Following almost annihilating our planet, our families have become allies’: the gripping podcast from JFK and Khrushchev’s descendants.

In the month of October 1962, the world edged nearer to ruin more so than ever in the contemporary era. This transpired when an American reconnaissance plane found the fact that Russian nuclear missile sites were being assembled on the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the United States. Reacting to this, President JFK directed the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to establish a maritime blockade encircling the island. What followed constituted nearly a fortnight of impossible anxiety.

The Unthinkable Threat

The peril was clear. If President Kennedy, or the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against the other side, a chain reaction involving global atomic attacks followed by retaliatory strikes might have followed, thrusting civilization into total oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered extensively, in books, films, and TV documentaries. But, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast titled "The Bomb" introduces an unprecedented element to this historical narrative. The series is co-presented featuring Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the men who, for 13 days, held the destiny of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Russians thinking? What were the United States considering?" ponders Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant and a professor of international affairs.

For her, the strength of the podcast lies in its endeavor to explore: "Why do nations detest one another to the point they confront one another?"

"It was not lost on me how spectacular the fact that people can be allies or can become complete adversaries," adds Max Kennedy, son of RFK, nephew of the late president and now a writer and lawyer. "We see this over and over in instances where countries have gone to war, demonstrating the sheer folly involved to engage in warfare."

The Precipice Towards Disaster

What is remarkable regarding this event was that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, citizens worldwide could watch nearly as it happened while it moved closer to disaster. Even so, the threat of annihilation was more imminent than what most people realised.

"Almost all officials in the White House wanted an airstrike and a ground invasion," says Kennedy. "If we had attacked Cuba using the Sixth Fleet, undoubtedly Soviet forces stationed there would have fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have obliterated the naval vessels and destroyed our primary naval force. And, the U.S. would have responded with an overwhelming counterattack which would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, they succeeded in keep their heads and engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements around them were advocating action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from Cuba while President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew American similar weapons based in NATO ally Turkey. The sense of relief was immense, as was a feeling of optimism.

A Divergent Perspective

Yet, for those two weeks in October, the anxiety was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts came into the world shortly after these events, with Khrushcheva being taught about it via the Soviet education system, which presented a slightly different version of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father remembers it, describing it as a frightening day," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, people were largely unaware that much about it, since it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that everything was always fine and sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, it was distinct. "They told me what a great occasion for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to resolve it, thus didn’t start a global war, seen as a wonderful outcome," she adds. Later on, though, that interpretation would not be held by all Russians. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, because he refrained from destroying the United States."

A Unlikely Partnership

The Bomb is remarkably even-handed and expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva quips it almost made her forget she already knew the ending. This is, in part, due to the participation of historians. Yet, really, the most significant aspect is the participation of the hosts themselves. Even within living memory, it would be inconceivable that descendants of the leaders of America and the USSR would appear side by side. The fact that these two individuals are able to do so, and be so warm toward one another, has to be a symbol of hope.

"Max and I are not the pioneers," smiles Nina. "Following 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 Kennedy. "That is a shame since we connected immediately and now we are friends, which is really great. Ultimately, following almost six decades since almost destroying the planet, our lineages are now allies, suggesting the world is safer, somewhat."

Modern Echoes with Present Dangers

Is that truly the case? One reason the reason this series seems so urgent is because we once again are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, partly since today's statesmen appear not to be able to grasp