. "After 1991, a relative moved to America and became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers before the podcast," adds Max. "Which is a shame since we connected immediately and we’re friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, following almost six decades of almost destroying the planet, our lineages are now friends, suggesting global relations is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Parallels and Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is because we once again are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to comprehend