Following nearly destroying our planet, our relatives are allies’: the thrilling podcast from John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev’s relatives.

During October 1962, the planet veered closer toward annihilation than at any other point during recent history. This occurred when an American reconnaissance aircraft found that Soviet atomic missile sites were being assembled in Cuba, less than 160 kilometers from American soil. In response, U.S. President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to impose a naval quarantine encircling Cuba. What followed was nearly two weeks of impossible stress.

The Catastrophic Threat

The threat was clear. If President Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a cascade involving worldwide nuclear strikes followed by retaliatory strikes could have ensued, thrusting humanity toward all-out ruination.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined repeatedly, in books, movies, and television programmes. However, for its third season, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents a completely new element into this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the figures that, for two tense weeks, controlled the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side planning? What was the United States planning?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor specializing in global relations.

In her view, the strength of the podcast is its attempt to objectively ask: "How can people hate each other to the point they confront each other?"

"It was not lost on me how remarkable it is that individuals have the potential to be friends or can become complete adversaries," remarks Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of JFK and now a writer as well as lawyer. "History shows this over and over when nations have gone to war, highlighting the sheer folly it is to engage in warfare."

A Brink of Catastrophe

What is striking regarding this event is that, because it transpired so publicly, individuals around the world could watch almost in real time while it crept towards catastrophe. Nonetheless, the risk of annihilation came closer than what most people realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for an airstrike followed by an invasion," notes Max Kennedy. "If we had struck the Cubans using the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would've fired a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have sunk our aircraft carriers and sunk America's primary naval force. And, the U.S. would have responded through massive retaliation that would have ended most life on Earth."

The reality this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, they managed to keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy when everyone in their governments demanded action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the missiles from Cuba while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed American similar weapons from Turkey. The relief was palpable, matched by the sense of hope.

A Divergent Perspective

Yet, for those 13 days in October, the fear was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts were born shortly after the crisis, with Nina being taught about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which presented a slightly different version of events.

"You said your parent recalls it, describing it as a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "However for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware a great deal about it, since it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was constantly wonderful or positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, it was different. "They told me what a great moment for the USSR, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, thus avoided a global war, seen as a positive outcome," she adds. Subsequently, however, that view was not held by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a defeat for the Soviet leader, simply he refrained from destroying America."

A Unprecedented Collaboration

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed , well produced that Khrushcheva quips she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, in part, thanks to the participation of renowned scholars. But, truly, the most significant aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable that descendants of the heads of state of the United States and USSR would appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a sign of hope.

"We are not the pioneers," smiles Nina. "After 1991, a relative moved to America where he formed a close bond with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"However we had never met prior to this project," adds Kennedy. "That is a shame since we connected really well and now we are friends, which is wonderful. Ultimately, after almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the planet, our lineages are now friends, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Modern Echoes with Current Dangers

Or is it? One reason the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is that we once again find ourselves in a perilous era. The Doomsday Clock stands nearer to midnight in its history, in part because world leaders don’t seem to be able to comprehend