Following nearly annihilating the planet, our families have become friends’: a gripping podcast featuring John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev’s relatives.

During the month of October 1962, the world came nearer to annihilation than at any other point in modern times. This transpired following the discovery that an American surveillance plane identified the fact that Soviet nuclear weapon bases were under construction in the island of Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of the US mainland. In response, U.S. President John F Kennedy commanded a naval task force to enact a maritime blockade around the island. The ensuing period was nearly two weeks filled with impossible tension.

The Catastrophic Danger

The danger remained obvious. If President Kennedy, or the Soviet counterpart, Premier Khrushchev, were to fire on the other side, a cascade involving worldwide nuclear strikes followed by counterstrikes could have followed, casting humanity toward all-out oblivion.

This pivotal 1962 event has been covered extensively, in volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. However, in its latest installment, a prominent BBC World Service podcast The Bomb introduces an unprecedented perspective to this historical narrative. The series is jointly hosted by Kennedy's relative and Nina Khrushcheva, relatives belonging to the figures who, over two tense weeks, grasped the fate of the world within their grasp.

"What were the Russians thinking? What were the United States planning?" questions Khrushcheva, the Soviet leader's great-granddaughter who is also a professor of international affairs.

For her, the unique appeal of the podcast is its attempt to question: "Why do nations hate each other to the point they oppose one another?"

"I am acutely aware how remarkable it is that humans can be friends or can become complete adversaries," remarks Max Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, related to the late president and now an author and attorney. "History shows this over and over when nations enter into conflict, and it just illustrates the profound irrationality involved to fight."

A Brink Towards Catastrophe

What’s notable about the Cuban missile crisis was that, because it transpired so publicly, individuals worldwide were able to observe almost as it happened as it moved towards disaster. However, the risk of annihilation was more imminent than anybody understood at the time.

"Almost all officials among Kennedy's advisors wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," explains Max Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the naval blockade, undoubtedly the Russians on the ground would've launched a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, and that would have sunk the naval vessels as well as destroyed our largest and most important fleet. And, the U.S. would have retaliated through an overwhelming counterattack that would have eradicated all life on the planet."

The reality this did not occur highlights the composure of both leaders, they managed to exercise restraint and engaging in diplomacy when everyone around them were advocating military action. As a result, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the nuclear weapons from Cuba and President Kennedy (although not reported at the time) withdrew his missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The relief was palpable, as was a feeling of optimism.

The Different Perspective

Yet, during those 13 days in October, the tension was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s co-hosts were born shortly after the crisis, with Nina learned about the crisis through the USSR's education system, which portrayed a slightly different picture of what happened.

"You said your parent remembers it, and it was a frightening time," she says. "But in the Soviet Union, the public really didn’t know that much regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union we were told that things are constantly wonderful or positive."

Inside the Khrushchev household, though, the perspective was different. "I was informed that it was a triumphant moment it was, as it represented eyeball to eyeball. They were able to find a solution, thus didn’t start a global war, which was a wonderful thing," she continues. Subsequently, though, that interpretation was not held by everybody. "For a long time in Russian politics, the crisis was viewed as a setback for Khrushchev, simply he didn’t blow up the United States."

A Unlikely Partnership

This podcast is so even-handed and expertly crafted so much so that Nina jokes it almost made her forget the known the ending. This effect is, in part, due to contributions from historians. But, truly, the most momentous aspect remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for relatives of the leaders of the United States and Soviet Union would appear side by side. That Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva are able to do so, and exhibit such warmth with each other, must be seen as a sign of hope.

"Max and I are not the first," notes Nina. "After 1991, my uncle moved to America and became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."

"But we were strangers prior to this project," clarifies Kennedy. "That is unfortunate because we got along really well and we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following nearly 60 years since almost destroying the planet, our families are now friends, so I think global relations is more secure, somewhat."

Contemporary Parallels with Current Dangers

Is that truly the case? Part of the reason The Bomb feels so necessary is that we now are living in dark times. 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