Following nearly annihilating our world, our families are friends’: the gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy & Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, the world edged closer toward annihilation more so than ever in modern times. This transpired following the discovery that a US reconnaissance plane discovered the fact that Russian nuclear weapon installations were under construction in Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from the United States. In response, President JFK ordered a naval task force to establish a maritime blockade encircling the island. The ensuing period was nearly a fortnight of unbearable stress.

The Catastrophic Danger

The threat remained obvious. If President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a cascade involving worldwide atomic strikes and retaliatory strikes could have followed, thrusting civilization toward total ruination.

The October crisis has been examined extensively, through books, movies, and television programmes. However, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a completely new dimension into the story. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the leaders that, for two tense weeks, controlled the destiny of the world within their grasp.

"What was the Kremlin thinking? What were the American side considering?" ponders Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and a professor of international affairs.

For her, the strength of the show lies in its attempt to objectively ask: "Why do nations hate one another to the point they oppose one another?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable the fact that individuals have the potential to be allies or else have the potential to be complete enemies," states Max Kennedy, son of RFK, related to JFK and currently a writer and lawyer. "We see this dynamic repeatedly when countries have gone to war, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to fight."

A Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s notable regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it unfolded so publicly, citizens around the world could watch almost in real time while it crept towards armageddon. Nonetheless, the threat of annihilation came closer than what most people realised.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted an airstrike and an invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, there is no question the Russians on the ground would've launched a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have sunk our aircraft carriers as well as sunk our primary fleet. In turn, the U.S. would have responded through massive retaliation which would have eradicated most life on the planet."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who managed to keep their heads while calmly negotiate at a time when many advisors in their governments were advocating military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles from the Caribbean island and Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American missiles from Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by a feeling of optimism.

A Divergent Viewpoint

Still, during those 13 days of October 1962, the tension was felt globally. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world shortly after the crisis, with Nina being taught about it through the USSR's education system, which portrayed a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your parent remembers it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "However for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was always fine or positive."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was distinct. "They told me what a great occasion it was, as it was a direct confrontation. They were able to resolve it, thus didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. In the years to come, though, that interpretation would not be shared by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, the crisis was viewed as a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed and well produced so much so that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it was inconceivable that descendants of the heads of state of America and USSR to appear side by side. That these two individuals are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a sign of optimism.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Nina. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we had never met prior to this project," clarifies Max. "Which is unfortunate since we got along really well and now we are friends, which is really great. Ultimately, following nearly six decades of nearly annihilating the planet, our families have become allies, so I think the world is more secure, somewhat."

Modern Parallels and Present Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why this series feels so necessary is because we now find ourselves living through dark times. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to catastrophe in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to learn