‘After nearly annihilating the world, the relatives have become friends’: the gripping audio series featuring John F. Kennedy & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In October 1962, humanity edged closer toward annihilation than at any other point in modern times. This happened following the discovery that a US surveillance aircraft discovered that Russian atomic missile installations were being assembled on the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. Reacting to this, President John F Kennedy ordered a naval task force to establish a maritime quarantine encircling the island. What followed was nearly a fortnight filled with impossible stress.

An Unthinkable Threat

The danger remained obvious. If Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire against the other side, a chain reaction of worldwide nuclear attacks and retaliatory strikes might have ensued, plunging humanity toward total destruction.

The October crisis has been documented repeatedly, in volumes, films, and TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb has brought an unprecedented element into the story. The series is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the men who, for two tense weeks, grasped the fate of the world in their hands.

"What was the Soviet side considering? What was the United States thinking?" ponders Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's descendant and an academic of global relations.

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

"It struck me how spectacular it is that people have the potential to be allies or can become complete enemies," states Max Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and currently a writer as well as lawyer. "We see this dynamic over and over in instances where nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid it is to fight."

The Precipice Towards Disaster

What’s remarkable regarding this event was that, because it unfolded in the global spotlight, people worldwide were able to observe nearly as it happened while it moved closer to disaster. Nonetheless, the risk of destruction was more imminent than anybody understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba with the naval blockade, it is certain the Russians on the ground would have deployed a tactical nuclear weapon against the US Sixth Fleet, which would have destroyed the naval vessels and destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. In turn, we would have responded through an overwhelming counterattack that would have ended most life on the planet."

The fact it didn’t stands as credit to Kennedy and Khrushchev, who succeeded in remain calm and calmly negotiate when everyone in their governments were advocating military action. As a result, The Soviet premier agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island while Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed his missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, as was a feeling of hope.

The Divergent Perspective

Yet, during those two weeks of October 1962, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The podcast's co-hosts came into the world in the years following the crisis, and Nina learned about it through the Soviet education system, which painted an alternative version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father remembers it, and it was a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, the public were largely unaware a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, and under the Soviet system the official line was that everything was always fine and positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, however, it was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, because it represented eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to find a solution, and didn’t start the war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. In the years to come, however, that perspective would not be shared by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is remarkably even-handed , well produced that Nina jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, partly, due to the participation of renowned scholars. Yet, really, the most momentous thing is the involvement of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable that relatives of the leaders of America and the USSR would appear together publicly. The fact 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 are not the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle moved to America where he became great friends with the former president's family."

"However we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Max. "That is unfortunate since we got along immediately and now we’re friends, which is wonderful. Finally, following almost 60 years of nearly annihilating the planet, our families have become allies, so I think the world is safer, somewhat."

Contemporary Echoes with Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason this series feels so necessary is because we now are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to have the capacity to learn