Following nearly destroying the world, our families are allies’: a thrilling audio series featuring John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, the world came closer to destruction than at any other point in the contemporary era. This happened after an American reconnaissance aircraft discovered the fact that Russian atomic weapon sites were being built on the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the US mainland. In response, U.S. President JFK directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a maritime quarantine encircling the island. The ensuing period constituted almost a fortnight of unbearable tension.

An Unthinkable Danger

The peril was obvious. If President Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a series of worldwide atomic attacks followed by retaliatory strikes would have ensued, casting humanity toward all-out ruination.

The October crisis has been covered repeatedly, in books, films, and TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents an unprecedented perspective to the story. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders that, over 13 days, controlled the fate of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side planning? What was Washington thinking?" questions Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also an academic specializing in global relations.

For her, the strength of the show is its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do individuals detest one another to the point they go against one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that people can be friends or else can become total enemies," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and currently an author and attorney. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly in instances where countries enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the sheer folly involved to fight."

A Brink Towards Disaster

What is striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it transpired so publicly, people globally were able to observe almost as it happened as it moved towards disaster. Even so, the risk of annihilation came closer than what anybody realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for a military strike followed by a ground invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the naval blockade, undoubtedly the Russians stationed there would've deployed a nuclear warhead against the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've sunk the naval vessels as well as sunk our largest and most important fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded with massive retaliation that would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to both leaders, who succeeded in exercise restraint and engaging in diplomacy when everyone in their governments were advocating action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, matched by a feeling of hope.

A Divergent Perspective

Still, for those 13 days in October, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The podcast's presenters were born in the years following the crisis, and Nina learned about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which portrayed an alternative version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, and it was a scary time," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, the public really didn’t know that much about it, since it was a crisis, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that everything was constantly fine and positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, it was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided the war, seen as a wonderful thing," she continues. In the years to come, however, that view would not be held by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying America."

A Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Nina quips it almost made her forget she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from historians. But, truly, the most momentous thing remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union to appear together publicly. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, has to be a symbol of optimism.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle moved to America and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "That is a shame since we got along immediately and we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, following nearly six decades since nearly annihilating the planet, our families are now friends, suggesting global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes with Present Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why The Bomb seems so urgent is that we once again are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to comprehend