Following nearly destroying the planet, our families have become friends’: the thrilling podcast from John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, the world came nearer toward ruin more so than ever during modern times. This happened following the discovery that an American surveillance plane identified that Russian nuclear weapon sites were under construction in Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a naval blockade around Cuba. What followed was nearly a fortnight of unbearable stress.

An Catastrophic Threat

The threat was obvious. Should Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a series involving worldwide atomic attacks and counterstrikes might have followed, casting civilization toward total ruination.

The October crisis has been covered extensively, in volumes, films, and television programmes. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents an unprecedented dimension to the story. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the men that, for two tense weeks, held the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side planning? What was the United States considering?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor of global relations.

For her, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to explore: "How can people detest each other to the point they go against each other?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable the fact that individuals have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be complete adversaries," adds Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to JFK and now an author and lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly when countries have gone to war, demonstrating the profound irrationality involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Catastrophe

What’s notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it transpired so publicly, individuals around the world could watch almost as it happened as it crept closer to armageddon. However, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than most people realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for a military strike followed by an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain the Russians stationed there would've deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have obliterated our naval vessels as well as sunk our largest and most important naval force. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The fact it didn’t highlights the composure of both leaders, who managed to exercise restraint while calmly negotiate when everyone in their governments were advocating action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew his similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, as was a feeling of hope.

A Divergent Perspective

Still, for those 13 days in October, the anxiety was palpable globally. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following the crisis, with Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which portrayed an alternative narrative of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, since it was a crisis, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that things are constantly fine or sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was different. "They told me what a great occasion it was, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus didn’t start the war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she continues. In the years to come, however, that interpretation was not shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is remarkably even-handed , expertly crafted that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking aspect remains the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of America and the Soviet Union would appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

"We are not the pioneers," smiles Khrushcheva. "Following 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we had never met before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame since we connected immediately and now we’re friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, after almost six decades of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages are now friends, so I think the world is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes and Present Perils

Or is it? Part of why this series feels so necessary is that we once again are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight than ever before, partly since today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to learn