Following almost destroying our world, our relatives are allies’: the gripping podcast from JFK & Khrushchev’s descendants.

During the month of October 1962, the world edged closer to ruin than at any other point in the contemporary era. This transpired following the discovery that a US reconnaissance aircraft found the fact that Russian atomic weapon installations were being built on the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of American soil. In response, President JFK ordered the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime quarantine around the island. The next phase constituted almost a fortnight filled with unbearable stress.

An Unthinkable Threat

The danger remained obvious. Should President Kennedy, or else his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a cascade involving worldwide nuclear strikes followed by counterstrikes might have ensued, plunging civilization toward all-out ruination.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined repeatedly, through volumes, films, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" presents a completely new dimension into the story. The series is co-presented featuring Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the figures that, for 13 days, controlled the fate of humanity in their hands.

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

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast is its endeavor to objectively ask: "Why do individuals detest each other to the point they go against each other?"

"It was not lost on me how spectacular the fact that humans have the potential to be allies or else can become complete adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and now an author and attorney. "History shows this dynamic repeatedly when nations have gone to war, demonstrating the profound irrationality involved to engage in warfare."

The Brink Towards Disaster

What is striking about the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it unfolded in the global spotlight, citizens around the world were able to observe nearly in real time while it edged towards armageddon. However, the danger of destruction came closer than anybody understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would've launched a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, which would've obliterated the naval vessels as well as sunk our primary fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended all life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur is a testament to both leaders, who succeeded in keep their heads while engaging in diplomacy when hawkish elements in their governments was pushing for action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the missiles from Cuba and President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed American missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, matched by the sense of optimism.

The Divergent Perspective

Yet, during those 13 days of October 1962, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts were born shortly after these events, with Nina learned about it through the Soviet education system, which painted a slightly different picture of what happened.

"You said your father remembers it, and it was a scary time," Khrushcheva notes. "However in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know that much about it, since it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was constantly fine or positive."

Within Khrushchev’s family, however, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant occasion it was, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, thus avoided a global war, which was a positive thing," she adds. Subsequently, though, that perspective was not shared by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up America."

An Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably balanced , well produced that Nina jokes it almost made her forget she already knew outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to contributions from renowned scholars. But, truly, the most significant aspect remains the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it was unthinkable that descendants of the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union to appear side by side. That these two individuals can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a sign of optimism.

"We are not the pioneers," notes Nina. "After 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," adds Max. "Which is unfortunate because we got along immediately and we are friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, after nearly six decades since nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages are now friends, so I think the world is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Dangers

Or is it? Part of the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is that we once again find ourselves in dark times. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to learn