Following nearly annihilating the world, our families have become friends’: the thrilling podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the planet edged closer to ruin more so than ever in the contemporary era. This transpired when a US surveillance plane found that Russian nuclear weapon sites were being assembled in Cuba, a mere 100 miles from American soil. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval quarantine around Cuba. The next phase constituted nearly 14 days filled with unbearable anxiety.

An Catastrophic Threat

The peril remained clear. Should Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a chain reaction involving global atomic attacks and retaliatory strikes might have ensued, plunging mankind toward total destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined repeatedly, in books, films, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a completely new dimension into the story. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the leaders who, for two tense weeks, controlled the destiny of the planet within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin thinking? What was the United States thinking?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant who is also a professor specializing in global relations.

In her view, the strength of the show is its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do individuals hate one another to the point they oppose each other?"

"It was not lost on me how profound it is that people have the potential to be friends or have the potential to be complete enemies," states Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to JFK and currently an author as well as lawyer. "We see this over and over in instances where countries enter into conflict, highlighting how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What is remarkable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it transpired so publicly, people around the world could watch nearly as it happened while it crept closer to catastrophe. Even so, the risk of destruction came closer than what most people realised.

"Virtually everyone among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike followed by a ground invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the naval blockade, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would've deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, which would have obliterated our naval vessels as well as destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. In turn, we would have responded with massive retaliation that would have ended most life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur highlights the composure of Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to remain calm while engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them were advocating action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the missiles in Cuba while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American missiles based in Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, as was the sense of optimism.

A Divergent Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the fear was palpable globally. The podcast's co-hosts were born shortly after the crisis, with Nina learned about the crisis through the USSR's school curriculum, which presented a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"You said your father recalls it, and it was a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always fine or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, as it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, which was a positive outcome," she adds. Later on, though, that perspective was not held by all Russians. "For decades in Russian politics, it was considered a failure for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is so even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, partly, thanks to contributions from historians. Yet, really, the most momentous thing remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable for relatives of the heads of state of America and USSR to appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a symbol of optimism.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we had never met before the podcast," clarifies Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we connected immediately and we’re friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, after almost six decades since almost destroying the world, our lineages are now friends, so I think global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Parallels and Present Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is that we once again are living living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, partly since world leaders appear not to have the capacity to grasp