‘After nearly annihilating the planet, our families have become friends’: the gripping audio series featuring JFK and Nikita Khrushchev’s descendants.

During October 1962, the world came closer toward destruction more so than ever during the contemporary era. This occurred after an American surveillance plane identified the fact that Soviet atomic weapon installations were being assembled in the island of Cuba, a mere 100 miles from the US mainland. Reacting to this, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed a naval task force to enact a naval blockade encircling the island. What followed was almost 14 days of impossible tension.

An Catastrophic Danger

The peril remained obvious. If Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack against their enemy, a series involving global nuclear strikes followed by counterstrikes could have ensued, plunging humanity toward total oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered repeatedly, in books, movies, and television programmes. But, for its third season, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a completely new element to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy alongside Nina Khrushcheva, relatives of the leaders who, for two tense weeks, controlled the fate of the world within their grasp.

"What were the Kremlin considering? What was the United States planning?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also a professor of international affairs.

For her, the strength of the podcast is its endeavor to question: "Why do people detest one another to the point they confront each other?"

"It struck me how profound the fact that humans have the potential to be friends or have the potential to be complete adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now an author and lawyer. "We see this over and over in instances where nations have gone to war, highlighting the profound irrationality it is to engage in warfare."

A Precipice of Catastrophe

What’s notable about the Cuban missile crisis is that, because it unfolded in the global spotlight, individuals globally were able to observe almost as it happened while it crept towards disaster. Even so, the threat of annihilation came closer than anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and a ground invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans with the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would've fired a nuclear warhead against the American ships, and that would have destroyed our aircraft carriers and sunk America's largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended all life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t is a testament to Kennedy and Khrushchev, they managed to exercise restraint while calmly negotiate when everyone in their governments demanded military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the missiles from the Caribbean island while President 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 Different Viewpoint

Still, for those 13 days of October 1962, the tension was palpable globally. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, and Khrushcheva learned about it through the USSR's school curriculum, which presented an alternative narrative of events.

"As you mentioned your parent recalls it, describing it as a scary day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people really didn’t know that much about it, since it was a tense situation, and in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was constantly wonderful or sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great moment for the USSR, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. In the years to come, however, that interpretation would not be shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a failure for Khrushchev, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably balanced , expertly crafted so much so that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, in part, thanks to contributions from historians. But, really, the most groundbreaking thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Not so long ago, it would be inconceivable for descendants of the heads of state of America and the Soviet Union would appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and be so warm with each other, has to be a symbol of hope.

"Max and I aren't the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and formed a close bond with the former president's family."

"However we had never met before the podcast," adds Max. "Which is unfortunate because we got along immediately and now we are friends, something that is wonderful. Finally, following nearly six decades of almost destroying the planet, our families are now allies, so I think the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Parallels with Present Dangers

Or is it? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is because we once again find ourselves living through a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because world leaders appear not to be able to grasp