Following nearly annihilating our world, the relatives have become allies’: the thrilling podcast featuring JFK & Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, the world edged closer toward annihilation than at any other point in modern times. This occurred following the discovery that a US surveillance aircraft found that Soviet atomic weapon installations were being built in the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of American soil. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime quarantine around Cuba. The next phase constituted almost 14 days of impossible anxiety.

The Unthinkable Danger

The danger was clear. If President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack on the other side, a series involving worldwide atomic attacks and retaliatory strikes might have ensued, casting civilization toward all-out oblivion.

The October crisis has been examined repeatedly, through books, movies, as well as television programmes. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" introduces a completely new perspective to the story. The series is co-presented by Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the men that, over two tense weeks, held the fate of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side considering? What was the United States thinking?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also an academic specializing in international affairs.

For her, the unique appeal of the show lies in its endeavor to explore: "How can individuals hate each other to the point they oppose one another?"

"It struck me how remarkable the fact that individuals have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be complete adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of JFK and now a writer and attorney. "History shows this over and over when countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink of Disaster

What’s notable regarding this event is that, since it unfolded so publicly, individuals globally were able to observe almost as it happened as it moved closer to catastrophe. However, the risk of destruction was more imminent than what most people understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted an airstrike and a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had attacked the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces on the ground would have fired a nuclear warhead at the American ships, which would've sunk our aircraft carriers as well as destroyed our largest and most important naval force. And, we would have responded through massive retaliation that would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, who succeeded in exercise restraint and calmly negotiate when hawkish elements around them demanded military action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American similar weapons based in Turkey. The relief was immense, as was the sense of hope.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, for those two weeks in October, the tension was felt globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, with Nina learned about it via the USSR's education system, which presented a slightly different version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, describing it as a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know that much about it, because it was a crisis, and under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was constantly fine and positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed what a great occasion it was, as it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start the war, seen as a wonderful thing," she continues. Subsequently, however, that interpretation would not be held by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up America."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget the known outcome. This effect is, partly, due to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most significant aspect remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable that relatives of the leaders of America and the USSR to appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

"We aren't the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"But we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is unfortunate because we connected immediately and we are friends, which is wonderful. Finally, following almost six decades of almost destroying the world, our lineages are now friends, suggesting the world is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Echoes with Present Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of why this series feels so necessary is that we now find ourselves living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to learn