‘After almost annihilating our planet, the relatives have become friends’: the thrilling audio series featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

In the month of October 1962, humanity edged closer toward ruin than at any other point in the contemporary era. This transpired after an American reconnaissance plane found the fact that Russian nuclear missile installations were under construction in Cuba, a mere 100 miles off the coast of the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy directed a naval task force to impose a maritime blockade around Cuba. The next phase was nearly 14 days of unbearable tension.

The Unthinkable Danger

The peril remained obvious. Should President Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, initiated an attack against their enemy, a series involving worldwide nuclear strikes and retaliatory strikes could have ensued, casting mankind toward all-out oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been examined extensively, in books, movies, as well as TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, the BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces a novel dimension into this historical narrative. The series is co-presented by Kennedy's relative alongside Khrushchev's descendant, family members belonging to the figures that, over two tense weeks, grasped the destiny of the world within their grasp.

"What were the Soviet side considering? What were Washington planning?" questions Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter who is also an academic of global relations.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast is its attempt to question: "How can individuals hate one another to the point they confront each other?"

"It was not lost on me how spectacular the fact that individuals can be friends or can become total adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, the son of RFK, nephew of JFK and now an author and lawyer. "We see this over and over when nations have gone to war, highlighting how unbelievably stupid involved to fight."

A Precipice of Catastrophe

What’s striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it transpired so publicly, people around the world were able to observe nearly as it happened while it moved towards disaster. However, the danger of destruction came closer than what most people realised.

"Virtually everyone in the White House were advocating for an airstrike and an invasion," says Max Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba with the naval blockade, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would have fired a tactical nuclear weapon at the American ships, which would have obliterated our naval vessels and sunk our largest and most important fleet. And, we would have retaliated with an overwhelming counterattack which would have ended all life on Earth."

The reality it didn’t stands as credit to both leaders, who succeeded in remain calm and engaging in diplomacy at a time when hawkish elements in their governments were advocating military action. Consequently, The Soviet premier removed the nuclear weapons in the Caribbean island while President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed then) removed his missiles based in NATO ally Turkey. The relief was worldwide, as was the sense of hope.

The Different Perspective

Yet, during those two weeks in October, the tension was felt by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters came into the world in the years following these events, and Nina being taught about it through the USSR's school curriculum, which presented a slightly different picture of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father remembers it, and it was a frightening time," she says. "But for Soviet citizens, people were largely unaware a great deal about it, because it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union we were told that everything was always fine or sunny."

Within the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was distinct. "They told me that it was a triumphant occasion for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. The leaders managed to resolve it, and avoided a global war, which was a wonderful thing," she adds. Subsequently, though, that perspective was not shared by all Russians. "For a long time in Russian politics, it was considered a setback for the Soviet leader, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

An Unlikely Collaboration

This podcast is remarkably balanced and well produced that Nina quips she nearly forgot she already knew the ending. This is, in part, thanks to the participation of historians. Yet, really, the most groundbreaking aspect remains the involvement of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable that relatives of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union would appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a symbol of hope.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Khrushcheva. "Following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, my uncle Sergey Khrushchev’s son and became great friends with the former president's family."

"But we had never met before the podcast," adds Max. "Which is unfortunate since we connected immediately and we are friends, something that is really great. Finally, after nearly 60 years since almost destroying the world, our families have become friends, suggesting global relations is safer, a little bit."

Modern Echoes with Current Perils

Is that truly the case? One reason why The Bomb feels so necessary is that we now find ourselves in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom is closer to catastrophe in its history, in part because today's statesmen appear not to have the capacity to grasp