Following almost destroying our world, our families are friends’: the gripping podcast featuring JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In October 1962, humanity veered nearer toward annihilation than at any other point in recent history. This transpired after an American reconnaissance aircraft identified the fact that Russian nuclear missile sites were being assembled in the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles from American soil. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime blockade encircling the island. The next phase was nearly 14 days of impossible stress.

The Unthinkable Danger

The peril was obvious. If President Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack on the other side, a chain reaction involving global atomic attacks and counterstrikes would have followed, thrusting humanity toward total destruction.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined repeatedly, in books, films, and television programmes. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents a novel dimension into the story. The series is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the leaders that, for two tense weeks, grasped the fate of humanity within their grasp.

"What was the Russians considering? What was the American side considering?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor of global relations.

In her view, the beauty of the show is its attempt to explore: "Why do individuals hate each other to the point they oppose each other?"

"It was not lost on me how profound the fact that humans can be allies or have the potential to be complete adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of JFK and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this over and over in instances where countries have gone to war, demonstrating the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Disaster

What’s notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it transpired so publicly, citizens globally were able to observe nearly as it happened as it edged closer to catastrophe. Nonetheless, the threat of annihilation came closer than most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for a military strike and a ground invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question Soviet forces on the ground would have launched a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've sunk the naval vessels as well as sunk our primary fleet. In turn, we would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, who succeeded in keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy at a time when everyone around them demanded military action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the missiles in Cuba and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew his similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was the sense of optimism.

A Different Viewpoint

Still, during those 13 days of October 1962, the tension was felt globally. The Bomb’s presenters were born shortly after the crisis, with Khrushcheva learned about it through the USSR's school curriculum, which painted a slightly different picture of events.

"As you mentioned your father recalls it, and it was a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "But in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union we were told that things are constantly fine or sunny."

Within Khrushchev’s family, though, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great occasion it was, because it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus avoided the war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. In the years to come, though, that view would not be held by everybody. "For decades in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Nina quips it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This effect is, partly, due to contributions from renowned scholars. But, truly, the most momentous thing remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was inconceivable that relatives of the leaders of America and the USSR would appear side by side. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

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

"However we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we got along really well and now we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following nearly six decades since almost destroying the planet, our families are now friends, suggesting the world is more secure, a little bit."

Modern Echoes and Current Perils

Or is it? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is because we now are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because world leaders appear not to be able to learn