Following almost annihilating our world, the families have become friends’: the thrilling podcast from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the world came closer to destruction than at any other point during modern times. This transpired when an American surveillance plane discovered the fact that Soviet nuclear missile sites were under construction on the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded a naval task force to impose a maritime blockade around Cuba. The next phase was nearly two weeks of impossible tension.

The Unthinkable Danger

The danger remained clear. Should Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired against the other side, a chain reaction involving worldwide atomic strikes and counterstrikes would have ensued, plunging civilization into all-out oblivion.

The October crisis has been examined extensively, in books, movies, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents a completely new dimension to the story. The series is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the figures that, for two tense weeks, controlled the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side planning? What were the United States considering?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the strength of the show is its attempt to explore: "Why do people detest each other to the point they go against one another?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable it is that humans can be friends or have the potential to be total enemies," states Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to the late president and now an author as well as lawyer. "We see this over and over when countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

A Brink of Disaster

What’s notable regarding this event is that, since it unfolded so publicly, people globally were able to observe nearly in real time as it moved closer to catastrophe. Even so, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than what anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain the Russians on the ground would've launched a nuclear warhead against the American ships, which would have destroyed the naval vessels as well as destroyed America's largest and most important fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded through massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur highlights the composure of both leaders, who managed to keep their heads while engaging in diplomacy when many advisors around them demanded military action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles in Cuba and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American missiles based in Turkey. The relief was worldwide, as was a feeling of hope.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, for those 13 days in October, the anxiety was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, with Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which presented an alternative version of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was always wonderful or sunny."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great occasion for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided a global war, which was a positive outcome," she continues. Subsequently, though, that view would not be held by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up America."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most significant thing remains the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable for descendants of the leaders of America and USSR to appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a symbol of progress.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Nina. "After 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we connected immediately and we’re friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the world, our families are now allies, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Modern Echoes and Current Perils

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