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

In the month of October 1962, the planet came closer toward destruction than at any other point during the contemporary era. This happened after an American surveillance plane discovered that Soviet nuclear weapon sites were being assembled in the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime blockade encircling the island. The ensuing period constituted nearly two weeks of unbearable stress.

The Unthinkable Danger

The danger remained clear. If President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a series involving worldwide atomic strikes followed by retaliatory strikes could have ensued, thrusting humanity into total ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been documented repeatedly, in books, movies, as well as television programmes. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" introduces a novel dimension into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the men that, for two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Russians thinking? What were Washington planning?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also a professor specializing in global relations.

In her view, the unique appeal of the show is its endeavor to objectively ask: "How can nations detest one another to the point they confront one another?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable the fact that humans have the potential to be allies or can become complete adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and now an author and attorney. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when countries have gone to war, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."

A Brink Towards Disaster

What is notable about this event was that, since it transpired so publicly, citizens worldwide were able to observe almost in real time while it moved closer to disaster. Nonetheless, the risk of annihilation came closer than what anybody understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone in the White House wanted a military strike and a ground invasion," says Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the naval blockade, it is certain the Russians stationed there would have fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've obliterated the aircraft carriers as well as destroyed America's primary fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have eradicated most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in remain calm and calmly negotiate at a time when everyone around them was pushing for military action. Consequently, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by the sense of hope.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Still, for those 13 days of October 1962, the tension was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters were born shortly after the crisis, with Nina learned about it through the Soviet education system, which painted an alternative picture of what happened.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a frightening day," 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 fine and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, the perspective was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus didn’t start a global war, which was a positive thing," she continues. Later on, though, that perspective would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a failure for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up America."

A Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is so even-handed , expertly crafted so much so that Nina jokes she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, in part, due to the participation of historians. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking aspect remains the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable for descendants of the heads of state of the United States and the USSR would 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 sign of optimism.

"We aren't the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Max. "Which is a shame since we got along immediately and now we’re friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following nearly 60 years of almost destroying the planet, our lineages are now friends, suggesting the world is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Parallels with Present Perils

Or is it? Part of the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is because we now find ourselves living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to comprehend