Following nearly annihilating the world, our families have become allies’: a gripping audio series featuring JFK & Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the planet came nearer to annihilation than at any other point in modern times. This transpired following the discovery that a US reconnaissance plane identified that Soviet atomic missile installations were under construction on the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles off the coast of the United States. In response, President JFK commanded the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet to enact a naval blockade encircling Cuba. The ensuing period constituted nearly a fortnight of unbearable anxiety.

The Unthinkable Danger

The threat remained obvious. If Kennedy, or else the Russian opposite, Nikita Khrushchev, had fired on their enemy, a cascade involving worldwide nuclear attacks and counterstrikes could have followed, casting civilization into total oblivion.

The Cuban missile crisis has been examined extensively, through books, films, and TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb presents an unprecedented dimension to this historical narrative. It is jointly hosted by Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva, family members of the leaders who, for 13 days, controlled the fate of humanity in their hands.

"What were the Kremlin planning? What were Washington considering?" ponders Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s descendant who is also a professor specializing in international affairs.

In her view, the unique appeal of the podcast lies in its attempt to explore: "Why do individuals detest each other to the point they confront each other?"

"It was not lost on me how profound it is that individuals have the potential to be friends or else have the potential to be complete enemies," remarks Kennedy, son of RFK, related to the late president and now a writer and lawyer. "We see this dynamic repeatedly in instances where nations have gone to war, and it just illustrates how unbelievably stupid it is to fight."

The Precipice of Catastrophe

What’s striking regarding the Cuban missile crisis is that, since it unfolded so publicly, citizens worldwide were able to observe nearly as it happened as it moved towards disaster. However, the risk of destruction was more imminent than what anybody understood at the time.

"The overwhelming majority among Kennedy's advisors were advocating for an airstrike and an invasion," notes Kennedy. "Had the U.S. attacked Cuba using the naval blockade, undoubtedly Soviet forces on the ground would've deployed a tactical nuclear weapon at the US Sixth Fleet, which would've obliterated our naval vessels as well as destroyed America's largest and most important naval force. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through massive retaliation which would have ended most life on Earth."

The fact this did not occur stands as credit to both leaders, who succeeded in exercise restraint while calmly negotiate when everyone around them were advocating military action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons from Cuba while President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) removed American missiles from Turkey. The relief was worldwide, matched by the sense of optimism.

The Divergent Perspective

Still, for those two weeks of October 1962, the tension was palpable globally. The podcast's co-hosts were born in the years following the crisis, with Khrushcheva being taught about it through the USSR's school curriculum, which presented a slightly different narrative of what happened.

"As you mentioned your father remembers it, describing it as a frightening day," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, the public really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, since it was a tense situation, whereas in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are always fine or sunny."

Inside Khrushchev’s family, however, it was distinct. "I was informed what a great occasion for the USSR, as it was eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus avoided the war, which was a wonderful thing," she adds. Subsequently, though, that interpretation would not be held by everybody. "For decades within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a setback for Khrushchev, simply he refrained from destroying the United States."

An Unprecedented Partnership

The Bomb is so balanced and expertly crafted so much so that Khrushcheva jokes it almost made her forget the known the ending. This effect is, in part, due to the participation of renowned scholars. But, truly, the most significant thing 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 the USSR to appear together publicly. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth with each other, has to be a symbol of optimism.

"We aren't the pioneers," notes Khrushcheva. "After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, a relative moved to America where he formed a close bond 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 we’re friends, which is really great. Ultimately, after nearly six decades since almost destroying the planet, our families have become friends, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."

Modern Echoes with Present Dangers

Or is it? Part of the reason The Bomb seems so urgent is that we now are living in a perilous era. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to catastrophe than ever before, in part because today's statesmen appear not to be able to learn