‘After nearly annihilating our world, our relatives are friends’: a thrilling podcast from JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, the world veered closer to annihilation than at any other point in the contemporary era. This transpired after an American surveillance aircraft found that Soviet nuclear weapon installations were being built in Cuba, less than 160 kilometers off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a maritime blockade around the island. What followed was nearly 14 days filled with impossible tension.

An Catastrophic Danger

The danger was palpable. Should President Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a cascade involving global atomic strikes and counterstrikes might have followed, casting mankind into total ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined repeatedly, through books, movies, and television programmes. But, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a novel dimension into the story. It is co-presented by Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, relatives of the leaders who, for two tense weeks, controlled the fate of the planet in their hands.

"What was the Kremlin planning? What was the American side thinking?" asks Nina Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor specializing in international affairs.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast is its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do nations hate one another and confront one another?"

"It struck me how remarkable the fact that individuals can be friends or else can become complete enemies," adds Kennedy, the son of RFK, related to JFK and now an author and lawyer. "We see this repeatedly in instances where nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid it is to fight."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What is notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis was that, since it unfolded so publicly, individuals globally were able to observe almost as it happened while it moved towards catastrophe. Nonetheless, the danger of destruction came closer than anybody understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for a military strike followed by an invasion," notes Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly the Russians on the ground would have launched a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, and that would have destroyed our aircraft carriers as well as destroyed our largest and most important fleet. In turn, we would have responded through massive retaliation which would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t stands as credit to both leaders, who succeeded in keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy when many advisors in their governments was pushing for military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles in the Caribbean island and President Kennedy (although not reported then) removed his similar weapons from NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was palpable, matched by the sense of optimism.

The Divergent Viewpoint

Yet, during those 13 days in October, the anxiety was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born shortly after the crisis, and Khrushcheva being taught about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which painted an alternative version of events.

"You said your parent remembers it, and it was a scary day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, the public really didn’t know a great deal about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always fine and sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, it was distinct. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment for the USSR, because it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided a global war, seen as a positive thing," she adds. Subsequently, however, that perspective would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a failure for Khrushchev, because he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unprecedented Partnership

This podcast is so even-handed and well produced that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget the known the ending. This is, in part, due to contributions from historians. But, really, the most momentous aspect is the participation of the descendants. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and the USSR would appear together publicly. That these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, must be seen as a symbol of progress.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "Which is a shame since we got along really well and now we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, after nearly six decades since nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages are now allies, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."

Contemporary Parallels and Current Perils

Or is it? Part of why The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now are living in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since world leaders appear not to be able to learn