Following nearly destroying our world, our relatives are allies’: the gripping podcast from John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, humanity veered closer toward ruin than at any other point during the contemporary era. This happened when an American surveillance plane identified the fact that Russian nuclear missile sites were being built in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a naval blockade encircling Cuba. The next phase constituted nearly a fortnight filled with extreme anxiety.

The Catastrophic Threat

The peril remained palpable. If President Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a cascade involving global atomic attacks and counterstrikes would have followed, plunging mankind toward all-out oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered extensively, in volumes, films, as well as television programmes. But, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" introduces a novel perspective into this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders that, for two tense weeks, grasped the fate of the world in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side thinking? What were the United States planning?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also a professor of international affairs.

For her, the unique appeal of the show lies in its attempt to explore: "Why do individuals hate one another and confront each other?"

"It was not lost on me how spectacular the fact that people can be allies or else have the potential to be total enemies," adds Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and currently a writer and lawyer. "History shows this dynamic over and over in instances where countries enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality it is to fight."

A Precipice of Disaster

What’s striking regarding this event was that, since it unfolded so publicly, people globally could watch nearly in real time while it crept closer to disaster. Even so, the threat of destruction was more imminent than anybody understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for a military strike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would've deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've sunk our aircraft carriers and destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. And, we would have retaliated with massive retaliation which would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, who managed to exercise restraint and engaging in diplomacy when everyone around them demanded military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (although not reported then) withdrew American missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by a feeling of optimism.

A Divergent Perspective

Still, during those 13 days of October 1962, the fear was palpable globally. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, with Nina being taught about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which painted an alternative narrative of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, describing it as a frightening time," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware a great deal about it, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are always fine or positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, it was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, as it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, and didn’t start a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she adds. In the years to come, however, that interpretation was not held by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying America."

An Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is so even-handed and well produced that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most momentous thing remains the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable for relatives of the leaders of America and USSR to appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a symbol of progress.

"We aren't the first," smiles Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we had never met prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame because we connected really well and we’re friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, after nearly six decades of almost destroying the world, our families have become allies, so I think global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Echoes with Present Perils

Or is it? One reason the reason this series feels so necessary is because we now are living in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to midnight in its history, in part because world leaders appear not to be able to learn