‘After almost annihilating our planet, our families have become friends’: a gripping podcast featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the planet edged nearer to destruction more so than ever in modern times. This transpired after a US surveillance aircraft found the fact that Soviet atomic missile installations were under construction in Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers from the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval quarantine encircling Cuba. What followed constituted almost 14 days filled with impossible stress.

An Catastrophic Threat

The threat remained palpable. If Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on the other side, a cascade involving worldwide nuclear attacks and counterstrikes might have ensued, thrusting civilization toward total ruination.

The October crisis has been covered extensively, in volumes, films, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought a completely new dimension to the story. The series is co-presented by Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the leaders that, for 13 days, grasped the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Kremlin considering? What were the United States considering?" asks Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and an academic of international affairs.

In her view, the beauty of the show lies in its attempt to explore: "Why do nations detest one another and confront one another?"

"It struck me how spectacular it is that individuals can be friends or else have the potential to be complete adversaries," states Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to JFK and now an author and lawyer. "History shows this repeatedly when countries enter into conflict, highlighting how unbelievably stupid it is to fight."

The Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What’s notable regarding this event was that, since it transpired in the global spotlight, individuals worldwide were able to observe almost in real time as it moved closer to catastrophe. Even so, the threat of destruction came closer than what most people understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. struck the Cubans with the naval blockade, it is certain the Russians on the ground would have launched a nuclear warhead at the American ships, which would've obliterated the naval vessels as well as sunk America's largest and most important naval force. And, the U.S. would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended most life on the planet."

The fact this did not occur is a testament to both leaders, who succeeded in remain calm while engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements in their governments was pushing for action. As a result, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from the Caribbean island while Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) removed American similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was worldwide, matched by a feeling of hope.

The Different Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the fear was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, and Khrushcheva learned about the crisis through the Soviet school curriculum, which painted a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"You said your parent remembers it, and it was a scary time," she says. "However in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always wonderful and positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, it was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, because it was a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus didn’t start a global war, which was a positive thing," she adds. Later on, though, that perspective was not shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a setback for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is so balanced and expertly crafted so much so that Nina jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, partly, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most momentous aspect remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was unthinkable for relatives of the heads of state of the United States and Soviet Union to appear together publicly. That these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a sign of hope.

"Max and I aren't the first," smiles Nina. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America and formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Max. "That is unfortunate because we got along really well and now we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following almost six decades of nearly annihilating the world, our families are now allies, so I think the world is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is because we now find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to learn