Following almost destroying the world, the relatives are friends’: a gripping podcast featuring JFK and Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, humanity came closer toward destruction more so than ever during the contemporary era. This occurred after an American surveillance plane identified the fact that Russian nuclear missile bases were under construction on the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime blockade around the island. What followed constituted almost 14 days of extreme stress.

The Unthinkable Danger

The danger remained obvious. Should Kennedy, or else the Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired against their enemy, a cascade of worldwide nuclear attacks followed by counterstrikes could have ensued, plunging civilization toward all-out oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been covered extensively, through volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought a novel perspective to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented by Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the figures who, for 13 days, controlled the destiny of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Russians considering? What was the American side thinking?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also a professor specializing in international affairs.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its attempt to question: "How can nations hate one another and oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how profound it is that individuals have the potential to be allies or can become complete enemies," states Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of the late president and now an author and attorney. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when countries have gone to war, highlighting how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

A Precipice Towards Catastrophe

What is striking about the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it unfolded so publicly, individuals worldwide could watch nearly in real time as it moved closer to disaster. Even so, the risk of destruction came closer than anybody understood at the time.

"Virtually everyone in the White House wanted an airstrike followed by an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain the Russians on the ground would have fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would've destroyed the aircraft carriers and sunk our largest and most important naval force. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended most life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to both leaders, who managed to remain calm while engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements in their governments were advocating action. As a result, The Soviet premier removed the missiles in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was a feeling of optimism.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, during those 13 days in October, the tension was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world in the years following these events, with Nina learned about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which portrayed an alternative narrative of what happened.

"You said your parent recalls it, and it was a scary time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public were largely unaware that much about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas under the Soviet system we were told that things are constantly fine and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, though, it was different. "They told me that it was a triumphant moment it was, because it was a direct confrontation. They were able to find a solution, thus didn’t start a global war, seen as a positive outcome," she continues. Later on, though, that interpretation was not shared by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a setback for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying America."

A Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed , well produced that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, partly, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking aspect remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the USSR would appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a symbol of progress.

"Max and I aren't the first," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle moved to America where he formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Max. "Which is unfortunate because we connected immediately and now we are friends, something that is wonderful. Ultimately, after almost six decades of nearly annihilating the world, our lineages have become allies, suggesting the world is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Echoes with Present Perils

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason this series seems so urgent is because we once again are living living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to grasp