‘After nearly annihilating our planet, the families are allies’: the gripping podcast from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, the planet came closer to annihilation than at any other point during the contemporary era. This happened when an American reconnaissance plane found the fact that Soviet atomic weapon bases were being built in Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the United States. In response, President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval quarantine encircling the island. What followed was almost a fortnight of unbearable tension.

An Unthinkable Threat

The peril was obvious. Should President Kennedy, or his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on the other side, a chain reaction of global nuclear strikes followed by counterstrikes would have ensued, thrusting mankind into total ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented extensively, through books, films, as well as TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces a novel element into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the men that, over two tense weeks, controlled the fate of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Russians thinking? What were Washington considering?" ponders Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor of global relations.

In her view, the strength of the show lies in its attempt to question: "How can individuals detest one another to the point they go against each other?"

"It struck me how spectacular the fact that people can be friends or can become complete adversaries," states Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and now a writer and attorney. "History shows this dynamic over and over when countries enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to engage in warfare."

A Brink Towards Catastrophe

What’s striking about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it transpired so publicly, citizens worldwide were able to observe nearly as it happened while it moved towards armageddon. However, the danger of destruction came closer than anybody realised.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would've deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, which would've destroyed the aircraft carriers and destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have ended all life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in remain calm while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from Cuba while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The relief was immense, as was a feeling of hope.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, during those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was palpable globally. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following these events, with Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the USSR's school curriculum, which portrayed a slightly different picture of events.

"You said your father recalls it, describing it as a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was constantly fine or sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great moment it was, because it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided a global war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. Subsequently, however, that interpretation would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is so balanced , well produced that Nina quips she nearly forgot the known the ending. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, truly, the most momentous thing remains the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable for relatives of the leaders of America and Soviet Union to appear together publicly. That these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "Following 1991, my uncle moved to America where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Max. "That is unfortunate since we connected really well and we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, following nearly six decades of almost destroying the planet, our lineages are now friends, so I think the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Parallels with Current Dangers

Or is it? Part of why this series seems so urgent is because we once again are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight in its history, in part because world leaders appear not to be able to learn